APPENDIX 3
Memorandum submitted by CARE International
UK
CARE International UK (CIUK) welcomes the opportunity
to provide feedback to the International Development Committee
on DFID's recently published White Paper "Eliminating world
poverty: making globalisation work for the poor". CIUK belongs
to CARE International, one of the world's largest humanitarian
organisations which is currently working in 65 developing countries
with over 35 million of the world's poorest people.
CIUK welcomes the new White Paper as a timely
response to global inequalities and the opportunities globalisation
brings. There is much to welcome. However, there is a surprising
omission: a failure to address the specific problems and opportunities
of urbanisation. As the centres of commerce and finance, thriving
cities are the embodiment of globalisation. They are also the
consequence: industries needing good transport and communication
links head for the cities, while jobs created by the new economy
are mostly in urban centres. If globalisation is to benefit the
poor, both rural and urban, then well managed towns and cities
are paramount. The White Paper needs to make a special case for
improving towns and cities if globalisation is to benefit the
poorest countries.
1. URBANISATION
Urbanisation is bringing about one of the most significant
transformations in the history of humanity:
— nearly 50 per cent of the world's
population live in towns and cities
— one on four urban dwellers live below
the poverty line[1]
— Asia, Africa and Latin America accommodate
180,000 new urban dwellers per day—over one million people
per week.[2]
By 2025 it is predicted that:
— Eighty per cent of the world's urban
population will live in cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America[3]
— over three fifths of the world's
population will be urban
— Mumbai alone is predicted to have
28 million residents, the same population as present day Kenya.[4]
Towns and cities have always been identified
as the social, cultural and economic centres of nations. The Habitat
Agenda[5]
states that:
"During the course of history, urbanization
has been associated with economic and social progress, the promotion
of literacy and education, the improvement of the general state
of health, greater access to social services and cultural, political
and religious participation. Democratisation has enhanced such
access and meaningful participation and involvement for civil
society actors, for public-private partnerships and for decentralized,
participatory planning and management, which are important features
of a successful urban future. Cities and towns have been the engines
for growth and incubators of civilization and have facilitated
the evolution of knowledge, culture and tradition, as well as
of industry and commerce. Urban settlements, properly planned
and managed, hold the promise for human development and the protection
of the world's natural resources through their ability to support
large numbers of people while limiting their impact on the natural
environment."
While many of the richest in society live in
urban areas, towns and cities also represent unprecedented concentrations
of poverty. Most of those born into cities or moving from the
countryside in search of a better life face incredible hardship.
For hundreds of millions of poor urban dwellers, cities represent
long hours of work for little pay, living in cramped and overcrowded
slums or squats, vulnerable to disasters, disease and violence.
2. THE WHITE
PAPER AND
REFERENCES TO
URBANISATION
The White Paper recognises the rapid demographic,
social, economic and cultural changes resulting from globalisation.
Yet there are no sections in the White Paper dealing with town
and city growth, urban management, or the massive predicted increases
in urban poverty. The few passing references to urbanisation are
as follows:
— paragraph 13 states that by 2025,
61 per cent of the world's population will be urban. This is probably
a conservative figure: predictions used by DFID and others state
that as much as 80 per cent of the world will be urban by 2025[6]
— paragraph 91 refers to seasonal migration
patterns of poor people between rural and urban areas
— paragraph 99 lists urbanisation as
a cause of greater disease transmission
— paragraph 122 states that there is
a risk that richer people in cities will get internet connections
whilst poorer people will not
— paragraph 129 states that airport
and telecommunications should be "to many parts of the country,
not just to one or two large cities".
3. RECENT URBAN
RELATED POLICY
INITIATIVES AND
DECLARATIONS BY
DFID AND OTHERS
In November 2000 DFID published the Target Strategy
Paper (TSP) consultation document "Meeting the challenge
of urban poverty". Within the TSP the case is made for the
national social and economic benefits that accrue from well managed
cities:
"Dynamic, well managed cities generate benefits
far outside their boundaries. A buoyant regional economy which
fosters productive exchanges of goods, services, people and capital
between rural and urban areas, makes a significant contribution
to national economic growth. Indeed, all the nations in the South
with the greatest economic success over the last 30 years have
urbanized rapidly; most of those with the least economic successes
have not."
There have been several recent developments
by other donors and multilateral organisations for combating urban
poverty. These include:
— the Global Urban and Local Government
Strategy of the World Bank (1999)
— The Urban Governance Initiative (TUGI)
of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2000)
— development of an Urban Strategy
by DG VIII of the European Commission (1997-2000)
— the 1999 ratification of the United
Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) HABITAT as "The
City Agency" of the UN. UNCHS is responsible for convening
a Special Session of the General Assembly in New York in June
2001 which will review five years of implementation of the Habitat
Agenda.
The UK National Report[7]
to the 2001 Special Session of the UN General Assembly HABITAT
argues why urban poverty is important, referring to DFID's first
1997 White Paper:
"The 1997 White Paper on International Development,
"Eliminating World Poverty: A Challenge for the 21st Century"—shows
that 23 per cent of the world population (1.3 billion people)
are living in extreme poverty (less than US$1 per day at 1993
prices). Since nearly 50 per cent of the world's population live
in urban centres, which is expected to rise to 80 per cent by
2025, the `urbanisation of poverty' is likely to increase and
measures to tackle urban poverty are therefore of the highest
priority." (Paragraph 5.15)
The Declaration of the Urban 21 Global Conference
on the Urban Future[8],
6 July 2000, with representation from "1,000 cities, governments
and civil society organisations from over 100 countries"
states that:
"We are entering the urban millennium. Cities,
always the engines of economic growth and incubators of civilization,
today are beset by tremendous challenges. Millions of men, women
and children face a daily struggle for survival. Can we turn this
around? Can we give our people hope for a brighter future? We
believe that if we harness the positive forces of education and
sustainable development, globalisation and information technology,
democracy and good governance, the empowerment of women and civil
society, we shall truly build cities of beauty, ecology, economy
and social justice".
4. CONCLUSION
CIUK believes that the White Paper does not
adequately address the specific conditions and importance of towns
and cities. Cities represent the greatest opportunities, and challenges,
for reducing a nation's poverty. Yet the aid world has been slow
to address this, arguing that to focus on urban poverty is to
ignore the poorest (rural dwellers) and to promote migration.
But this no longer stands. Cities are vital engines for building
economies, and most urban growth today is not through migration
but by the natural increase of existing populations who already
live in cities.
The White Paper therefore needs to address urbanisation
as a macro issue closely linked to globalisation, for the following
reasons:
1. Vibrant, well regulated and soundly
managed cities reduce poverty and increase growth. The World
Bank estimates that cities account for 65 to 80 per cent of the
gross domestic product of developing countries[9].
If these countries are to take full advantage of globalisation,
then their towns and cities need to be made to work.
2. Global competition for investment
demands well run cities. Paragraph 52 of the White Paper states
that "private capital . . . will go to where business can
be carried out safely and where it can make best return".
This is equally true on a city level. Badly run cities do not
attract investment and risk loosing out in reaping the benefits
of globalisation.
3. Unmanaged urbanisation threatens countries
from benefiting from globalisation. Urbanisation is as inevitable
as globalisation. This fact needs to be recognised, and its consequences
harnessed to work for the poorest in society.
4. Cities represent unprecedented concentrations
of poverty. Most of those being born into or moving to towns
and cities are the poorest in society. Yet cities also present
considerable opportunities for the poor to escape poverty. If
seriously addressed, urbanisation can be made to benefit the poor,
in both rural and urban areas.
5. New approaches need to be developed
which address the urban poverty. DFID's urban TSP presents
an approach for addressing urban poverty. Yet without any serious
reference to urban poverty or urbanisation within the White Paper,
DFID's commitment to tackling urban poverty is weakened. Whilst
other agencies are developing and promoting urban poverty strategies,
DFID ought not to be seen to be lagging behind.
CARE International UK
January 2001
1 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), "The
Urban Governance Initiative (TUGI) Declaration", 2000. Back
2
DFID, meeting the challenge of urban poverty, consultation document,
November 2000, 1.1.5. Back
3
as reference 2, 1.1.7. Back
4
The World Bank, "World Development Report, 1998-99",
194. Back
5
United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS), "Habitat
Agenda", 1996. Back
6
as reference 3. Back
7
Roger Tym and Partners, "Report to the 2001 Special Session
of the UN General Assembly, HABITAT, UK National Report",
second working draft. Back
8
as reference 1. Back
9
The World Bank, "Urban policy and economic development:
an agenda for the 1990s", 1991. Back
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