UNHCR – Half of the world's refugees now live in cities

December 8, 2009 · 0 comments

7 December 2009

As many as 50 per cent of the world’s 10.5 million refugees under UNHCR’s mandate are now living in cities and towns across the globe.  At least twice that number of internally displaced people and returnees are believed to be in urban settings. “We need to abandon the outmoded image that most refugees live in sprawling camps of UNHCR tents,” UNHCR High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said. “What we are witnessing is that more and more refugees live in cities.”

Guterres was speaking ahead of the annual “High Commissioner’s Dialogue,”which this year will focus in Geneva from 9-10 December on protection challenges in the context of urbanization. Like 3.3 billion other people in the world, refugees have been steadily moving to cities, mostly in developing countries, a trend that has accelerated since the 1950s. The number of city-dwellers has grown fourfold over the last 60 years, from 730 million in 1950 to over 3.3 billion today. Eighty per cent of urban-dwellers will soon live in towns and cities of the developing world.

“The rights of refugees travel with them wherever they flee,” Guterres said, “and they are entitled to the same protection and services in cities and towns that they have traditionally received in camps.” According to recent estimates, the Afghan capital of Kabul has grown threefold since 2001, and many of the new arrivals are former refugees who have returned from the Islamic Republic of Iran or Pakistan, or displaced people who are escaping violence in rural areas of the country.

Bogota in Colombia and Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire have both absorbed hundreds of thousands of victims of armed conflict who swell ill-serviced slum areas. In the Middle East, both Damascus in Syria and Amman in Jordan are providing a sanctuary for hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have been forced to flee their country. UNHCR experience on the ground paints a graphic picture of refugees struggling to survive in urban environments.  Forced to live in overcrowded slums and shanty towns, with little or no access to health and social services, most are obliged to eke out a living in the informal sector of the economy, where they are subject to exploitation.

Many individuals stay under the radar, preferring to remain “invisible” for fear of deportation. This makes registration and identification difficult. The arrival of large numbers of forcibly displaced people to cities places additional strains on scarce public resources such as health and education, and may lead to increases in the prices of basic needs such as food and accommodation. Refugees in cities will typically live alongside nationals and migrants who have migrated to urban areas in pursuit of higher living standards. These different groups all contend with difficult day-to-day circumstances in communities that will lack even the most basic welfare support.

More pressure on infrastructure and environment, on housing and social services in communities already struggling can create tensions between local and refugee populations – and in worst cases, can fuel xenophobia with catastrophic results.  Within this volatile and shifting context, UNHCR is faced with the most basic of challenges -how to identify and reach out to refugees. “While the issue is global, conditions vary greatly from region to region and so much depends on a local response. That’s why, as well as working at government level, we are highlighting the role of mayors and municipal authorities as pivotal. We look to them in particular to help build understanding and cooperation between refugees and the local population on the ground. They can make a big difference,” said Guterres.

UNHCR’s new “Policy on Refugee Protection and Solutions in Urban Areas” calls on states, municipal authorities and mayors, humanitarian agencies and civil society to recognize this new reality and to join forces to meet the challenge raised by a growing refugee population living in towns and cities worldwide.

Source – UNHCR

ADB – India: Sanitation for All, 2009

December 7, 2009 · 1 comment

India’s Sanitation for All: How to Make It Happen, 2009. Asian Development Bank.

Full-text: http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Water_for_All_Series/Indian-Sanitation/Indian-Sanitation.pdf

Providing environmentally safe sanitation to millions of people is a significant challenge. The task is doubly difficult in a country where the introduction of new technologies can challenge people’s traditions and beliefs.  

This report examines the current state of sanitation services in India and offers six recommendations that can help key stakeholders work toward universal sanitation coverage in India: scaling up pro-poor sanitation programs, customizing investments, exploring costeffective options, applying proper planning and sequencing, adopting community-based solutions, and forging innovative partnerships.

Uganda: Quality of Kampala Water Deteriorating

December 7, 2009 · 0 comments

6 December 2009

 SCIENTISTS have revealed that the quality of water supplied to Kampala is deteriorating.  A team of professors and scientists from Makerere University and the University of Bergen in Norway, reveals in a report after a four year study, that consumption of Lake Victoria water is disastrous.  The authors say the National Water and Sewerage Corporation, the body responsible for water distribution in the city, needs to do more.

In the report:  Sharing water, Problems, conflicts and possible solutions-the case of Kampala, the scientists suggest that developments in science and technology will solve future challenges concerning the environment. “A lot of heavy metals remitted by the industries end up in Lake Victoria.  The swamps, wetland soil and plants accumulate the metals,” said Prof. Petter Larsson from University of Bern.  The study, released at Makerere University last week, shows that Nakivubo swamp (channel) has high concentrations of zinc, lead and nickel. “The soil and plants had concentration above accepted international standards,” said Dr. Anne Miyingo, a senior lecturer at the department of zoology in Makerere University. She said food and vegetables should have a metal concentration below 1mg/kg.

Prof. Edward Kirumira dean faculty of Social Science Makerere University said although the Government wants factories to strengthen national economy, it must not ignore the pollution caused. “In Kampala, the water environment is socially determined.  Inhabitants of Nakasero and Kololo have indoor water and are also connected to sewer systems that lead to the treatment plant in Bugolobi,” said Kirumira. “However, the sewer has not been maintained. In many places, manhole covers have been stolen and the sewer filled with rubbish.” The sewarage works were designed to treat 32,000 cubic metres per day but are receiving less due to blockages in the system. 

People who live on hills are better off because they have septic tank systems where the liquids are disposed in the ground, while the solid parts are collected and taken to the sewage plant. The study points out that most people without toilets use pit latrines or plastic bags. “Most of the poor in Kampala live in wetlands, where spring water is contaminated, malaria cases are high and the risk of flooding is great,” said Dr. Ssengendo. He said industries in Kampala, close to wetlands, discharge effluents into water sources from which some residents collect domestic water. “Of the sewerage produced, only 27% is treated in Bugolobi. About 10% of the population produces sewerage from toilets, what happens to the 90%? Pit latrines have to be emptied by flushing during floods,” Ssengendo said.

Kampala City Council collects 25% of the solid waste generated every month while households in slums make  arrangements to dispose waste at mini-open-dump sites near their backyards. “As the dumped waste decomposes, the runoff seeps into water sources and contaminates them during the rainy season,” read the report.  Wetlands are effective natural filters that purify polluted water.  However, Nakivubo swamp has reduced its cleaning capacity due to increased agriculture and buildings, which allows waste to seep into Lake Victoria.

The scientists point out an inherent conflict between water meant for human use and the waste water produced.  “Domestic water should not contain any living organisms, particles or polluting chemicals,” says Kirumira. Bacteria, algae cells, aquatic animals, dead organic particles and ions of heavy metals are not acceptable in water used for drinking, food production, cleaning and swimming. The study also states that: “In contrast to drinking water, waste water contains compounds and particles we want to get rid of.  Some might be poisonous, but most of them are breakdown products from organic compounds like faeces and cleaning agents.”

From the water works point of view, using a water body that is a recipient for waste water creates problems. Extra effort has to be used in the cleaning process. If the raw water for the waterworks is mixed with waste water, special treatment is necessary,” said Kirumira. Chlorine added to drinking water removes most harmful micro-organisms but some parasites are resistant to the treatment.  Particles like mercury may accumulate in living organisms through the food chain and end up in high concentrations in fish due to the bio-accumulation,” reads the report.

Highlights

  • 27% of sewage produced is treated in Bugolobi.
  • 10% of the population produce sewage from toilets.
  • KCC collects 25% of the solid waste produced every month.

Annan Urges Kenya to Tackle Nairobi Slums

December 7, 2009 · 0 comments

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan urged Kenya Monday to accelerate efforts to improve living conditions in Nairobi’s squalid slums, which experts say could pose a threat to stability and national security.

Annan chaired weeks of talks last year that gave birth to the country’s coalition government and ended post-election violence in east Africa’s biggest economy that killed at least 1,300 people and drove another 300,000 from their homes.

The capital’s fetid shantytowns became ethnic battlegrounds during the crisis, and aid workers say the slums — with their huge numbers of marginalized youths — are “ticking time bombs” ahead of the country’s next poll in 2012.

“It is slow, could be faster, but it is absolutely essential … we must work together for clean drinking water, clean sanitation,” Annan told reporters in Kibera, which is home to some 800,000 people sharing just 250 hectares (618 acres).

He said the continued resettlement of people from makeshift homes made of tin and mud bricks into apartment-style housing would improve their health and boost the economy.

“When fewer people call in sick it saves money for the government and for companies,” he said during a tour of the slum’s litter- and sewage-filled alleys. While progress had been slow, he said, it was still “very encouraging.”

Kibera is Africa’s biggest slum, but Nairobi also has several other informal settlements, in which an estimated half of the capital’s 4 million population live.

Annan was touring Kibera to inspect work carried out under a joint initiative between the government and U.N.-agency HABITAT.

Monday, President Mwai Kibaki briefed him on progress the government had made toward much-needed reforms that were agreed during last year’s talks mediated by the former U.N. chief, according to a statement from Kibaki’s office.

The government is under growing pressure from Kenyans and donors to implement the wide-ranging changes, end corruption and prosecute high-profile masterminds of the post-election chaos.

Source – New York Times

WHO Bulletin – Slums, climate change and human health in sub-Saharan Africa

December 3, 2009 · 1 comment

Bulletin of the World Health Organization Dec 2009; 87:886-886. doi: 10.2471/BLT.09.073445
 
Slums, climate change and human health in sub-Saharan Africa
 
Brodie Ramin.  Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8M5, Canada.  

Correspondence to Brodie Ramin (e-mail: bramin@ottawahospital.on.ca).   

Sub-Saharan Africa is the least urbanized region in the world. Only 39.1% of the region’s population lives in cities.1 However, the region’s urban population is projected to more than double to 760 million by 2030.1 The rate of urbanization makes it very challenging to manage. A recent paper in the New England Journal of Medicine argued that urbanization is a “health hazard for certain vulnerable populations, and this demographic shift threatens to create a humanitarian disaster.”2  

Urbanization in Africa is linked to poverty. Globally, nearly 1 billion people live in slums, and this number is projected to double to 2 billion in the next 30 years.3 The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UNHABITAT) defines a slum as an urban area with a lack of basic services (sanitation, potable water, electricity), substandard housing, overcrowding, unhealthy and hazardous locations, insecure tenure and social exclusion.3 In sub-Saharan Africa, 71.8% of urban dwellers live in slums, the highest proportion in the world.4  

Over the coming decades, the effects of climate change will also be progressively felt across the African continent. Climate change and urbanization will interact, with unpredictable effects. The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that “urbanization and climate change may work synergistically to increase disease burdens.”5  

A significant share of ill health in slums stems from poor access to sanitation and clean drinking water. In 2000, 30–50% of African urban dwellers lacked a safe water supply.6 Even where it is available, access to safe water is often unaffordable for the urban poor. Slum dwellers in cities in east Africa pay 5–7 times more for a litre of water than the average North American.7  

Across Africa, 45% of the urban population lacked access to improved sanitation in 2000.4 In eastern Africa in 2006, open defecation was the only sanitation practice available to 33% of the population.1 This contributes to the contamination of water and land within cities as well as to many of the waterborne diseases prevalent in slums.4  

Flooded areas and ditches, latrines and septic tanks are key reservoirs that perpetuate cholera, malaria, dengue and yellow fever in urban areas.8 Infectious disease outbreaks are also precipitated by the high population density found in these areas, with overcrowding triggering epidemic-prone infections like pertussis and influenza.2,8  

Children bear a disproportionate burden of disease in slums. In Ethiopia and the Niger, rates of child malnutrition in both urban slums and rural areas are around 40%.4 Immunization coverage in slums in the Niger is 35% compared with 86% in non-slum urban areas.4 In Nairobi, where 60% of the city’s population live in slums, child mortality in the slums is 2.5 times greater than in other areas of the city.7  

Droughts are associated with a lack of access to water supplies for consumption and sanitation, as well as with poor agricultural productivity.  Water scarcity will increase for both urban and rural populations in Africa over the next century. Climate change is expected to bring more frequent and longer droughts to the region.9 Drought in rural areas may be a major trigger for in-migration to urban areas, further stressing urban infrastructure.5,10 Falling agricultural productivity in the region could place increased strain on local food markets, thus increasing rates of malnutrition in slums.  

Because climate change is associated with more extreme precipitation events and rising sea-levels, African cities will also experience more severe and more frequent flooding. Urbanization creates flood-prone conditions by covering the ground with pavement and buildings, and by building urban drains, causing runoff water to move more rapidly into rivers than under natural conditions.10 The urban poor build houses of weak, inadequate materials, often against hillsides that are subject to landslides during heavy rains.8 More than 70% of flood deaths in the Mozambique floods of 2000 occurred in urban areas.6 The Luis Cabral slum neighbourhood in the capital city of Maputo was completely destroyed and water and sanitation services were disrupted causing outbreaks of dysentery and cholera.10  

Urban outdoor pollution in Africa is responsible for an estimated 49 000 premature deaths annually.1 Slums are often located near factories and busy roadways thus rendering their inhabitants vulnerable to a high burden of respiratory disease. Exposure to elevated concentrations of ozone is associated with increased hospital admissions for pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma as well as with premature mortality.5 As summer temperatures rise, the concentration of ground-level ozone is increasing in most regions of the world.5  

African slum dwellers are particularly vulnerable to the negative health effects of rapid urbanization and global climate change. Further research is required to understand the impacts of climate change on the health of slum dwellers as well as to design appropriate adaptation policies. When planning public health interventions in Africa one must consider the dynamic relationship between climate change and urbanization and their impact on vulnerable urban populations.  

References

Source – http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/87/12/09-073445/en/index.html

World Bank – How to improve public health systems: lessons from Tamil Nadu

November 30, 2009 · 0 comments

How to improve public health systems : lessons from Tamil Nadu, 2009. (pdf, 746KB)

Das Gupta, Monica; Desikachari, B.R.; Somanathan, T.V.; Padmanaban, P. World Bank.

Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 5073

Public health systems in India have weakened since the 1950s, after central decisions to amalgamate the medical and public health services, and to focus public health work largely on single-issue programs – instead of on strengthening public health systems’ broad capacity to reduce exposure to disease. Over time, most state health departments de-prioritized their public health systems.

This paper describes how the public health system works in Tamil Nadu, a rare example of a state that chose not to amalgamate its medical and public health services. It describes the key ingredients of the system, which are a separate Directorate of Public Health – staffed by a cadre of professional public health managers with deep firsthand experience of working in both rural and urban areas, and complemented with non-medical specialists with its own budget, and with legislative underpinning.

The authors illustrate how this helps Tamil Nadu to conduct long-term planning to avert outbreaks, manage endemic diseases, prevent disease resurgence, manage disasters and emergencies, and support local bodies to protect public health in rural and urban areas. They also discuss the system’s shortfalls. Tamil Nadu’s public health system is replicable, offering lessons on better management of existing resources. It is also affordable: compared with the national averages, Tamil Nadu spends less per capita on health while achieving far better health outcomes. There is much that other states in India, and other developing countries, can learn from this to revitalize their public health systems and better protect their people’s health.

World Bank – Poverty in Latin America: sources of welfare disparities in Ecuador

November 30, 2009 · 0 comments

Poverty in Latin America : sources of welfare disparities in Ecuador, 2009. (pdf, 680KB)

Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys; Tinajero, Monica. World Bank

Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 5104

This paper contributes to the analysis of spatial poverty in Ecuador by deepening the understanding of the constraints faced by the poor in the country through an investigation of the role of portable characteristics (human capital) and geography in explaining welfare. At the national level, the results indicate that these characteristics explain 72 percent of the differences in welfare level between urban and rural areas, while returns to these characteristics account for 28 percent of the difference.

Comparing a leading and a lagging region, such as the coast versus the Amazon, the characteristics explain about 90 percent of the welfare differential in urban areas, while the returns explain about 30 percent of the welfare differential in rural areas. Among the characteristics analyzed, education is the most important variable for explaining differences in living conditions between urban and rural areas in Ecuador.

World Bank – Urban youth bulges and social disorder: an empirical study of Asian and Sub-Saharan African cities

November 30, 2009 · 0 comments

Urban youth bulges and social disorder : an empirical study of Asian and Sub-Saharan African cities, 2009. (pdf, 808KB)

Urdal, Henrik; Hoelscher, Kristian. World Bank.

Collection Title: Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 5110

By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities, and the greatest growth in urban populations will take place in the least developed countries. This presents many governments with considerable challenges related to urban governance and the provision of services and opportunities to a burgeoning urban population. Among the concerns is that large youth bulges in urban centers could be a source of political instability and violence.

Here, we assess this claim empirically using newly collected data on city-level urban social disorder, ranging from non-violent actions, such as demonstrations and strikes, to violent political actions, such as riots, terrorism, and armed conflict. The dataset covers 55 major cities in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa for 1960-2006. The study also utilizes a new United Nations Population Division dataset on urban populations by age and sex. The study further considers factors that could condition the effect of age structure, in particular the level of informal employment, economic growth, education, and gender imbalances.

The analysis finds that large male youth bulges aged 15-24 are not generally associated with increased risks of either violent or non-violent social disturbance. Furthermore, the proxy measures of “youth exclusion” do not seem to increase the risk that large urban male youth bulges are associated with either form of disturbance. However, several other factors that may be associated with higher levels of youth exclusion – notably absence of democratic institutions, low economic growth, and low levels of secondary educational attainment – are significantly and robustly associated with increasing levels of urban social disturbance.

World Bank – Social impacts of climate change in Bolivia: a municipal level analysis

November 30, 2009 · 0 comments

Social impacts of climate change in Bolivia : a municipal level analysis of the effects of recent climate change on life expectancy, consumption, poverty and inequality, 2009. (pdf, 990KB)

Andersen, Lykke E.; Verner, Dorte. World Bank.

Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 5092

This paper analyzes the direct evidence of climate change in Bolivia during the past 60 years, and estimates how these changes have affected life expectancy and consumption levels for each of the 311 municipalities in Bolivia. Contrary to the predictions of most general circulation models, the evidence shows a consistent cooling trend of about 0.2°C per decade over all highland areas, slight and scattered evidence of warming in the lowlands, and no systematic changes in precipitation.

The estimations indicate that the 1°C cooling experienced in the already cold highlands over the past five decades likely has reduced consumption possibilities by about 2-3 percent in these areas. Since the much richer population in the lowlands have benefitted slightly from recent climate change, the simulations suggest that recent climate change has contributed to an increase in inequality and poverty in Bolivia. Poor and indigenous peoples in the highlands are among the most severely affected populations. No statistically significant effect on life expectancy was found.

World Bank – Achieving urban climate adaptation in Europe and Central Asia

November 30, 2009 · 0 comments

Achieving urban climate adaptation in Europe and Central Asia, 2009. (pdf, 645KB)

Carmin, JoAnn; Zhang, Yan;

Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 5088

Many cities across Europe and Central Asia are experiencing the impacts of climate change, but most have not integrated climate adaptation into their agendas. This paper examines the threats faced and measures that can be taken by cities in the region to protect buildings, heritage sites, municipal functions, and vulnerable urban populations.

In general, local governments must be proactive in ensuring that existing buildings are climate ready, paying particular attention to emerging technologies for retrofitting the prefabricated, panel style buildings that dominate the landscape while assessing the viability of homes situated in flood plains, coastal areas, and steep slopes. They also must ensure that new developments and buildings are designed in ways that account for climatic fluctuations.

Although the resilience of all populations needs to be considered, historical patterns of discrimination require that special provisions are made for the poor and for ethnic minorities such as the Roma because these groups will be most at risk, but are least likely to have access to adequate resources. Urban climate adaptation requires national-level support and local commitment. However, centralized planning and expert-led decision-making under the former regimes may affect the ability of cities to pursue programmatic approaches to adaptation.

Therefore, while national governments need to make adaptation a policy priority and ensure that municipalities have adequate resources, local government agencies and departments must be transparent in their actions and introduce participatory and community-based measures that demonstrate respect for diverse stakeholders and perspectives.

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