Hundreds of millions of people in developing countries expect to lose their homes against their will in the next five years, a ground-breaking study has shown.
Prindex, a joint initiative of the Global Land Alliance and Overseas Development Institute, asked adults across 33 countries whether they expected to lose the right to use their homes during the next five years. The results, released during the World Bank Land and Poverty Conference in Washington, DC, show that one in four adults think it is likely or very likely that they could lose their homes, equivalent to 178 million adults and up to 117 million children living with them in those countries.
“Far too many policymakers around the world lack the accessible, quality data needed to make better decisions and improve the lives of residents in their countries and cities, particularly when it comes to mapping, administering, and protecting people’s property rights,” said Peter Rabley, venture partner at Omidyar Network, a funder of Prindex. “What sets Prindex apart from other datasets is that it truly takes people into account, asking them what they think about their security of tenure and why, as opposed to a survey of existing government records. We support Prindex and the growing number of countries using this ground-breaking dataset to move the needle on property rights, an issue that affects nearly every aspect of a community’s social and economic well-being.”
Read the full release here.