Abednego Chanda: Mapping data important for housing disadvantaged people

Collecting mapping data is one of the most important tasks for providing housing to the poor and disadvantaged.

Report informs that Abednego Chanda, a representative of the Zambia Homeless and Poor People's Federation, said this at an event titled "From Community Data to Public Impact: Perspectives of Experts with Practical Experience," held as part of WUF13.

According to him, working with data is what enables communities to understand the real scale of housing problems and develop practical solutions.

"Thanks to data collection, residents now know how severe the housing shortage is in their areas, how many water points there are, how many people live in homes with leaking roofs and how many people have no housing at all," he said.

Chanda noted that community residents themselves better understand the problems they face every day, which is why a bottom-up approach plays a key role in urban development. According to him, the participation of young people and local residents in mapping and data analysis helps urban planners and researchers jointly develop solutions that meet the needs of the population.

He also cited an example in which the lack of consultations with residents led to a conflict over the construction of a public facility. According to him, this shows that any development project should be implemented with the participation of communities themselves.

The federation representative stressed that residents' joint initiatives based on savings and collective work are already helping vulnerable families gain access to decent housing and improve their living conditions.