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  1. Improvement Without Barriers programme
    Improvement Without Barriers programme - © ISVIMED
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Improvement without Barriers

Status
ongoing
50%
City

Medellín

Main actors

City Government

Project area

Whole City/Administrative Region

Duration

Ongoing since 2013

Increasing access and mobility for people with disabilities

Although not always visible, there are significant numbers of disabled people living in low-income communities. ISVIMED, the agency responsible for managing social housing in the city of Medellín, estimates that 12% of the Medellín population is disabled. Disability Awareness in Action, the global human rights for disability network states that “There is a strong relationship between poverty and disability. Poverty can be linked to a higher risk of acquiring a disability, once a person has a disability, they are more vulnerable to becoming poor”.
 
Disabled people on low incomes face significant challenges. Poor access and inadequate housing mean they are often housebound and need constant support at home. The Improvement without Barriers (Mejoramiento Sin Barreras) programme focuses on advancing the living conditions of people with mobility difficulties by providing them with specifically designed bathrooms and improved access routes to their homes. This improves the quality of life for people living in some of the city’s poorest neighbourhoods.
For further information about the case study, click here.

Sustainable Development Goals

End poverty in all its forms everywhereEnsure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all agesBuild resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovationReduce inequality within and among countriesMake cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

World Habitat Awards

This project was shortlisted for the 'World Habitat Awards' in 2015 in the following category: Finalist.

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City
Medellín, Colombia
Size and population development
The city of Medellín covers a surface area of 376,4 km2 With a population of 2,427,129 inhabitants (2018). It is the capital of the Antioquia Department and is the second biggest city of Colombia. Its metropolitan area, the Valle de Aburrá, is home to 3.9 million people, which makes it the second biggest to Bogotá.
Population composition
The 2018 DANE census data shows that the population comprises 53% females and 47% males. 71.2% of Medellín residents are aged between 15-64, 10.9% are aged 64 and over and 18% of residents are children below the age of 15. 61.3% were born in the city, 38% in other parts of Colombia and 0.3% in another country. The ethnographic makeup of the city is: Mezitzo or White 94.4%, Afro-Colombian or Afro-descendant 6,5% and Indigenous Amerindians 0.1% Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion in Medellín and all of Colombia.
Main functions
Medellín, officially Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia and the capital of the department of Antioquia. The city is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central region of the Andes Mountains, at an elevation of 1,500 metres.
Main industries / business
Medellín is one of Colombia's main economic centres. Its economy is led by the Grupo Empresarial Antioqueño (Antioquian Enterprises Group). This group has an aggregate market capitalization of approximately US $17 billion and employs more than 80,000 Colombians. Medellín's main economic products are steel, textiles, tourism, agriculture, public services, chemical products, pharmaceuticals and refined oil. The city serves as headquarters for many national and multinational companies.
Sources for city budget
The City of Medellín draws its budget for public expenditure from taxes, fees, fines, operating revenues and subsidies from the national government of Colombia. Low tax rates mean social and economic development policies have been funded by the city's ownership of the main energy supplier, Empresas Publicas de Medellín (EPM); 30% of its profits go directly to the city's administrative budget.
Political structure
Medellín is a city governed by a republican democratic system with a decentralized government. The government of the city of Medellín is divided into executive and legislative branches. Administration is shared by the Mayor and the Municipal Council, both elected by popular vote. The municipality belongs to the Medellín Metropolitan which is made up of ten neighbouring municipalities.
Administrative structure
The municipality is divided into six zones: The urban zone, which is subdivided into 16 comunas (communes). The communes are further divided into 249 statistical barrios (neighbourhoods). The remaining zones outside the urban zones comprise five corregimientos (townships).
Website
http://www.medellin.gov.co
Medellín is the second largest city in Colombia with a population estimated at over 3 million residents. The way many settlements in Medellín are built makes them inaccessible to most people with mobility problems. Often, they are built on land that nobody else is using, which is frequently steeply sloping, with narrow roads and tracks that are rarely surfaced. 
 
Problems with accessibility start at home. Many disabled people struggle because the layout of their home is unsuitable. Most homes in low-income settlements are built on small sites at minimal cost. Few homes have bathrooms that are accessible for disabled people. This means that many disabled people need full time carers to help them and, in some cases, people have to wash or use toilet facilities in unsuitable places, affecting their privacy and creating risks to their health. This not only makes disabled people dependent on others, it also places great demands on their carers. Typically, carers are family members, who in some cases have to provide 24/7 care. This often prevents carers from working and participating in society. Additionally, adapting homes so that they include proper access for disabled people is usually beyond the means of people living in low-income communities.
 
The main objective of the Improvement without Barriers programme is to improve the quality of life of people living with a disability, their families and carers.
The City of Medellín has introduced a number of measures aimed at tackling poverty. It is in this context that the programme ‘Improvement without Barriers’ was introduced. 
 
ISVIMED was tasked with helping people with disabilities and their family members be more independent and improve their quality of life through small improvements in the physical infrastructure of their homes. The decision was made to concentrate on improving bathrooms by upgrading them and improve access routes to and around their homes. ISVIMED see bathrooms as particularly significant. The privacy that being able to bathe independently brings is important in developing self-esteem and confidence.
 
The criteria to apply for the programme is:
  • Living in a regularised house and land (if this is not the case at the time of application, ISVIMED can help).
  • Living in a zone that is not marked as high-risk (e.g. not on an unstable slope).
  • Owning the home and not having any other property.
  • Having an income of no more than two salaries of the legal minimum wage.
  • Having resided in Medellín for at least six years and in the house for at least three years.
  • Having access to water and sewerage.

The programme is fully funded by the City of Medellín with a budget of USD$1.3million for the improvement of up to 2,000 homes over two years. This means, the programme is reliant on funding from the City to continue.

Between 2013 and 2015, the project successfully improved 1,450 homes. Government housing programmes in Latin America rarely apply to both formal and informal housing sectors. The programme is uniquely focused on people’s needs not on a sector. The programme is focused on minimal intervention at low cost, enabling it to reach a large amount of people quickly.
By making improvements to the houses where people with disabilities live, the programme is providing the conditions that are necessary to help disabled people live autonomously whilst freeing up time for their carers.
The programme has a team of evaluators employed throughout the implementation phase to monitor performance. The evaluation has yet to be completed.
The main difficulty encountered during the development and implementation of the programme was the lack of reliable data about people with disabilities. To overcome this problem, the project was promoted through the media and encouraged people with a disability to come forward and apply.
The budget timetable for the City of Medellín and the change in administration within the local authority meant the programme could only be offered for a two-year period.
Lessons learned - the programme operated with little information about the client group it was helping. A preliminary research study would have helped ISVIMED plan and target the programme more effectively.
 
Transferability - there is interest from other cities in Colombia to replicate the programme.

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