Slum dwellers approaching the billion mark

Close to one billion people, or one in every six, live in an urban slum. At the European Parliament in Strasbourg recently, MEP Gay Mitchell of Ireland the Commissioner for Development Louis Michel about what is being done to improve the lives of slum dwellers. MEP Mitchell said: “A staggering 900 million people, live in slums and squatter settlements which lack the most basic infrastructure and services. Their populations are marginalised and largely disenfranchised and face multiple threats to their health and security. They are exposed to disease, crime and are vulnerable to natural disasters in these squalid unsafe environments. These people have little or no legal right to their homes, have little or no access to electricity, water or sanitation, and access to other social services is very poor. And slum settlements are growing at alarming rates, projected to double in 25 years with conditions worsening.” He said, “A comprehensive targeted strategy to deal with the multifaceted dimension of slum development is required to improve the lives of millions and the EU should be to the forefront of this strategy.” Mitchell said the slums are the products of failed policies, bad governance, corruption, dysfunctional land markets and a fundamental lack of political will. He raised the issue with Michel and asked “What exactly is being done to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goal which seeks to significantly improve the lives of 100 million slum dwellers by 2020?” In his response, Michel emphasised the Commission’s involvement in Cities Alliance and UN Habitat, two programmes designed to improve living conditions of the poor in cities. Michel also stressed the need for reform of financial control and management in Africa and for the re-assessment in the way financial resources are distributed if investment is to be made. The Commissioner stressed that giving power to local government and decentralisation is the principal focus for the future. The Commissioner underlined access to water and sanitation as a key area for improving the lives of people in urban slums. He said: “Improving access to water and sanitation in urban and peri-urban sectors is obviously an integral part of our sectoral policy. In the specific case of poor people in cities, the specific priority is to improve the provision of decentralised and municipal services.” Mitchell said he intends to bring this issue up at regular intervals to ensure that progress is being made to improve the livelihoods of these people.