CARE Vanuatu has received a Bronze World Habitat Award for its “Safer Housing in Vanuatu through Gender Agency and Local Leadership” initiative, announced today at the 2026 World Habitat Awards global event. Organised by World Habitat in partnership with UN-Habitat, the awards honour solutions that advance sustainable, resilient, and equitable housing worldwide.
Vanuatu, a vulnerable country
The project addresses Vanuatu’s extreme vulnerability to cyclones, earthquakes, and climate shocks. Vanuatu has previously been ranked by the UN University WorldRiskIndex as one of the world’s most ‘at-risk’ countries for natural hazards.
Launched following Tropical Cyclones Judy and Kevin (2023), the project builds on a decade of shelter work since Tropical Cyclone Pam (2015), including prior U.S. Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA)-supported disaster management efforts.
Difficult access
In remote Tafea Province, accessible only by weekly small aircrafts, the initiative trained shelter focal points, who provided shelter advice to households in their communities, provided affordable household kits (e.g., hurricane straps, nails, hammers), and leveraged local materials and traditional knowledge.
It also promoted cost-effective, community-led “Build Back Safer” self-recovery, by encouraging participants to find a safe location, engage in good planning and design, build strong foundations and connections, and use cross-bracing which would be resistant to strong winds.
Through the project, more than 1,600 households were supported to strengthen their homes and communities against future hazards, reducing the reliance on external costs, particularly in the face of global aid cuts.
Women’s leadership
The project also prioritised women’s leadership by empowering them to drive shelter preparedness and recovery through technical training, decision-making, and collective action to reduce disaster risk.
Women and girls in Vanuatu often experience significant disadvantage. They are excluded from making decisions and leadership at all levels, they live with poor health, they reach lower education levels than men, and they face widespread violence. They are also more vulnerable in times of climate-driven disaster. This is why their engagement and leadership are critical during times of crisis, to speak and act on behalf of those most impacted.
Sébastien Fesneau, CARE Vanuatu’s Country Director, says:
“We are incredibly honoured to be one of the recipients of the 2026 World Habitat Award. This recognition truly belongs to the communities and women leaders of Vanuatu who are demonstrating what it means to be resilient. This award has shown that locally-led, gender equal, and affordable solutions are some of our most powerful tools for disaster response.”
Key achievements
Key achievements include:
- Training ‘community shelter focal points’, integrated into disaster committees.
- Developing manuals, tools, and packages for cyclone-resistant construction.
- Demonstrating women’s roles in shelter leadership and mobilisation.
- Scaling cost-effective kits for low-income, remote settings.
This recognition underscores CARE’s broader commitment to climate resilience, gender equality, and equitable disaster funding, and highlights how locally led, women-centred approaches can deliver sustainable housing solutions in disaster-prone areas.
CARE has been in Vanuatu since 2008, working with communities to build resilience to disasters and climate change shocks and increase women and girls’ involvement in community and national leadership.
ENDS
For media enquiries contact Marianne Murat at +61 (0)466 440 160 or marianne.murat@care.org.au About CARE International
CARE International is a humanitarian organisation leading the fight to end poverty in the world’s most challenging situations. Women and girls are at the centre of our work, because we cannot overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities. We know that when a crisis erupts, women are often the first to pick up the pieces, so we work alongside women, so they have the power to make change where it’s needed most. Founded in 1945, CARE currently works in over 120 countries and last year alone, reached 53.4 million people through nearly 1,500 projects. Find out more at https://www.care-international.org/
About CARE Australia
CARE Australia is one member of the global CARE Confederation. CARE Australia supports women and girls around the globe to save lives, defeat poverty and achieve social justice. We work in partnership with local communities to provide equal opportunities for women and girls to be educated and to earn an income, gain access to essential resources like food, health care and clean water, and to be able to withstand and recover from the increasing impacts of disasters, conflict and other crises. Our programs focus on women and girls because we know when one woman breaks the cycle of poverty she brings four others with her – and that’s a powerful multiplier of impact. Find out more at https://www.care.org.au
