Janasewana national housing development program:

Women’s role in housing

International Women’s Day was yesterday:

The role of a woman has a very special place in the world. She is the mother that produces the human seeds of our civilization. This maternal link makes a valuable contribution to the continuation of the nation while making an important contribution to the development of the country

The basic unit of even the developed social stratum is the family. The role of a woman within that family unit is extremely wide. Whereever that wide contribution and representation is lacking, the family becomes unstable. In short, this means woman directly contributes to the development of a family.

The bond between a woman and her family is boundless reality. We have to remember and consider this fact in housing development. In a pleasant, religious home, the spiritual development, health and attitudinal development of children go beyond mere economic development. It does not require to be stated that such homes contribute to the development of sustainable human settlements and the development of the country. Sri Lankans are partners of such a proud nation with a history of over 2,500 years.

In an era where the country has entered a path of accelerated development, it is necessary to initiate a wide dialogue about the home and woman. It will be beneficial to awaken the nation to realize their housing aspirations through this.

Ethnic groups

We pursued our development targets in the 63 years that elapsed after regaining independence. We entered a path of sustainable peace where we can work to achieve a common target with all the ethnic groups in an integrated manner.

The Janasewana housing development program is a pioneer program within this task. The role of a woman in housing is very important at this juncture. Realizing the importance of housing as a basic need, the the Mahinda Chintana Vision for the Future’ has declared a policy decision to ensure a house for every family in Sri Lanka. The Buddha has also preached that a person who provides a house provides everything that needs for the life.

Accordingly, further study of Buddhist philosophy shows that housing development is achieved through the contribution of the woman.

A study of our socio-cultural values reveals that a home is a far wider concept than a mere house. It is also a known fact that the surrounding environment, home garden and pleasant atmosphere improves one’s thinking. Such a home produces a future generation with better health, attitudes and values to the nation. Villagers believe that a religious family brings prosperity. Women based households were developed in ancient human settlements and the remnants of the culture is visible even today.

The valuable features of traditional villages still remain. The concept of village, temple and the tank can still philosophically bring out the beauty of a village. A complete home contributes to the privacy of a woman, delivery of a baby and its development and well-being and total physical and spiritual growth.

Modern facilities

According to the villagers’ point of view, this produces children with fine qualities such as modesty and ensures the safety of a woman within the house. A house with water, ventilation, electricity and other modern facilities will make the life of a woman rather convenient. The main reason for this is that most of the women in the present time are employed. In this context, her role goes beyond that of a housewife.

It is natural that a woman has to face many social problems within a house without basic facilities. This poses many challenges to a woman. The sad reality of such situations is that the woman is unable to perform the responsibilities of the household to her own satisfaction and with proper sanitation.

This could also lead to household violence. Urban women are especially susceptible to such situations. It is necessary to initiate programs with women’s participation to find solutions to avoid such situations. Finding favourable solutions to these kind of problems have to be based on women’s requirements and aspirations. Housing planning should also take these facts into consideration.

Women inadvertently are lenient towards peace. The environment of the house should encourage this characteristic.

However, the current condition of women in underserved settlements is far from satisfactory. Almost 50 percent of the population in Colombo lives under such conditions.

This situation is common to urban areas such as Mumbai and Delhi in India, Jakarta of Indonesia, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Bangkok in Thailand. It is very challenging to raise a family with proper values and discipline under such conditions. A woman faces this problem within the family than anybody else.

It is very difficult to protect women from being drawn towards various social crimes within the concept of poverty. However, ownership of a house solves a lot of problems. Most Sri Lankan women go abroad as housemaids state, providing a shelter for their family as the main reason. Or else they do this to save their house from a mortgage.

The women are engaged in this kind of a struggle to protect her children within the protection of a home. The largest segment of public service of this country is teaching. Seventy two percent of it is comprised of women.

They get the ownership of a house through housing loans. The aspiration of most women working in the Free Trade Zone is also housing.

Samurdhi program

The ownership of a house provides entitlement to property. The possession of a house in our country adds a special socio-cultural value to a woman. In one way, it contributes to women’s development. On the other hand, it is a special factor in gender equality and this also brings prosperity to a home. It is a known reality that the pleasantness and beauty of a home is through the maternal head of the family.

Even with all the money, land and technology it is challenging for a woman to construct a house. Obtaining a loan, getting a suitable plan and getting it approved and many other related issues are involved with housing. ‘Janasewana’ intends to provide assistance in this.

A person with a daily income less than one US $ or Rs 100 faces many difficulties.

Therefore, the government has initiated to construct houses with the assistance of Samurdhi program.

It is intended to integrate 14,000 GN divisions of the country. However, it is a known fact that Asian women are very courageous and work with dedication to uplift their families. This leads to women based development. It has to be mentioned that the contribution of women has been given special prominence in order to achieve the housing targets for the period of 2011 - 2016.

Women's participation

There are about 20 sub programs implemented through this Ministry within the 'Janasewana' national housing development program with different strategies. Priority is given to low income and middle income categories while implementation is through women's participatory mechanism. Especially the urban and condominium housing programs give prominence to women's participation. All these programs are planned under a special mechanism through the National Housing Development Authority and all other institutions engaged in housing development.

This 'Janasewana' philosophy ensures prominence of women in housing development through women based, participatory implementation. This will ensure the success of the program. In turn, this will ensure women's development and will provide a strong foundation for the development of the woman and the country.

The writer is Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities Ministry Secretary