On World Habitat Day, established by the United Nations on October 5 to promote the fundamental right to adequate housing and proper shelter, residents of Cape Verde share their stories about striving to improve their living conditions.
Maria, who has lived in the Achada Mato area for over ten years, told Lusa that although she is originally from the center of Santiago island, her husband purchased a cheaper plot of land where they built a house to avoid paying rent. Official data indicates that this situation affects thousands of families in Cape Verde.
Externally, their dwelling is a structure on dirt ground, where the toilet was erected with the support of an organization unknown to her, and the kitchen is an improvised construction made of blocks and sheet metal. Additionally, the family keeps pigs for sale or feeding.
Maria's husband works in construction, but his earnings are often insufficient to complete all repairs. Maria does not have a permanent job and engages in domestic work. She expresses a desire to have a larger house with better conditions so that her daughter can live there after returning from abroad.
Nearby, Dulselina Tavares, 37, with three children, has lived for seven years in a house where metal rods protruding from the concrete are visible, indicating unfinished construction. She explains that she moved there not because she liked the place, but because the land was cheaper, which allowed her to build her home faster. She laments the high cost of materials and lack of money, as well as the absence of transport, water, and sanitation.
In the Simau Ribeira district, Guineaka Quinta de Oliveira, who has lived in Cape Verde for nine years, exchanged her Achadinha for a cheaper plot where she lives with her husband and three children. Their family resides in an unfinished structure covered with sheet metal, without a kitchen or toilet. Cooking takes place in the corridor, and bodily needs are met in basins. She notes the lack of centralized water supply, forcing her to buy water from tankers, and conserves water, using less than two liters to wash her child's clothes in a basin.
In the Jamaica district, vendor Maria Semedo, 45, spends her days preparing sweets in a tiny kitchen covered with sheet metal to feed three children and a niece. She starts cooking at six in the morning every day and sometimes sells food before having breakfast.
Since living in this area since 2012, Maria has recently managed to build a toilet after many years of using containers inside the house.
According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), nearly 23,000 families in Cape Verde (one of the seven islands) live in housing without a toilet, and 85,500 people (more than half the archipelago's families) do not have a shower.
Approximately 80% of housing stock was built by the residents themselves (self-construction), leading to significant variation in the quality of materials and construction techniques.
The Minister of Infrastructure, Housing and Territorial Planning, Carlos Tavares, told Lusa that the government is restructuring the 'Home for All' program, valued at approximately 18 million euros, to address the country's housing deficit. The executive branch took office in June following the victory of the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) in the May elections.
He stated that plans include building about five thousand homes by 2031. He explained that the first pillar of the program will be the special relocation 'Barraca Zero,' intended primarily for people living in barracks, by moving them into decent quality housing. The program also includes affordable housing for youth and the reconstruction of existing homes.
The Minister emphasized that in many places in Cape Verde, roof repairs, toilet construction, and improvement of sanitary conditions are required. According to the minister, in nine out of ten meetings with municipal mayors, housing issues are one of the main topics, which, in his opinion, demonstrates the 'scale of the housing problem.'
