“When indigenous women own land documents, entire communities benefit," Marina Munoz, representative of the Urban Housing Practitioners Hub platform, said at the session titled “Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Adequate Housing for All Indigenous Peoples in Their Diversity” held within the framework of WUF13, APA-Economics reports.
According to her, forced displacement means not only the loss of a home, but also the loss of governance structures, intergenerational knowledge and people’s connection to the places where they live.
Marina Munoz stated that experiences implemented in Latin American countries show that when women own land and housing documents and lead construction and land management processes, entire communities benefit from it.
She emphasized that indigenous women are the main bearers of traditional knowledge in the fields of bioclimatic design, local construction materials and water resource management.
According to Marina Munoz, indigenous peoples are not recipients of aid, but communities that create innovation. She noted that the most sustainable housing solutions adapted to climate change and taking cultural characteristics into account have been shaped precisely by communities living in their territories for centuries.
“The problem is not the lack of innovation. The problem is that institutions are not sufficiently structured to recognize, finance and scale these innovations,” she added.
