That being said, we feel that the Structural Funds can play a relevant role in supporting integrated projects to foster social, public or cooperative housing, either for acquisition or for rent at affordable rates, with subsidised social facilities aimed at urban renewal, social cohesion and the promotion of sustainable urban development.

A European microfinance facility for employment and social inclusion, called the European Progress Microfinance Facility (hereinafter the Facility), is hereby established.

Social housing is a way of combating property speculation, of ensuring the construction of social facilities and of promoting sustainable urban planning.

27. Points out the persistence of discrimination against women with regard to access to capital and resources such as food and education, to information technologies and to health care and other social facilities, and considers that women's involvement in economic activities, in rural as well as in urban areas, is of crucial importance in order to support their socio-economic position in post-conflict societies; underlines the positive role that micro-credit already plays in empowering women, and calls on the international community to take steps to encourage its use in countries recovering from conflict;

The estates themselves also need restructuring to provide a better mix of residential, economic and social facilities to create sustainable communities rather than the current uniform uses that promote lengthy journeys to services.

Whereas the success of mobility depends largely on the social facilities provided by the Member States and the reception host establishments;