ARCHIVE Global
| Motto | One Basic Right, One Basic Need |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2006 |
| Founder | Peter Williams |
| Focus | Health, Housing, Architecture, Design and Disease |
|
Area served
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United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Cameroon, and Haiti |
| Mission | Global Public Health and Housing |
| Website |
ARCHIVE Global is an international non-profit organization that focuses on the link between health and housing. ARCHIVE stands for Architecture for Health In Vulnerable Environments. ARCHIVE Global was founded by Utne Reader visionary Peter Williams in 2006. Initially started in the United States, the organization welcomed ARCHIVE UK, its first affiliate based in the United Kingdom in 2009. ARCHIVE currently has ongoing projects in Bangladesh, Cameroon, Haiti, and the UK. Projects implement design solutions in housing to combat diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria, respiratory diseases, diarrheal diseases, and neglected tropical diseases. ARCHIVE Global is the winner of the 2013 Katerva Award for Urban Design, and was also named by Forbes magazine as one of the World's Best Sustainability ideas.
ARCHIVE Global focuses on combating diseases among the most vulnerable communities around the world through better housing design. On a preventative level, the organization advocates renovating inadequate housing for the economically disadvantaged in a bid to reduce their vulnerability to disease and ill health. It advocates a treatment-based approach by the creation of home-based care facilities for those already suffering from ill health thus making housing central to the delivery of suitable care.“Clean, warm housing is an essential input for prevention and care of diseases of poverty like HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Diarrhea, and Malaria.”
ARCHIVE's approach utilizes research, construction, and training to create a sustainable model for implementing an integrated, systems approach to housing and health. It is meant to target the health challenges faced by individual households and provides them with the skills to sustain these changes in the future. ARCHIVE's building initiatives are intended to promote sustainability and involvement among communities and community members. Meetings are held with the communities to discuss the health challenges faced as well as the ways that design improvements target specific goals. Individuals are trained to evaluate the conditions of their home, as well as utilize local materials and techniques to build healthier homes. In doing so, housing and health are improved, whilst a burden is lifted off public health services. Through this model, ARCHIVE works to ensure greater productivity within households, along with skills creation, greater employment opportunities and income. Moreover, the cost of projects is offset by using community ‘sweat equity’ and existing local finance facilities.
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