Kenya – Nairobi metropolitan development strategy launched

December 15, 2008 · 0 comments

President Mwai Kibaki Monday launched the Nairobi Metro 2030 Strategy and directed relevant Government organs to speedily expedite the requisite legal and institutional reforms that will facilitate the success of the strategy.

Speaking during the launch at Kenyatta International Conference Centre -KICC-, President Kibaki said his Government is putting in place strategies aimed at transforming the city of Nairobi and other major towns into vibrant centres of economic activity for the benefit of wananchi.

“Towards this end, we are according priority to urban development, and specifically Metropolitan development, as one of the driving forces that will propel our country into the status of a middle income rapidly industrializing country,” President Kibaki said.

He said the Government, under vision 2030, programmed to create and develop metropolitan regions across the country, namely Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu-Kakamega, Nakuru-Eldoret, Wajir-Garissa-Mandera, and Kitui-Mwingi-Meru.

The President emphasized that the identification of the metropolitan region is strategic as it is intended to play a pivotal role in the realisation of the growth targets envisaged under VISION 2030.

Said the President:” Some of these targets include promotion of social equity and inclusiveness and making our cities yield more in terms of their productive potential.”

President Kibaki pointed out that the Government’s decision to begin the implementation of the urban development strategy with the Nairobi Metropolitan region is based on the fact that the capital city is the country’s main gateway to the rest of the world.

The Head of State expressed confidence that the Nairobi Metro 2030 strategy will guide the transformation of the Nairobi Metro region into a world class metropolis and also inform decisions on a wide range of urban issues including transportation, infrastructure, housing

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South Africa – Urban health survey

December 11, 2008 · 0 comments

Our way of living is killing us gradually – December 11, 2008

Many South Africans lead sedentary lifestyles, have poor and unhealthy diets and are overweight or obese, leading to all kinds of preventable but fatal conditions.

The latest South African Health Review warns that South Africans, especially poor people in urban areas, are at high risk of chronic non-communicable diseases linked to preventable risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, smoking and drinking. These factors lead to various chronic disease processes – heart attacks, tobacco- and nutrition-induced cancers and obstructive lung diseases – that culminate in high death rates.

A South African study conducted in 2000 identified heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes as causing 65 000 deaths per year, suggesting that the prevention of these diseases should receive priority attention.

The authors of the review also expressed concern that these high-risk patients were not being identified at primary healthcare level. “Routine screening for risk factors in all individuals in the health services is poor,” they wrote. In 2003, national data showed that only 18% of men and 22% of women had controlled hypertension.

In 2000, the prevalence of diabetes among adults older than 30 was estimated to be about 5,5%. A study to identify environmental risk factors for noncommunicable diseases in urban townships showed that there was a shortage of healthy, low-fat food and fresh fruit and vegetables. Another study reported that although many black women were overweight or obese, few perceived themselves as such.

“The belief that thinness is associated with personal problems and sickness, especially HIV/Aids, seems to be a barrier to maintaining normal body weight in some individuals,” it said. Young people were found to have bad habits.

A national survey found that youngsters frequently consumed fast foods (38,8%), cakes and biscuits (47,4%), cooldrinks and sweets (52%) at least four days a week. The review also found that the nutritional status of South Africans had deteriorated since 1994.

Severe vitamin A deficiency was recorded in about 15% of children – despite the legislated fortification of bread, flour and maize meal and the national high-dose vitamin A supplementation programme. High levels of zinc deficiency were also recorded.

The authors cited an example from Finland – which had the highest death rate from cardiovascular disease due to heavy smoking, high-fat diet and low vegetable intake – where a community-based intervention reduced cancer and heart disease mortality by at least 56%. The intervention led to policies banning tobacco advertising and the introduction of low-fat and vegetableoil products

Source – The Star

South Africa – Buckets kicked as Khayelitsha waits to flush

December 11, 2008 · 0 comments

After waiting for years for access to flushing toilets, residents of the BM Section informal settlement in Khayelitsha have finally had 280 of them installed by the city.

About 5 000 residents, who have until now been using bucket toilets, will benefit from the new flushing toilets.

The city plans to install the next 140 toilets by next March.

A resident of the area, Nokuzola Nedala, said she was very happy that she now had access to a flushing toilet.

The ward councillor for the area, Nosakhele Jelele, said the community was delighted to have the flushing toilets available to them.

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China's next 30 years: Building the world's biggest cities

December 10, 2008 · 0 comments

beijingSHANGHAI (AFP) — China’s past 30 years of reforms planted seeds that will in the coming decades produce future coastal megacities, an urban population of one billion and possibly the world’s biggest economy.

What the next 30 years of reforms have in store may be unclear but experts agree with widespread pollution problems and a tidal wave of migration set to hit China’s cities, urbanisation will be the future’s biggest challenge.

“The next 30 years are going to be a critical timetable for addressing all the needs of a large population and how China manages cities,” said James Canton, author of “The Extreme Future”.

By 2025 China’s urban population is expected to rise to 926 million from 572 million in 2005 — an increase equal to the entire current population of the United States, according to management consultants McKinsey & Company. By 2030 that number will increase to a billion.

Over the next two decades China will build 20,000 to 50,000 new skyscrapers — the equivalent of ten New York cities, according to McKinsey.

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Indonesia – Health survey paints mixed picture

December 9, 2008 · 0 comments

JAKARTA, 9 December 2008 (IRIN) – Stroke is the leading cause of death among adults in Indonesia, according to a Health Ministry survey.

The Basic Health Research also revealed that non-communicable diseases have replaced infectious diseases as the leading cause of death in all age groups.

…

Dengue haemorrhagic fever is the main cause of death among children between five and 15 in urban areas, at 30.4 percent, while diarrhoea is the greatest killer among the same age group in rural areas, at 11.3 percent.

The prevalence of dengue is 0.6 percent nationally but in some provinces it is higher: 2.5 percent in East Nusa Tenggara, 2 percent in West Papua, 1.2 percent in Bengkulu and 1.2 percent in Jakarta.

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Nepal – Water tariff hike will hurt the urban poor

December 9, 2008 · 0 comments

KATHMANDU, Dec 9 – Water Tariff Fixation Commission is likely to hike water tariff by 10 to 30 per cent this week, even as the Kathmandu Valley continues to face a perennial shortage of water. Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL), the public-private partnership utility responsible for the distribution of piped water in the Valley, had proposed hikes in water tariff last week.

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“The proposed hike does injustice to the urban poor. This will force them to pay three times more tariff than the rich or those who have private taps,” chief executive director of NGO Forum for Urban Water and Sanitation, Prakash Amatya, said.

“If the proposed tariff takes effect, the community tap users will have to pay Rs 205.80 for consuming 10,000 litres of water. This includes sewarage charge.

On the other hand, private tap owners will have to pay only Rs. 82.50 for consuming 10,000 litres. Urban poor’s right to water will be in jeopardy if the commission gives a go-ahead to the proposed water tariff hike,” he said.

Earlier, a KUKL official claimed the proposed hike tariff was in line with recommendation of Asian Development Bank (ADB), the main donor for Melamchi Water Supply project. This time, however, no one was available for comment on the proposed water tariff hike.

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Afghanistan – USAID/OFDA funded project for urban poor in Kabul

December 9, 2008 · 0 comments

This time ACTED assists a city struggling with “post-conflict” reconstruction and a booming urban population, as people return to rebuild lives after decades of war. Since the fall of the Taliban, urban growth has exploded in Afghanistan’s major cities. The urban population makes up an estimated 28% of the country’s 24 million people, and is expected to double by 2015. Close to four million Afghans have returned home from abroad since 2002, and many have come to Kabul looking for a chance to rebuild their life in Afghanistan. Coupled with that are tens of thousands of internally displaced people and economic migrants, who are either newly arrived in the city or are returning home after years away. They are leaving the countryside to escape collapsed rural livelihoods, drought, and fighting, and coming to Kabul to search for new opportunities.

The recent massive influx of people shows a dismal lack of Kabul urban planning capacity. Outdated policies of urban management leave large areas of Kabul seriously under-serviced, if not ignored. A growing population of urban poor suffer from a lack of basic services, adequate housing, and viable economic opportunities, with serious consequences for health and livelihoods. Insecure income sources and land status, chronic vulnerability, and undermined coping strategies trap many families in vicious cycles of inescapable poverty.

With the support of OFDA, ACTED has launched a multi-faceted shelter, water/sanitation, and livelihoods project to respond to these growing needs in District 12, a community that reflects the many challenges faced by today’s urban poor people in Kabul. The Kabul Area Shelter and Settlement (KASS) programme is an 18 month intervention which includes the rehabilitation of 1,800 damaged houses, the construction of 1,200 new shelters, the rehabilitation of 70 wells, the construction of 35 new water points, the provision of 1,200 new latrines and an intensive hygiene campaign. The project also addresses economy and markets through kitchen gardening initiatives for women, Cash for Work (CFW) opportunities, and an apprenticeship scheme for 130 youths. The aim of the program is three-fold: to respond to the increasing need for appropriate shelter, to provide infrastructure and services improving access to drinking water, basic sanitation, hygiene education, and environmental health systems, and to improve opportunities for income generating activities in the short, medium and long term.

From distributing flour in wartime to supporting Kabul’s poor as they rebuild lives more than a decade later, ACTED has evolved to meet the changing needs in Afghanistan. ACTED continued its assistance through the fighting of Mujahedeen and of the Taliban. Today, despite the counter-insurgency, we remain to support the country on its challenging road to peace and development.

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South Africa – Landowners must provide water and sanitation facilities

December 5, 2008 · 0 comments

There were howls of protest when the eThekwini Municipality resolved that it would compel landowners to allow the city to provide toilets and water to squatters who invade plots of land.

The decision on who will ultimately foot the bill has not been finalised, although each case will be decided on individually.

It was one of the smallest, yet controversial items on the agenda on Thursday at the last full council meeting in 2008.

The recommendation was pushed through with the support of all political parties besides the DA.

Tabled as a “response to the lack of sanitation facilities in informal settlements located on private land”, the adoption of the item has paved the way for Water and Sanitation head Neil Macleod to serve notice on “errant” landowners who do not comply with the council resolution.

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Against the tide: climate change and high-risk cities

December 5, 2008 · 0 comments

Against the tide: climate change and high-risk cities (pdf, 415KB)

David Dodman
Published: Nov 2008 – IIED

In the world’s poorest and most vulnerable nations, most cities and towns face a distinct dual pressure: rapidly growing population and high vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Drought, storms, flooding and sea level rise are likely to hit hardest here. These in turn put water supplies, infrastructure, health and livelihoods at risk in the very cities already struggling to provide or safeguard such key needs. An effective response demands capable local and national government and support from strong international networks in building capacity to cope. Most of the Least Developed Countries lack both.

India – Health insurance scheme proposed for slum dwellers

December 3, 2008 · 0 comments

Pune – For the first time in the city, a health insurance scheme for slum dwellers has been proposed as part of the services to be delivered to the ‘urban poor’ under the National Urban Health Mission. A series of workshops which were held in Pune before the terror attacks in Mumbai had had experts from municipal corporations and municipal councils across the state participating in how to provide better services to the urban poor.

The NUHM — which is modeled along the lines of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) — is aimed at providing basic health care facilities for the urban population- especially urban slum dwellers. Free of cost health care facilities will be available under the NUHM, Pune Municipal Corporation’s City Family Welfare bureau chief Dr Anjali Sabne said.

While the NUHM has to be officially launched in the country, states have been given guidelines and civic officials in their respective cities are preparing an action plan to ensure services to the urban poor. Initially in the first phase 100 cities in the country will launch NUHM. This includes Pune. Forty per cent of the city’s population lives in slums and according to Dr Sabne at least 8-10 lakh are slum dwellers.

The PMC has already put in place an insurance scheme for senior citizens and as part of the NUHM will include slum dwellers in its fold. The slum dwellers will have to pay a minimal amount and via the insurance model can avail health care facilities at private hospitals. “We are still in the planning stages,’’says Sabne.

As the NRHM has set up Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA’s) at rural places, there will be an Urban Social Health Activist (USHA) at each urban centre. One USHA will be appointed for a population of 1,500 and initially anganwadi workers will be roped in as USHAs, says Sabne. There are 996 anganwadis in the city and we will train these workers, she added.

As a beginning though the PMC has shifted some of the staff at its hospitals to far flung areas and start Out Patient Departments. According to Sabne OPDs have been started at Mohammedwadi, Vishrantwadi, Kalas and Dias Plot slum areas. Staff from Kamala Nehru hospital have been shifted for the purpose.

Dr Ashok Ladda, joint director, State Family Welfare Bureau who has additional charge of the NUHM said that while the budget for the programme has to be announced , copies of guidelines have been distributed to corporations. The main focus is the provide primary health care to the people in urban areas. “Hence we are asking the corporations to map the cities and identify the population that requires such services so that urban health posts can be created. People staying at construction sites and unauthorised slum areas will also be included in the programme,” he said.

Source – ExpressIndia

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