Citas and IFC Social Project - Refugees in Brazil
Here at Citas, we seek to develop a social project that has housing as its central point. We truly believe that housing is crucial not only to an individual's quality of life, but can also have a direct impact on physical and mental health.
And if quality housing is so important, it should be for everyone.
Obviously, there are expensive and cheap homes. Large and small. For different budgets and salaries. For different types of family units.
When we started developing our project downtown, the most important question was always:
What are the minimum requirements for quality housing?
Honestly, we don’t have a 100% definitive answer yet. There are many small criteria that can or cannot transform a house into a good place to live, but we have always been certain of one thing: our quality housing has to be affordable and inclusive. It has to be real and possible – not a magazine cover dream or a status symbol soap opera mansion. It is the desire to create this product that gave rise to Citas. And this is probably the reason why the partnership we entered into with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) , back in 2020, makes so much sense.
The Refugee Situation in Brazil
The movement of people around the world is a historical fact. Previously, it was mainly due to the availability of resources in nomadic and foraging societies; today, it is due to social, political and economic problems; especially wars and persecutions.
Analyzing historical data on refugee reception in Brazil, it is clear that, although it is not a new movement, its relevance has been increasing in recent times. Just as an example, 84% of all asylum requests made directly to the Federal Police in the last year were made between 2017 and 2020. Currently, the five countries with the largest number of refugees are Syria, Venezuela, HAITI and Cuba.
In a recent survey, Brazilians generally showed themselves to be open to receiving immigrants. It was found that 8 out of 10 people support welcoming foreigners in this type of situation. Despite this, the country still receives very few refugees.
Barriers Faced
Throughout their lives, Brazilians go through some stages of living in society, which, despite being bureaucratic, are already quite familiar. For a foreigner, some items that generally seem trivial to us can represent huge barriers. Some of them are:
- Language
- Access to public education
- Housing
- Diploma validation
- Business Opening
Our goals with this Social Project
Considering the challenges faced by refugees and our experience with the real estate market, we have focused our efforts on rethinking housing in line with some of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals:
We seek complex answers to a complex problem. The goal of the program is to create a replicable solution that can reach many families and groups in the future. It is important to remember that the project, despite addressing historical problems that affect the population of large urban centers, is not welfare-based.
Our project does not have a welfare bias. The idea is not limited to charging less or talking about subsidized rent. That would be a simplistic answer to a complex problem that would not be replicable.
The project also aims to rethink forms and products. For now, we have more questions than answers:
How can I make it possible for this person to live in this place?
How do I perform a credit analysis on someone who does not have a formal employment contract or credit history with SERASA?
What rental guarantees can I ask for, so that this person can live there and at the same time I have the security of what I will receive?
Can I somehow offer other additional things that can increase this person's integration into society?
Could the fact that she lives in the center increase her employability, and as a consequence improve her available income for paying rent, becoming a virtuous circle?
EDGE Certification
The EDGE certification of the two assets is also part of this social project.
Unlike other certifications on the market, the EDGE seal takes into account the water and electricity consumption that the building will have in the long term, as well as the efficiency of use and reuse of materials throughout the construction. The seal was developed with the social contexts of developing countries in mind and therefore has very rational criteria that are in line with social projects.
The Cycles of the Social Project
And how do we intend to answer these questions? Imagine, test, measure.
The first buildings participating in the program should be ready in 12 months. That is the deadline we have to propose the first ideas. We have very qualified groups with us who have been working with these populations for some time and they are guiding us with data and realities that we are completely unaware of. In addition to the IFC, we have the support of UNHCR and Compassiva .
It is based on our deep understanding of the traditional real estate market with the inputs of these organizations about the reality of the refugee population that we are building this together with many hands.
The buildings have already been chosen! Initially, we will have units in R497. The specific units are still to be selected and we intend to match the profile of the residents and their needs with the available typologies. A large family with children does not occupy the same space as young single people, for example.
We have the next few months to design this new rental process and select the first group of residents. Then, we plan to monitor them for at least 6 months to measure the impact that the new housing has had, as well as to draw up statistics regarding defaults, late payments and other financial concerns that generally make property owners more hesitant to accept this type of rental.
Spread the word, spread the word, spread the word!
The last and most important step is to publicize the results. The data from the experiment must be widely disseminated. Our work will only be considered successful if it encourages other property owners to follow the same path and open up more opportunities for refugees. Prejudice and ignorance can only be combated with information, clarity and transparency, as well as, of course, a great deal of respect for others.
Next steps of the social project
We are still at the beginning of this journey, but we will be sharing the news here – almost like a logbook of this very rich experience. Don’t forget to follow us!