Financing Housing in a Shifting Funding Environment - From Oda to Philanthropy and Local Funding Mechanisms

Drawing on work to redefine housing within the OECD's measures of ODA and grounded in perspectives from the majority world, this interactive event will analyze global housing finance trends, explore opportunities and constraints in an evolving funding landscape, and highlight innovative responses. It will focus on approaches that empower vulnerable communities, address gender inequities, strengthen housing and land systems, and make housing finance more equitable, resilient, and locally driven. International cooperation funding is undergoing a profound transformation. Recent and projected cuts to ODA by OECD countries, estimated at 10-18% between 2024 and 2027, alongside declining multilateral contributions, signal a structural shift rather than a temporary contraction. LDCs, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, are among the most exposed, with limited fiscal capacity to absorb sudden funding withdrawals. In this context, housing, historically underrepresented in ODA, risks being further overlooked, and without coordinated action, recent development gains in housing could be reversed before viable alternative financing pathways are in place. In response, this event examines how housing actors across diverse contexts can manage risk, strengthen attention to housing, and co-create new financing approaches aligned with SDG 11. Presenters will review the current state of ODA for housing and explore emerging opportunities, such as localizing development cooperation; improving housing and land data systems; scaling community-led finance mechanisms; leveraging philanthropic contributions; and designing blended finance frameworks that combine public, private, and community-based resources. The session will focus on facilitating dialogue to: foster partnership-building and collective problem-solving, catalyze new alliances, inform policy and practice, and contribute to a global housing agenda fit for purpose in a shifting ODA landscape. Ultimately, the event will ask: How can progress toward adequate, safe, and affordable housing for all, including the needs of women and other marginalized groups, be safeguarded as the funding environment shifts and housing is increasingly positioned as a critical enabler of human development? And what new partnerships, tools, and financing models are needed to keep the commitments of the NUA and SDG 11 within reach while strengthening local ownership and shifting decision-making closer to affected communities?