The Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) hosted this Wednesday, the 21st, the exchange forum ‘Housing, Social Exclusion, and Citizen Participation. The Role of Municipalities as Guarantors of Rights’. The event, organized by Solidariedade Internacional de Galicia (SIG), the Association Solidaridad para el Desarrollo y la Paz (SODEPAZ), and the Guatemalan entity MEJORHA, is part of the learning and experience transfer processes promoted by international cooperation.
The central theme of the day is the project ‘Promotion of the right to decent, adequate, and healthy housing for the Ch’orti’ indigenous population of the municipality of Jocotán, Eastern Dry Corridor (Guatemala)’, an initiative driven by MEJORHA in collaboration with SODEPAZ and SIG, with financial support from the Galician Cooperation of the Xunta de Galicia, the European Union, and other multilateral agencies.
The municipality of Jocotán, located in the department of Chiquimula and part of the Central American Dry Corridor, faces significant challenges stemming from climate vulnerability, poverty, and social exclusion. In this context, housing is a fundamental element for ensuring health, safety, dignity, and inclusion for the population, which is predominantly of the Maya Ch’orti’ indigenous people.
The forum brings together institutional representatives, experts, and social organizations from both territories, including Hadee Méndez, Ángel Berna, and Marvin Calderón from the Association for Housing Improvement of Guatemala (MEJORHA), as well as Antonio Sharshente, municipal representative of Jocotán, and Elida Súchite, a community leader from this Guatemalan municipality.
The meeting also includes participation from representatives of the Santiago de Compostela City Council, Ames City Council, the Galician cooperative Hábitat Social, the association Provivienda, the Galician Network against Poverty and Social Exclusion (EAPN Galicia), the Union for Housing of Compostela, REAS Galicia (Network of Alternative and Solidarity Economy of Galicia), the Galician Coordinator of ONGDs, and the initiative Etxekonak bat Sociedad Cooperativa of Navarra.
Through this dialogue between experiences from the Global North and South, the initiative aims to position housing as a fundamental human right and a key element for community well-being. It also seeks to generate a space for shared reflection and learning on the ethical and social responsibility of local governments, citizen organizations, and community networks in promoting more just, inclusive, and sustainable territories.
The organizing entities highlight that this forum represents an opportunity to strengthen alliances, exchange knowledge, and advance in the construction of local systems for the protection and guarantee of rights, emphasizing the role of international cooperation as a tool for social transformation and the defense of the right to decent housing.
