Photo credit Mennonite Social Action Committee – Copán.
In the Honduran industrial capital of San Pedro Sula, some 12,000 families have been living in dire conditions in riverside settlements. Around 56,000 people are crammed into 16 settlements, living in tiny plots where up to four people share a bed, rooms are often partitioned only by sheets. Families face disease, malnutrition and crime, with some surviving on waste or debris collected from nearby markets.
An international NG0, Mennonite Social Action Committee (CASM) has worked with Tearfund and other partners over the last decade to advocate for and create an action plan for the relocation of these communities to better housing. Other international partners have included ACT Alliance, Kinder Not Hilfe, Habitat for Humanity and Christian Aid and local partners were the General Riverfronts Coordination, the Cortes Chamber of Commerce and Industry, local authorities, academia, and church leaders.
Now, 179 families will move from the riverfront into new homes in the first quarter of 2015.
Many families ended up in these precarious communities after migrating to seek new opportunities in San Pedro Sula, often from rural areas. San Pedro Sula is Honduras’ industrial capital, generating 63% of the country’s gross domestic product. But many did not find the better life they sought due to few employment opportunities and their lack of academic training. Vulnerable families have also been exposed to violence, as crime has compounded social problems amid dire living conditions.
“It is depressing to live on the riverfronts, and being there means you can’t get ahead,” said General Riverfronts Coordination Organisation member Salvador Caballero. “Children are the ones who suffer most from disease.”
CASM’s project aimed to resettle families to more humane conditions, and to build the community’s capacity to manage aid to address problems such as health, hygiene, food and housing in their areas. In the first formal resettlement, 179 families will move from the Esquipulas II settlement to the new Los Castaños de Choloma development. Families will be given shelter for a nominal cost depending on their economic means, with the money they pay reinvested in the development of the community.
CASM and partner organisations first helped these communities build capacity to call for recognition of citizen’s rights and responsibilities. Riverfront families have now achieved formal recognition and obtained legal status for the General Riverfronts Coordination Organisation, which governs the 16 riverfront settlements in San Pedro Sula.
Residents about to be relocated have participated in month-long programmes on health, environment and child nutrition as well as skills for managing sustainable micro-businesses before resettlement. Those remaining on the riverfronts for now have also joined activities to expand their understanding of risk management, urban resilience, as well roles and the functions of organisations. CASM will also continue to strengthen community co-ordination, helping the leaders of Local Emergency Committees to respond events such as natural disasters.
Lessons learned
Lessons learned from the programme include the importance of including all actors in signing agreements that feature solid next steps to implementation of promises made, such as managing the purchase of land for resettlement.
It was discovered that the resettlement process requires not only active participation of civil society organisations, local government, the church and community leaders. Central government, international organisations and the private sector must also play a role.
Involving more partners has strengthened the project. A committee that monitors the project, ensuring that promised work is delivered was created, includes actors from the church, City Council employees, a presidential delegate, representatives of the riverfront families and civil society representatives, including CASM. Members of media have also been motivated to participate in public debate on the resettlement of riverfront families.
The Busan principles advocate that development be inclusive, transparent and focused on results to end poverty and improve the impact of development. The riverfront relocation project shows how involving a wide variety of organisations and government bodies can help more people and make the best use of limited resources. Learn more about the Busan principles and the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation.
“The Mennonite Social Action Committee has 11 years’ experience working with this population, and understands the full context and social fabric of the families, having watched the population grow throughout this period,” Presidential Advisor Ebal Díaz said. “For this reason, various initiatives have been developed, mostly supported by Tearfund and other institutions, which on a smaller scale have wanted to collaborate with the project, especially with its main objective: the resettlement of families from the riverfronts of San Pedro Sula.”
The first resettlement of 179 families this year is the result of the hard work and perseverance of all the programme’s participants, representing progress for human rights in Honduras.