MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine President highlights the State's role in housing for all

“Middle-income countries account for 60% of the world's poverty,” President Fernández explained

Argentine President Alberto Fernández Monday insisted that “giving a roof to every inhabitant is an act of justice.” Fernández made those remarks at the closing ceremony of a Forum of Ministers and Highest Authorities of Housing and Urban Planning of Latin America and the Caribbean at Buenos Aires' Kirchner Cultural Center (CCK).

The President also said housing “is a human right” that should not be “thought of as a commodity.” It is not acceptable to hold it as a “good to which some have access and others do not,” said Fernández who also spoke against “naturalizing homelessness.”

He also explained that in Argentina “there are 140 thousand houses under construction”, in addition to the 100 thousand that were built during his administration. “We have to continue fighting for a better world and for the equality that is needed all over the world, in a critical situation that affects everyone,” said Fernández.

“I thought it was a formidable idea to address a very important issue for the region, we live in the most unequal continent in the world. Access to housing is a human right and should be addressed as such. The fact that we can start the year projecting a joint plan to address the problem of homelessness seems to me to be a great step forward,” the Argentine president also pointed out.

“No one would argue that we have to preserve human rights, however, we discuss whether the State has to provide the right to housing”, he wondered.

Regarding the global climate crisis, Fernández said he believed world powers “should help sustain the environmental issue in those countries that are not the cause of the crisis and are considered middle-income countries.”

“We always end up being trapped in limbo because we are neither powerful nor poor and they take a lot of rights away from us. What nobody takes into account is that middle-income countries account for 60% of the world's poverty”, the President concluded.