UN-Habitat - Proper policies key to Upgrading Slums by UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 11:36am 20th Apr, 2007   7 May 2007    Housing conditions in South Africa often ‘desperate’ despite efforts.    South Africa has made great efforts to redress housing inequality but desperate living conditions persist, according to a United Nations human rights expert who today called on the country’s Government to boost social services and take other measures to improve all settlements.    “Success cannot be measured merely through the number of houses built but also needs to take into account quality of housing and access to services, especially for the poor,” the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Miloon Kothari, who visited the country from 12 to 24 April, said.    In a statement released in Geneva, Mr. Kothari acknowledged efforts made by the South African authorities at all levels to address democratization of housing since the end of apartheid in 1994, and he said that genuine attempts by law and policy makers have been made to deal with racial segregation, inequality and systematic human rights violations.    In that light, he said he was particularly pleased that 90 per cent of land claimed by communities after desegregation had already been redistributed.    At the same time, he said many informal settlements that have sprung up as a result of large development projects, rapid urbanization and land restitution claims still face desperate conditions.    “In many such cases, communities do not receive even the most basic support services, including proper sanitation, water, access to schools, and access to livelihood options,” he said, adding that “there are few follow up support mechanisms such as regular maintenance or service repair facilities in cases of resettlement.”    To redress these conditions, Mr. Kothari recommended that the Government improve coordination between departments covering housing, water, health and social services, ensuring a unified approach to housing.    He also advocated inclusive tactics for the rehabilitation of urban areas, strategies to mitigate skyrocketing real-estate prices, restrictions on evictions and renewed concern for land restitution for indigenous peoples and shelter for households headed by women.    Nairobi, 18 April 2007 (IRIN)    The well-being of millions of the world’s slum-dwellers can only be improved through policies that not only target upgrading, but also strengthen urban and national economies, the World Bank Institute (WBI) has said.    "Proper measures, policies and regulations must be undertaken by local and national governments, international organisations and other stakeholders to improve the lives of slums-dwellers and stem their rapid spread," Barjor Mehta, WBI representative, said in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.    Hundreds of millions of slum-dwellers are exposed to severe inadequacies and cannot access human requirements such as water, sanitation, shelter, health and education.    Speaking at the launch of a slum upgrading and prevention multimedia resource tool, Mehta called for a positive attitude in coming up with policies and regulations regarding slum-upgrading programmes.    "There is a need to project positive messages saying there is a way out, this can be done, has been done and we are going to do it," he said.    Titled: "Approach to Urban Slums", the tool aims to make available information on slum upgrading. "We want to put this tool on the table to elicit interactions and come up with solutions to handle this phenomenon," Mehta said.    "Urban expansion poses great challenges, with developing countries set to triple their entire urban areas in 30 years, and their population expected to double if current policies remain unchanged," said Rafael Tuts, a representative from UN-Habitat.    Meanwhile, the executive director of UN-Habitat has called on central and local governments to apply the rule of law evenly in land issues to achieve sustainable urbanisation.    Sustainable urbanisation is also about the rule of law    "Sustainable urbanisation is also about the rule of law, and those regarding land ownership should be applied well and not after people have settled on specific land and live there for several years," Anna Tibaijuka told a news conference at the on-going UN-Habitat 21st Session of the Governing Council meeting in Nairobi.    The lives of over 1 billion slum-dwellers, she added, were threatened by poverty; and solidarity and governance are key to eradicating it.    According to Tibaijuka, the Council is looking at mechanisms to raise funds to put up affordable housing for slum-dwellers. "We are looking into helping these people raise housing finance through the creation of housing cooperatives and business entities," she said.    Sixty percent of Nairobi residents live in slums, occupying five percent of residential land, according to UN-Habitat.    April 17, 2007    Kenyan President promises to double funding for Housing Projects, by Alex Ndegwa. (The East African Standard - Nairobi)    The Kenyan Government said it will double it''''s funding on the Kenya Slum Upgrading Strategy, for the construction of houses to offer millions of slum dwellers a decent living.    President Kibaki, the Head of State said "We intend to double the amount in the coming financial year," as he opened the 21st session of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) governing council at UN offices in Nairobi.    The President reaffirmed the Government"s commitment to stopping the spread of unplanned settlements, with the upgrading plan seeking to address the plight of about 5.4 million people living in slums.    While acknowledging that a lot of money was needed for the programme, Kibaki said the Government and other development partners would pool resources through the Low Cost Housing and Infrastructure Fund.    "Its implementation is estimated to cost more than $12 billion in 13 years," Kibaki told delegates, who included diplomats, ministers and other representatives from 53 countries attending the five-day conference.    Work on the 600 housing units, he said, was under way in Kibera. In an effort to transform the lives of about 500,000 people in Kibera, the Government and UN-Habitat unveiled the project in 2003.    The programme involves the construction of 14 blocks of flats and 770 housing units. Once completed, it would also ensure the provision of basic services such as water and sanitation. Improvements in other informal settlements will follow, in a programme expected to take 10 to 15 years.    On Monday, the President announced that the Government had initiated other projects to improve the welfare of urban dwellers.    It had embarked on water and sanitation projects in Soweto, Nairobi, and in Mombasa and Kisumu. A similar project would be implemented in Mavoko, Athi River, before June, he added.    Kibaki also spelt out other measures aimed at halting the development of new slums, including strengthening local authorities" management capacity. To underscore the central role played by local authorities in creating sustainable urbanisation, Kibaki said the Government had initiated reforms that included the introduction of Local Authority Service Delivery Action Plans.    In addition, the Local Governments Act would be reviewed to provide for direct election of mayors, deputy mayors and chairmen of county councils to enhance accountability.    Such measures, said the President, established checks and balances by encouraging the involvement of residents in the affairs of their councils.    "This will enable the citizens to participate in budgetary process and afford them a say in the way these institutions spend the taxes they collect," he said.    Anna Tibaijuka, head of UN-Habitat said poverty, which has for long been associated with rural areas, has increasingly become urbanised.    A UN-Habitat report says about one person out of two is an urban dweller. The world"s urban population is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 1.78 per cent between 2005 and 2030, almost twice the population rate.    By 2030, the report further shows, the number of new urban households requiring shelter will increase by 35 million households every year from 2005, or 96,150 households per day, or 4,000 households per hour.    Speaking at the youth enterprise day, Tibaijuka said more attention should be given to sustainable development of urban youth. "Youth entrepreneurship promotes self employment. Youth should be supported with access to infrastructure, seed money, mentoring and other services that can enable them set up micro enterprises," she said. Visit the related web page
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