Women’s Health and Informal Settlements
Home Equals 2025 research report
“Informal Settlement Improvements and Women’s Health”
Habitat for Humanity’s new report, “Informal Settlement Improvements and Women’s Health,” reveals that improving housing in informal settlements promotes positive health outcomes for women and entire communities, advancing sustainable development.
These findings are more relevant today than ever as over 1.1 billion people around the world live in slums or informal settlements. Women are overrepresented in these communities, often facing greater vulnerabilities than men due to prevailing beliefs and practices that limit their access to education, economic opportunities, rights and asset ownership.
Key Findings
Adequate housing can have profound health benefits for women. Habitat for Humanity found that within the first year, key improvements in informal settlement housing could lead to:
20.3 million illnesses prevented, including respiratory infections, enteric infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, reproductive and urinary tract infections, and heat sickness.
42.9 million incidents of gender-based violence prevented, including intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. At least one of every 17 cases of sexual violence could be prevented if improvements in informal settlements are implemented.
80,200 preventable deaths avoided. At least one in four maternal deaths and one of every six deaths due to heat stroke could be avoided globally if improvements in informal settlements are implemented.
Bold actions to improve women’s health through housing
Habitat for Humanity International calls for bold, coordinated action to address the interconnected challenges of housing and women’s health and to prioritize solutions that elevate the unique needs of women living in informal settlements.
1. National and local governments must recognize the strong connections between housing and health. It is imperative that they integrate gender-responsive and community-led health and housing solutions as part of public health policies.
2. The donor community, especially Group of Seven — or G7— member states, must embrace a more holistic approach to global health—one that recognizes adequate housing and comprehensive slum upgrading as foundational investments in well-being, resilience and gender equality.
3. Implementing organizations must integrate gender-sensitive strategies into every initiative. Residents of informal settlements and their partners play a crucial role in improving evidence-based policymaking for women’s health, by promoting women’s leadership and addressing data gaps, especially in critical but overlooked aspects of adequate housing.
Finally, while these statistics are illuminating and should inspire immediate action, further analysis and more targeted interventions are limited by current data.
Local and global actors must fill gender and location-specific data gaps - especially around housing quality - to advance the health and well-being of informal settlement communities.
Predicted Health Benefits for Women in Informal Settlements
Explore the potential health benefits that improvements in informal settlements can make for women in your country. Click on the country to receive specific data. Additionally, click on the legend in the top right corner. And for a more detailed explanation, see the full report (pdf).
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Home Equals is a five-year global advocacy campaign committed to achieving policy change to ensure that people living in informal settlements have equitable access to adequate housing. Together, with partners, governments and communities, we can create lasting change.
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By increasing access to adequate housing in informal settlements, the Home Equals campaign improves health, increases safety and security, and creates a brighter future for individuals and communities.
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Improving informal settlements can increase a country’s economic development, income, health and education outcomes, as shown in the in-depth, data-driven report released by Habitat and our research partner, the International Institute for Environment and Development.