100,000 Floors to Play On

UNACEM and the UNACEM Association of Peru join the regional initiative 100,000 Floors to Play On

Through the Urban and Rural Planning intervention line, UNACEM and the UNACEM Association have joined the regional initiative 100,000 Floors to Play On with the goal of building more than 16,000 m² of concrete floors in Peru in community sports fields, school playgrounds, community parks, health facilities, and community kitchens.

The regional initiative 100,000 Floors to Play On of Habitat for Humanity and the Inter-American Cement Federation (FICEM) was born in 2022, as part of FICEM’s Floors S³ program, and aims to replace 100,000 dirt floors with concrete in vulnerable housing throughout Latin America and the Caribbean by 2028, seeking to transform the lives, health, and well-being of families living in poverty.

In Peru, thanks to the support of UNACEM and the UNACEM Association, the initiative will be equivalent to 60 floors of 30m².

“The experience we have gained by contributing to the closing of infrastructure gaps in Peru has allowed us to understand the importance of recreational spaces in communities and their contribution to the well-being and integration of families. For this reason, we are happy to join FICEM and Habitat for Humanity, and contribute to the construction of more than 16,200 m² of floors in community spaces that will benefit more than 100,000 neighbors, especially children”, says Eduardo Sanchez, general manager of UNACEM.

The Sustainable Urban and Rural Planning intervention line is a social program of the UNACEM Association that seeks to benefit the people and communities of Peru by improving the basic living conditions of community environments and improving the health conditions of low-income families. The development of this guideline has a great influence in Metropolitan Lima, with greater incidence in the districts of South Lima, specifically in the population of the districts of Villa María del Triunfo, Villa El Salvador, and Pachacámac.

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics of Peru, by 2021, 8.9% of households (approximately more than 3 million people) nationwide will have a qualitative housing deficit. The highest percentage is found in rural areas of the country with 15.3%, while in urban areas it reaches 7.2%. 

“There is no doubt that the right to decent and adequate housing should be an achievable goal for everyone. This is why initiatives such as 100,000 Floors To Play On really save lives, prevent diseases, improve the quality of life, and contribute to poverty reduction. We understand that it is a big challenge that will have to be approached with prudence and responsibility, but it is also true that it requires mobilizing the interest, regional commitment, and alliances necessary to achieve it,” said María José Garcia, executive director of FICEM.

As of September 2023, the initiative has replaced 4,393 dirt floors with concrete, which means that more than 21,900 Latin Americans now have healthy floor in their homes in Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.

“We have achieved these results thanks to our work with key partners in each country. Today, the more than 21,900 people who live in these homes have a better quality of life and health, but it is clear to us that there are still many dirt floors to be replaced. We are currently in negotiations to expand the reach of the initiative and impact more families in Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, and Brazil,” concludes Ernesto Castro, area vice president of Habitat for Humanity in Latin America and the Caribbean.

If your company or institution would like to join the 100,000 Floors to Play On initiative, you can request information to [email protected] or [email protected].