Population and Health Dynamics in Nairobi’s Informal Settlements, 2014. African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC).
This report documents the living conditions and health risks of slum-dwellers across Nairobi’s informal settlements a decade after the Nairobi Cross-sectional Slums Survey of 2000 (NCSS 2000). It aims to not only highlight the needs of slum-dwellers but also inform policymakers on the changes that have occurred in the living conditions of Nairobi’s urban poor since 2000, considering development interventions by the Government of Kenya (GoK) and its development partners. The primary objective of the NCSS 2000 report was to document population and health problems among the residents of Nairobi’s informal settlements and to compare these with indicators from national surveys for other sub-groups of the Kenyan population. The survey report, Population and Health Dynamics in Nairobi‘s Informal Settlements, for the first time brought to light the plight of slum residents in Kenya.
Hitherto, this plight had remained hidden in national data systems and urban averages. In particular, the survey brought to focus the excess mortality and disease burden among the urban poor compared to any other subgroup in the country; their limited access to health care and family planning services; and the debilitating environment that characterizes their physical living conditions, including inadequate access to water and sanitation, poor housing conditions, poor livelihood opportunities and the near-absence of public sector services. A decade after the NCSS 2000, it became critical to revisit the slums of Nairobi to take stock of the changes that had taken place since 2000. The current report is guided by these key questions:
- Are the needs of the slum-dwellers still the same?
- What has really changed since the last report?
- What are the new areas of focus to improve the well-being of the slum-dwellers?
