XXXIV MINURVI General Assembly (Bridgetown, Barbados - 2025)
Event information
Attachments
Between December 3 and 5, 2025, the thirty-fourth meeting of the Forum of Ministers and High-Level Authorities of Housing and Urbanism of Latin America and the Caribbean (MINURVI) will take place in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Under the theme “Financing the Urban Transition: Housing, Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience,” the event will bring together government representatives, financial institutions, researchers, and experts from across the sector. The Assembly will provide a platform to explore strategies aimed at building resilient and sustainable cities, share national experiences, identify scalable policy and financial solutions, and strengthen regional collaboration. Its overall objective is to support countries in building resilience through climate change adaptation and to accelerate the transition toward more inclusive, circular, and climate-resilient urban development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Schedule
Financing the transition to climate resilient development remains one of the sustainable development challenges of our time. Financing for the middle to high income countries is becoming a greater challenge. This is all more critical for countries of the LAC region, many of whom are on the frontlines of the climate crisis. In addition, this region is one of the most dependent on financing through multilateral development banks and International financial institutions.
This session will explore the answers from the perspective of the Government of Barbados and the MDBs active in the region. This region has been leading in the innovative approaches applied to date.
The objective of this session is to deepen discussion on the management of housing and land stocks in Latin America and the Caribbean. By applying circular-economy principles—extending the useful life of assets and reducing the inputs required for production—the session aims to examine the role of vacant land and buildings that are not permanently occupied. These underutilized assets have the potential to contribute to local urban dynamics and help reduce housing and infrastructure deficits.
To advance this agenda, MINURVI approved the creation of a dedicated working group on this topic in November 2024.
The second edition of the Housing Yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean, produced through the partnership between CAF and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, marks a significant step forward in regional housing analysis and benchmarking. Building on its recognition by the 2024 Declaration of Belem, the Yearbook offers new high-quality data on housing market dynamics, affordability, financing, and land use, with over 230 indicators covering 15 countries—including three new additions. For this roundtable, country representatives are invited to reflect on how this resource can inform national strategies, foster informed dialogue among policymakers and the private sector, and position the region’s housing sector within global discussions.
This panel aims to engage Ministers in a strategic dialogue on how alternative financing mechanisms can be designed and scaled across diverse LAC contexts. It will explore how governments can leverage their land assets to attract private investment in regeneration and housing and empower subnational governments to mobilize resources for inclusive and resilient urban development. The discussion will also highlight the growing role of blended finance and private capital through instruments such as green bonds and IDB Invest operations.
Field Visit to sites in the Urban Area
- Afrexim Bank Trade Center (Construction site), Jemmotts Lane, St Michael
- Pierhead Development Project, Bridgetown
- Home Ownership Providing Energy (HOPE) Barbados, Lancaster, St. James
- Bullen’s Land (Housing Project), Holders Hill, St. James
Presentation of the Housing and Urban Intelligence Platform
Update on the Estimation of Housing Deficit in Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative
In the context of the progress made by MINURVI’s Amazon Working Group, in coordination with Brazil’s Ministry of Cities and with the technical support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and UN-Habitat, this session focuses on highlighting the need for a strong regional alliance among Amazonian national governments.
This effort aims to achieve sustainable, resilient, and socially inclusive urbanization. The session proposes strengthening multilevel cooperation and positioning Amazonian urban territories as a global priority in the climate and development agenda. It also calls on national governments to participate and engage in a collective commitment to join efforts aligned with the formulation of strategic frameworks for sustainable urban development in this region.
The Open-ended Intergovernmental Expert Working Group on Adequate Housing for All (OEWG-H), established under UN-Habitat Assembly resolution 2/7 in June 2023, aims to accelerate universal access to safe, sustainable, adequate and affordable housing. Its first session in 2024 reviewed global progress, proposed a framework for measuring housing adequacy, assessed UN-Habitat’s work on homelessness and slum upgrading, and examined international support for housing policies. The second session in October 2025 focused on actionable recommendations addressing tenure security, informal settlements, housing finance and social housing. This segment will recap the key decisions, and on the adopted roadmap, and suggest the opportunity for a regional session and mobilization of Member States to support the process.
This panel aims to engage Ministers in a strategic dialogue on how the housing and urban development sector can contribute to develop tourism in the LAC region and use it as a catalyst to promote more inclusive, sustainable, resilient and prosper urban environments. Furthermore, it seeks to understand how countries are meeting the challenges created by tourism to ensure adequate service provision and keep housing affordable in Latin America and the Caribbean. It will explore subregional differences, share successful policies and identify programmatic experiences.