NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

Official Agreement Signed Between Global Housing Foundation and the Government and Municipality of Panama

Homes to Be Built for Working Poor, Financed With Micro Mortgage Program Initiated by Global Housing Foundation and UN Habitat

The Global Housing Foundation and both the Government and Municipality of Panama recently made history at the United Nations as they signed an agreement to build homes for the working poor. These homes will be financed with the Micro Mortgage program initiated by the Global Housing Foundation and UN Habitat. Signers for this historic program included Ivan Carlucci, GHF Director, Panama; Carlos A. Duboy Sierra, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Panama; Arsenio Fernandez G., Secretary General, Panama; Laurence Schreiber, Managing Director, Merrill Lynch: Bank of America, New York; Tim Wilkens, President Global Housing Foundation and Axumite Gebre-Egziabher, Director, NY Office, UN Human Settlements Programme.

The Municipality and Government of Panama intend to offer incentives and provide high level support to developers that will construct homes. The homes will be offered for sale to municipal workers within Panama. The first phase of the program is set to construct and deliver 2,000 homes to qualified families. In addition, the Panama government agreed to a new $5,000 down payment gift to be provided for each GHF home buyer. "The collaboration between Panama, GHF and UN Habitat enables us to offer affordable homes to families in Panama who are qualified," explains Arsenio Fernandez G., Panama Secretary General. "The Municipality of Panama is proud to partner with the Global Housing Foundation and UN Habitat to make the dream of home ownership a reality," added Carlos A. Duboy Sierra, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Panama.

Micro mortgage finance is a credit to help working poor families purchase and finance a home. Home purchasers are families in urban areas with a priority given to female-headed households that are economically disadvantaged and face difficulty accessing long term mortgages.

This agreement will establish the Municipality of Panama as one of the most innovative leaders, providing quality, affordable homes to its employees. "We are committed to developing communities which provide citizens with quality homes which are economically affordable," explains Tim Wilkens, President, Global Housing Foundation. "This wonderful collaboration is the first step in making the dream of home ownership a reality for so many people around the world."