Gender Equity in Housing: Collaborative Learning Between Reall and Habitat for Humanity International

Following the announcement of the partnership between Reall and Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), Reall has collaborated with the Gender Equity Curiosity Collective (GECC) to present a series of webinars focused on addressing gender equity in the housing sector. The GECC, a network of global activists, is committed to exploring gender equity in the analysis, response, and evaluation of international programs. By employing a learning-based approach, the collective engages with teams at their current stage and supports the advancement of their gender-related priorities.

Session 1: Creating the Case for Gender Equity Inclusion in Housing 

Delivered in October by Reall’s Monitoring, Research and Evidence Co-ordinator, Dr. Hannah Robinson and Habitat for Humanity International’s Programme Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Allison Burden, the interactive webinar explored the rationale and potential frameworks for incorporating gender equity. The session was attended by more than 80 participants.

The session began by covering the rationale for gender inclusion from a human rights perspective, exploring how fundamental rights to adequate housing are integral to providing dignity, security and well-being. We also explored how gender directly shapes access to housing, with particular reference disparities in resource access and design needs. To build a shared understanding, we also clarified how ‘gender’ and ‘households’ are defined in Reall: 

Gender:​ The roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that relate to identity​ 

Household: ​A collection of individuals, with diverse ages, genders, and relationships 

Drawing on peer-reviewed literature, we strengthened the argument for gender equity inclusion by referencing global research that linked improved access to housing with measurable enhancements in individuals’ quality of life.

These statistics were not only eye-opening for attendees but served as a powerful call to action for organisations to prioritise gender equity in their housing initiatives. 

• Women with strong property rights and inheritance can earn 3.8 times more income (Peterman, 2011) 

• When women own land, the likelihood they face domestic violence is reduced eightfold (Agarwal and Panda, 2007) 

When asking our audience directly why they believed Gender Equity was important, they used words like ‘Justice’, ‘Future Generations’, ‘Balanced Opportunities’, ‘Protection’, ‘Stability’ and ‘Safety’. We followed this question with case studies from our Portfolio, exploring individual impact studies that demonstrated how increased access to housing created career development, reduced isolation, improved mental health, community involvement, financial stability and leadership opportunities. These stories exemplified the tangible, real-world impacts that gender-sensitive housing policies can have on individuals and communities. 

We wrapped up with an interactive Miro Board where both Reall and HFHI participants collated recent work that related to topics raised in the sessions. These 56 projects covered construction, climate resilience, green finance mechanisms, public accountability, gender disaggregated data, and advocacy strategies across the global reach of both organisations.  

A key takeaway from this session was the consensus among participants on the transformative potential of gender equity in housing, not just as a policy priority, but as a fundamental human right. 

Session 2: Applying Reall’s Gender Toolkit  

Delivered in January by Dr Hannah Robinson (Reall), Allison Burden (HFHI), and Prof Juanita Elias from University of Warwick, the session primarily covered methods of addressing Gender in Housing using Reall’s recently published Toolkit, and was attended by over 50 participants. The session was split in two, with Prof. Elias exploring the role of internal accountability, and Dr Robinson taking on the role of external accountability in relation or organisations actively promoting gender equity.  

The internal accountability section championed the idea that addressing accountability requires more than isolated actions, and needs cohesive, consistent efforts across an organisation. We began the session by asking participants to share instances of initiatives or activities that they had seen create positive change for gender equity outcomes at an organisational level. We had 52 responses, and the main repeated actions included “participatory approaches”, “experimentation”, “listening”, “being brave” and “sharing knowledge”. This connects to how Reall conceptualise internal accountability; we see this manifesting in three ways:  

1. Defining Value   

2. Aligning Policies 

3. Creating Space for Dialogue 

Internal accountability is crucial for setting and upholding gender-equitable standards, and at Reall this has involved updating the gender equity policy, adding ‘gender and inclusion’ as a key output for the new Theory of Change, aligning research priorities toward gendered outcomes, holding ‘external voices’ sessions to bring in external speakers to share their experience on gender inclusion, and connecting with external advocacy groups such as the GECC at HFHI. 

Participants were then asked to identify the key activities they have seen create positive change for gender equity outcomes at a programmatic level. The key words for this activity included “staff training”, “leadership engagement”, “learning”, “better understanding of needs”, and “women in leadership positions”. These answers then lead directly to our external accountability section which explored the 8 key elements Reall believes are key in realising gender equity principles in housing programmes. 

Amplify Marginalised Voices  |  Ensure Secure Land and Property Ownership Rights  |  Support Women’s Livelihoods |   Adress Safety and Security Concerns |  Ensure Access to Essential Services |  Foster Social Cohesion |   Promote Sustainable and Resilient Housing  |  Monitor and Evaluate Impact 

Using the impact studies embedded in the Toolkit, we explored how these 8 elements were already in practise across Reall programmes. This involved showcasing how Zima homes in Kenya is amplifying women’s voices through construction company Build her, how gated entrances and communal areas improve safety and security of residents in AMC properties in Pakistan, and how Reall’s gender-focused survey tools are able to identify barriers and opportunities related to gender identity.  

After we noted how Reall conceptualises these key themes, we asked participants to rank them according to which practises they identified as being already common in housing programmes, and which were least practised: 

1. Promote Sustainable and Resilient Housing  

2. Amplify Marginalised Voices 

3. Ensure Access to Essential Services  

4. Monitor and Evaluate Impact   

5. Ensure Secure Land and Property Ownership Rights 

6. Support Women’s Livelihoods 

7. Foster Social Cohesion  

8. Address Safety and Security Concerns 

The scores given by participants listed the elements 1-8, however there was 3 distinct groupings within this. Participants clearly agreed the promotion of sustainable and resilient housing was the most common element seen in their programmatic experience, there was then several weighting points between this and the subsequent four elements, with livelihoods, social cohesion and safety all coming lowest in the rankings. In the future, it would be interesting to further explore this, to understand the rationale for why these elements were so low.  

We wrapped up our session asking participants about the connections between our work and their work, and several participants shared their positive remarks about learnings gained, and highlighted potential pathways for integration of the work: 

“We can do more to think about shared language around gender” 

“We can promote social cohesion into our community work in deeper ways” 

“We can create evidence on the differentiated impact on women with our interventions” 

Next Steps: Toward Active Gender Equity 

By bringing in diverse perspectives and fostering open dialogue, Reall is reinforcing the need for a collective approach to achieving gender equity.  

The following webinars in this series will be delivered by HFHI, however Reall attendance will still continue, demonstrating our commitment to this partnership, an active environment for learning, and a continued promise to uphold the importance of gender equity in our programming. This partnership underscores our shared vision: housing solutions that advance gender equity and create inclusive, resilient communities worldwide. 

As we continue this journey together, we remain dedicated to ensuring that gender equity is not just a goal but a fundamental principle embedded in every step of housing development and delivery. 

We would like to thank the Habitat for Humanity International team for their continued support during the start of this partnership, and we can’t wait to see what exciting events the future has. 

Additionally, we would specifically like to thank Allison Burden, who was pivotal in the ideation, curation and delivery in these sessions. We would also like to thank Sheldon Yoder, Kathy Mulville and Ruti Ejangue who’s feedback was much appreciated throughout the planning process.