It is with great pleasure that we announce the publication of Building, owning & belonging: from assisting owner-driven housing reconstruction to co-production in Sri Lanka, India and beyond, edited by Jaime Royo-Olid, a CDS PhD candidate and Dr Shailaja Fennell. The book can be downloaded for free in PDF format from the EU Publications Office website (see hyperlink in the book title above).
The book has been produced by the European Union Delegation to Sri Lanka in Collaboration with UN-Habitat and includes articles from over 30 authors. H.E. the EU Ambassador to Sri Lanka Tung Laï Margue's foreword reads: 'The EU takes pride in having continuously supported communities in major reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of war, tsunami and earthquakes in South Asia. This has been possible by the generous contributions of EU citizens towards international development cooperation. This book emerges more specifically from the EU's Aid to Uprooted People (AUP) regional facility which has been the main vehicle of assistance to housing in Sri Lanka since 2006. In the last 12 years, the EU has committed EUR 64 million on the highly successful homeowner-driven approach in Sri Lanka alone. I would like tocongratulate the implementing organisations that have been involved in cooperating with the EU in making the best of people's contributions to their own reconstruction and development.
The Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) Ms Maimunah Mohd Sharif adds: 'This publication hence documents perspectives of the processes and the challenges faced along the way not only in Sri Lanka, but in various South Asian countries and others. But it is fitting that a review of the owner-driven approach and of the people's process highlights Sri Lanka as the focal case study for being at its origin. UN-Habitat is grateful to our funding partners — the EU, the government of Australia, the government of Switzerland and the Government of India (GoI) — who have supported the principles of owner-driven housing in Sri Lanka in recent years.'