Dear HIC Members, Friends and Allies,
As we wrap up 2024, the HIC-GS sends our best wishes for a restful and joyful end to the year.
It is a pleasure and an honour to share this video with you, a visual journey into the numerous ways we collaborated and joined forces this year to defend and advance human rights related to habitat.
Your dedication has been invaluable, and as we look ahead to 2025, we are inspired by the strength, unity and endless commitment of our Coalition. Together, we will continue to make a meaningful impact in the year to come.
We also share with you end-of-year greetings from our HIC Presidents:
With our kind regards,
Yolande, Irene, Sophia, Diana, Pelisa, Desmond, Aravind and Marie HIC-GS Team
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As we close the curtain on the year 2024, my heart is filled with so much gratitude. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Habitat International Coalition (HIC) family. The year 2024 was not without challenges. We fought injustice, we stood together and defended the rights of the marginalized through our various advocacy interventions. We collaborated with different allies of HIC and amplified the voice of the voiceless on gender through the feminist movements, land and housing rights through the various platforms. We challenged systems, practices at global and regional levels. We successfully made our messages known at the Summit of the Future, at the World Urban Forum and indeed at regional and local levels through our evidence-based advocacy. Your efforts have not gone without notice. Each step taken to protect the rights of the marginalized is celebrated and appreciated.
As we enter 2025, I would like to wish each one of you renewed vigor, health and success as we continue in the fight against all forms of injustice. We look forward to a better world, freedom of Palestine, Peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.
Happy Holidays and a Prosperous New Year.
Grace M. Chikumo HIC President
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As we reflect on another year as part of our global network, we acknowledge the challenges and struggles faced on the world stage. This year, we witnessed ongoing conflicts—wars along the 35th meridian, the genocide in Palestine, internal struggles in Sudan, and the power struggles over Ukraine’s resources. Yet, we also celebrate the victories of popular governments in countries like Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay.
Through it all, our HIC community continues to thrive. Our solidarity, self-managed, cooperative efforts remain strong, and our resistance to hegemonic forces remains creative and steadfast. We are pushing to transform patriarchy and bring about lasting change.
Our work is seen in action—both big and small. We share in the “popular pot,” create and live in collective housing, strengthen gender equality in our groups, and engage in discussions on public policies in our assemblies. We recover ancestral knowledge, exchange goods through the social economy, organize to improve our neighborhoods, and fight for land and environmental justice.
Every day, we are building a powerful Habitat International Coalition…
With all that we’ve accomplished and all that lies ahead, we have enough reasons to step into 2025 with renewed strength and determination!
Guillermo Javier Marzioni HIC Vice President
