Vice President Jejomar C. Binay on Tuesday underscored the link between poverty and housing as he urged the country’s key shelter agencies and urban planners to find solutions for people lacking decent and affordable housing.

            “Absence or lack of income remains a foremost obstacle for people needing access to sustainable and decent housing options,” he said.

            “The inequities in our societies are further accented by the fact that the poor have the least chance of accessing housing finance. Without the means to acquire decent homes, families will either build houses in unsuitable areas, or be compelled to devote the lion’s share of their income to house rentals, with very little left for food, education, healthcare, and other basic services,” Binay added.

            Binay on Tuesday hosted a high-level round table discussion on sustainable housing at the Coconut Palace. It was attended by eminent policy makers, businessmen, representatives of international organizations, and civil society leaders in the Asia Pacific region.

            During the meeting, Binay cited a report from the United Nations which said that people in Asia-Pacific are four times more likely than those in Africa to be affected by disasters caused by natural hazards and 25 times more likely than those in Europe or North America.

            “Our region is acutely aware of these realities and all our nations own our fair share of these challenges. The tragic irony is that while Asia accounts for a third of the world’s GDP and is home to some of the globe’s fastest growing economies, 500 million of its people still live in slums and millions more reside in sub-standard dwellings,” Binay added.

            “In our corner of the world, we have witnessed the various shades and strains of this universal challenge to humanity. The shelter issue has worsened in many parts of Asia, and ancillary global concerns such as climate change and rapid urbanization amplify the urgency with which we must all act,” he added.