Each new home includes a household toilet, while the water infrastructure includes a 100 m³ reservoir, three water points with four faucets each and 4.4 kilometres of internal water supply lines. Sanitation and hygiene capacity-building training has also supported users of the new facilities.

For Yenenesh, who lost her husband in the disaster, having a permanent home has been part of a longer journey toward recovery.

“After the disaster, we moved into a temporary shelter. It was then that Habitat for Humanity joined the recovery effort and followed up on our progress until we were finally settled into our own home. We are truly thankful.”

The impact is also felt beyond individual households. 

For Nebire, a young member of the community, access to homes, clean drinking water and latrines represents an important improvement for the wider community.

“The homes, clean drinking water and latrines are improvements that mean a lot, especially to our elders, mothers and fathers.”

The experience in Gofa highlights the interconnected nature of recovery. Safe housing, water and sanitation are not separate needs. Together, they help create the conditions in which families and communities can begin to rebuild with greater dignity, safety and stability.

The work also demonstrates the importance of partnership in responding to the aftermath of disaster. Communities, government authorities and development partners each have a role to play in creating pathways from immediate displacement toward longer-term recovery and resilience. 

Recovery often means more than replacing what was lost. It means rebuilding the foundations of everyday life. In Gofa Zone, safe homes, clean water and sanitation are helping families move forward with dignity, safety, and hope, while creating the conditions for stronger and more resilient communities.

Housing now recognized in Malawi’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) outline each country’s commitments under the Paris Agreement to reduce emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. While housing is often viewed as a social or infrastructure issue, Malawi’s updated NDC now explicitly names housing, informal settlements, and urban resilience as part of its climate response.

This is the first time housing has appeared in the country’s NDC, and it followed months of advocacy and technical engagement by Habitat for Humanity Malawi and partners.

This policy shift matters because of what it makes possible. Climate finance, national adaptation plans, and infrastructure investment tend to flow toward what a country’s climate policy names explicitly. A pledge that omits housing tends to produce climate responses that omit it too, leaving vulnerable communities without the support they need to prepare for and recover from climate shocks. 

This milestone strengthens the housing agenda in several critical ways:

• Unlocking Climate Finance: It positions Malawi to attract international climate funding specifically designated for resilient urban development and housing infrastructure.
• Stronger Housing Standards: It paves the way for better building regulations, ensuring that homes are constructed to withstand extreme weather events.
• Upgrading Vulnerable Communities: It prioritizes the transformation of informal settlements into safer, healthier, and more sustainable neighborhoods.

Naming housing in the NDC creates a stronger platform for climate-resilient housing, access to climate finance, and greater attention to the needs and dignity of the more than 1.4 million people living in informal settlements across Malawi.

Malawi government cites Habitat partnership in UN address on urban development

Complementing the NDC win is the recent UN’s High-Level Meeting for the Mid-Term Review of the New Urban Agenda in New York.

During the session, Malawi’s Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Hon Chimwemwe Chipungu, addressed the international community on the country’s progress toward inclusive, resilient urbanization. 

Malawi’s urban strategy, he explained, now centers on developing secondary cities to ease pressure on the capital, strengthening rural-urban linkages, and decentralizing authority so local governments can better lead implementation. He called for greater investment in affordable housing, resilient infrastructure, and informal settlement upgrading — and for improved access to climate finance, technology transfer, and technical assistance to make that investment possible.

In making that case, the Minister pointed to a concrete example already underway: Habitat for Humanity Malawi’s partnership with a local government authority and service providers on a slum-upgrading intervention that transformed an informal settlement in Lilongwe. This initiative was highlighted as an example of the multi-stakeholder collaboration needed to advance inclusive and resilient urban development across Malawi.

Reflecting on the significance of the milestone, Habitat for Humanity Africa Area Vice President Abi Riak noted: “This is exactly why we invest in advocacy — to secure public commitments, strengthen community accountability, and translate policy into practical change. None of us advances the mission alone. When national, regional, and global teams bring their different strengths to a shared purpose, we achieve more together than any one team could accomplish on its own.”

What comes next

Policy commitments are an important starting point. Their success will depend on translating national frameworks into action through investment, implementation and continued collaboration.

The next step is turning policy into practice by supporting implementation, strengthening partnerships and ensuring that resilient housing reaches the communities that need it most, with those communities playing a meaningful role in how it’s implemented and monitored.

As climate risks continue to grow, Malawi’s experience demonstrates that housing can no longer be viewed solely as a development issue. Safe, resilient and well-planned housing is fundamental to climate adaptation, helping communities withstand shocks, recover faster and build a more sustainable future.

Read Malawi’s NDC climate pledge here

Read the Minister of Malawi’s address at the Mid-Term Review of the New Urban Agenda below.

Côte d’Ivoire is estimated to have lost more than 90% of its mangroves between the 1970s and 2013. In Ghana, more than 60% of the coastline is now vulnerable to erosion and flooding, and the country’s remaining 13,000–14,000 hectares of mangrove forest — concentrated in the Volta Delta, Keta Lagoon Complex, Songor Lagoon, Densu Delta, Muni Lagoon, and Ankobra Estuary, according to the Forestry Commission of Ghana, Global Mangrove Watch, the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Programme, and the Ramsar Information Service — continue to shrink under pressure from unsustainable harvesting, urban expansion, salt mining, pollution, and climate change.

To mark the 2026 World Mangrove Day, Habitat for Humanity joined partners including UN-Habitat Côte d’Ivoire and ActionAid Ghana alongside communities to launch large-scale mangrove restoration activities under the Improved Resilience of Coastal Communities (IRCC) Project, supported by the Adaptation Fund.

Ghana: from Anloga to Ada West

In Ghana, restoration efforts are already underway. More than 95,000 mangrove seedlings have been planted in Anloga District, with an additional 95,000 seedlings set to be planted across 38 hectares in Ada West. Ultimately, the project aims to restore 479 hectares of degraded mangrove ecosystems across the Greater Accra and Volta regions.

The Volta Delta, where much of this work is concentrated, is recognized as one of West Africa’s most important coastal wetland ecosystems, supporting thousands of people through fishing, farming, and salt production.

As Malik Gbene, ActionAid Ghana’s Quality and Knowledge Manager, put it: 

“Climate justice begins with community-led action. It is our collective responsibility to restore what is lost by planting new seedlings. By investing in mangrove restoration today, we are protecting livelihoods, strengthening coastal resilience, and safeguarding the environment for future generations.”

Côte d’Ivoire: from Jacqueville to Grand-Bassam

In Côte d’Ivoire, just days ahead of World Mangrove Day, partners marked the start of the mangrove restoration efforts with a ceremony in the village of Attoutou B, Jacqueville.  The exercise targets restoration of 58 hectares across five communities in Jacqueville followed by 45 hectares in Grand-Bassam.

“When we restore mangroves, we are not simply planting trees—we are rebuilding the future of coastal communities.”  Alioune Ndiaye, Chief of Party, Habitat for Humanity.

Across both countries, the project aims to restore mangroves at scale, with nearly 87,000 people expected to directly benefit over the long term from the ecosystem services and protection these restored coastal forests provide.

Communities leading the way
Local communities are at the heart of the restoration process, s from collecting propagules and managing nurseries, to planting and monitoring seedlings.  Their leadership ensures restoration efforts are locally owned, sustainable and responsive to community needs.

Opening the door to climate resilience

This work reflects the vision of Habitat for Humanity’s Let’s Open the Door campaign, which calls for collective action to expand access to safe, resilient housing and stronger communities. By restoring mangroves, we are opening the door to greater climate resilience, helping coastal families protect their homes, secure their livelihoods, and build a more sustainable future.

The Improved Resilience of Coastal Communities project, financed by the Adaptation Fund, works with 21 coastal communities across Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana to strengthen resilience through nature-based solutions, improved infrastructure, and ecosystem restoration, creating lasting benefits for people and the places they call home.

UN-Habitat serves as the project’s Implementing Entity, with the nature-based solutions component led by Habitat for Humanity International and implemented in Ghana together with ActionAid Ghana.

Learn more about the project: Adaptation Fund Project - Habitat for Humanity Côte d’Ivoire