Written evidence submitted by Habitat
for Humanity
1. Habitat for Humanity:
1.1 Vision—a world where everyone
has a safe, decent and appropriate place to live.
1.2 Has a Christian ethos and works with
people from all faiths and none who are living in housing poverty,
based on their need, in rural, peri-urban and urban areas.
1.3 Was foundered internationally in 1976 and
has since assisted more than 300,000 families in over 90 countries.
1.4 Has a range of methods to assist families
from soft building loans, training, local capacity development,
save and build schemes, water/sanitation, house renovating, house
building, land tenure, advocacy….
1.5 Works in partnerships with many other
organisations.
1.6 Has so far assisted over 20,000 tsunami
families with new or renovated homes in five different countries.
2. How effectively Developing Country Governments
and Donors, particularly DFID, are addressing the Challenges presented
by Urban Poverty:
2.1 Habitat for Humanity (HFH) believes
that governments in developing countries, and donors, are not
effectively addressing the challenges presented by urban poverty.
This is based on our extensive operations and presence in many
developing countries, as well as HFH's experience working with
a number of bi-lateral development organisations worldwide.
2.2 We believe that the two main reasons
donors tend not to focus on urban poverty is that they believe
1) that rural poverty is both more prevalent and more acute in
absolute dollar terms and 2) that urban poverty is very complex
and often requires multi-sectoral approaches, something aid agencies
struggle with due to structural reasons. Both of these rationales
miss the mark though, and we believe now is the time for DFID
to reassess the current status quo, in light of overwhelming evidence
that urbanisation is fast becoming a serious socio-economic issue
worldwide.
2.3 HFH certainly believes in the importance
of dealing with rural poverty, in fact, while we do not disaggregate
our work with a rural/urban lens, the majority of the work we
implement is based in rural areas. However, we strongly believe
that there is a great need to focus on urban poverty issues from
a much more holistic perspective—and by doing so, this should
in fact support efforts in rural areas. Urbanisation can create
engines of growth and, if managed properly, can have tremendously
positive impacts on reducing urban, peri-urban and rural poverty.
2.4 While it is true that urban poverty
may be more complex, it is also true that if handled well, the
impacts on the poor can be felt in much greater numbers and in
more lasting, sustainable ways. Ensuring that cities have the
ability to deal with growth will enable large number of families
to take advantage of the opportunities afforded through living
in cities. It is the need to ensure that the cities have the
policies and programmes in place to foster, rather than hinder,
the development of their citizens, that lies at the heart of our
approach to supporting the urban poor.
2.5 International Development agencies can
and should play a much greater role in developing, supporting,
implementing and tackling the urban poverty agenda.
3. DFID's Contribution to Meeting the MDG
7 Target which seeks to Improve the Lives of Slum Dwellers:
3.1 Millennium Development Goal 7, Target
11 states that by 2020, the lives of at least 100 million
slum dwellers must be significantly improved. Slums, which are
characterised by a lack of durable housing, insufficient living
areas, little or no access to improved water and sanitation, and
tenure insecurity, currently house over one billion people and
are growing daily. In 1990, there were nearly 715 million
slum dwellers in the world. By the time the Millennium Development
Goals were created, the population of those living in slums had
increased by over 30%. UN-Habitat estimates that if current trends
continue, there will be 1.4 billion slum dwellers by 2020.
In a world with soaring urban populations, urbanisation has become
nearly synonymous with the development and expansion of slums.
According to UN-Habitat, cities in the developing world "will
absorb 95% of urban growth in the next two decades, and by 2030,
will be home to almost four billion people."[97]
At this rate, even if MDG Target 11 is met by 2020, improving
the lives of 100 million slum dwellers will not be enough.
According to DFID's 2007 Annual Report, most countries have
made "negligible" or "negative" progress toward
meeting the 2020 target.
3.2 What DFID is doing to help:
3.2.1DFID is currently funding several organisations
and initiatives focused on the issue of urban slums. These include
the following:
3.2.2Providing £1 million to UN-Habitat
in 2007.
3.2.3Providing Cities Alliance, a coalition of
cities and their development partners, with £3 million
over four years.
3.2.4Supporting the Community Led-Infrastructure
Financing Facility. The CLIFF was established in 2002 to
provide finance to organisations of the urban poor for infrastructure
and housing demonstration projects. The fund has changed the banking
and municipal policies to promote slum upgrading, and leveraged
additional finance from public and private sectors. As of 2007,
roughly £5 million had been disbursed.
3.2.5Providing the UN-Habitat managed Slum Upgrading
Facility, which provides technical assistance to help municipal
governments mobilise domestic capital, with £7.3 million.
SUF is currently focused on four countries: Indonesia, Sri Lanka,
Tanzania and Ghana.
3.2.6Funding several research initiatives including
their 2007 paper on land rights and is also working on water
and sanitation projects in several regions.
3.3 While these are certainly noteworthy
initiatives, they are relatively small investments compared to
the size of the problem. Housing focused programmes comprised
a particularly small percentage of DFID's £4.5 billion
budget in 2007—less than 1%. As urbanisation continues to
intensify, slums are no longer peripheral settlements; rather
they have evolved into central, distinctive components that have
become the defining characteristic of cities in the developing
world. Surely, more attention and resources must be devoted
to addressing this crucial issue.
4. The provision of Basic Services and Infrastructure
in Slums, including Energy, Housing, Transport, Sanitation, Water,
Health and Education:
4.1 "Slums" are defined in various
ways, but the core elements come down to three factors. First,
slum households lack security of tenure. Second, their physical
housing is inadequate, in terms of living space, durability, and
safety. Third, slum households lack access to basic services.
4.2 Poor infrastructure and service provision
to urban slum-dwellers significantly decrease their life chances
and make it more difficult for them to participate effectively
in evolving urban economies, thus perpetuating their poverty and
marginalisation. While slum-dwellers can sometimes self-produce
adequate shelter, they typically cannot provide infrastructure
and services, for which they rely on the state and/or the private
sector. Lack of public service provision increases the cost of
living for slum-dwellers (in terms of both money and time) and
undermines their ability to accumulate assets and improve their
life chances.
4.3 Additionally, slum conditions have a
disproportionately negative impact on health, particularly when
it comes to children. As Lisa Harker points out, children living
in poor or overcrowded conditions are more likely to experience
respiratory complications, be at risk for infections and suffer
from mental illness and behavioural problems.[98]
Rates of disease have also been associated with the quality and
specific attributes of the housing available. These issues, in
turn, have an adverse affect on children's chances later in life,
especially in education.
4.4 For this reason, public programmes
that address infrastructure, and service provision for slum dwellers
are critically important in order to address the cycle of urban
poverty and marginalisation. Although private sector initiatives
can and do address part of the problem (particularly transport),
there is no substitute for state investment in infrastructure
and service provision to urban slum areas. Such investment is
the quintessential "public good", provision of which
underpinned the evolution of urban economies in the developed
world.
4.5 The problem is that many cities in the
developing world do not recognise slums as "official",
permanent parts of the city, and therefore do not prioritise such
"public good" investment. The first, critical step
for public policy therefore, is to develop ways to encourage municipal
governments in the developing world to recognise the permanence
of slum populations and their responsibility to provide infrastructure,
services and planning procedures that are a precursors to development.
Of course, the political will to do so depends greatly on the
availability of resources to provide infrastructure and services.
For this reason, development aid strategies must combine advocacy
for slum acceptance with resources flows to enable infrastructure
and service provision.
5. Supporting Opportunities for Employment
and Livelihoods for the Urban Poor:
5.1 One of the key issues contributing to
urban poverty (as well as rural poverty) is lack of income and
limited employment opportunities. While the urban economy provides
opportunities for many and is the basis for growth and job creation,
not all those living in cities benefit from these opportunities.
The urban poor face challenges of low skills, low wages, unemployment
and under-employment, a lack of social insurance and unsatisfactory
working conditions. In some countries, the spatial location of
slums, inadequate infrastructure, and negative stigma are also
constraints to employment. The heavy reliance on the cash economy
means that the urban poor are particularly vulnerable to shocks.
5.2 The majority of the urban poor work
in the informal sector. Available estimates suggest that the size
of the sector ranges from 30 to 70% of GDP in developing
countries. While the informal sector provides employment for many
who cannot enter the formal labour market and supplies goods and
services typically not offered by the formal sector, it is also
characterised by relatively poor working conditions, lack of social
insurance, operating outside the legal system, and is more vulnerable
to economic fluctuations, which particularly affect the poor who
have relatively little savings.
5.3 Unemployment is typically higher for
the urban poor, as is underemployment. For example in Dhaka, Bangladesh
unemployment rates for the poorest male workers are about 10%,
twice that of the wealthiest (5%). For women, about 25% of the
poor are unemployed compared to 12% of the non-poor (World Bank,
2007a). Youth unemployment is a major problem in many cities,
and increasingly linked to growing social problems and urban unrest.
Average youth unemployment rates for 2003 were highest in
the Middle East and North Africa Region (25.6%) and Sub-Saharan
Africa (21%), and lowest in East Asia (7%) (ILO, 2004).
5.4 The deplorable slum living conditions,
including the lack of employment, the low status accorded to residents
by those in better neighbourhoods, foster stress and low self
esteem and affect youth in particular. These problems manifest
themselves in a variety of ways. One is violence. A study of three
Rio de Janeiro favelas over a 30-year period found a broad improvement
in the economic standing of those remaining in these areas and
of the one-third of original families who had moved to better
neighbourhoods. But the increased violence in the favelas had
caused some families to relocate and had sharply reduced the social
capital of those who remained because they were afraid to be on
the streets.
5.5 Low-income populations in the developing
world use their home as both an asset and an income strategy,
for example, renting a room or operating a small shop or home-based
industry. Typically these families do not have access to affordable
financing. Being forced to improve their housing incrementally,
consistent with their current household income, reduces their
opportunities to leverage their skills and assets. The costs of
incremental construction are often compounded by their limited
building experience and lack of access to construction consultation
and affordable materials, severely compromising their access to
durable, healthy, secure shelter.
5.6 Habitat for Humanity has developed Habitat
Resource Centres (HRC) to provide support to thousands of low-income
households in countries which include Afghanistan, Indonesia,
the Philippines, Thailand, Vanuatu, Pakistan, and Vietnam. The
HRC provides resources based on a housing value chain analysis
and market demand through a range of shelter-related economic
and livelihood development strategies. This pilot was successfully
taken to scale following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
6. The Role of Property Rights in Improving
the Lives of Slum Dwellers:
6.1 Habitat for Humanity focuses on the
issue of property rights by looking at the much broader issue
of secure tenure. Insecure tenure often lies at the heart of poverty
housing, depriving the poor of even the most basic physical, economic
and psychological security of adequate shelter. More than 20%
of the world's population struggles, on a daily basis, to stay
in houses or on land where they live.
6.2 Security of tenure, or the ability to
live in a place without fear of eviction, provides a catalytic
asset that can enable people to better their housing, their environment
and their life chances. It can increase economic growth, address
inequalities, and reduce poverty in developing countries. Security
of tenure can provide opportunities for investment and the accumulation
of wealth and in some cases can encourage business development.
Furthermore, security of tenure is about more than just economic
assets. Secure tenure can provide a source of identity, status
and political power and serve as a basis for the pursuit and acquisition
of other assets like electricity, clean water and sanitation.
Still, barriers to tenure security remain in many countries. These
barriers include insufficient legal and regulatory systems, excessive
land regulation, gender discrimination, corruption, inefficient
or inadequate land registration systems, the disintegration of
customary and traditional protections and the lack of political
will around the issue. In addition, millions of people are displaced
each year by natural disasters and violent conflicts.
6.3 Nowhere is the issue more pressing than
in slum communities where secure tenure not only helps families
overcome barriers to better housing, but also fosters other social
and economic benefits, creating greater opportunities for families
who need them the most. Slums and squatter settlements are growing
daily in urban areas, sprawling farther and farther from city
centres as land prices continue to rise. The price of even the
cheapest home in the formal sector excludes the majority of residents
in many cities. These residents are forced to build, buy or rent
in informal (or "squatter") settlements, where housing
is neither restricted nor protected by laws and regulations. Such
informal settlements now house an estimated one billion people.
6.4 Tenure security for the poor is flexible
and varied. It includes a politician with the will to issue a
proclamation against eviction, a municipality or government extending
basic infrastructure and services to informal settlements, and
issuing state-backed titles to every individual homeowner in an
informal settlement. Legal literacy training and writing wills
can be an effective means of improving tenure security as well.
While all of these solutions are viable and realistic, change
will not come easily or quickly. An incremental strategy focusing
first on increasing the perception of tenure security (de facto
tenure security) and moving slowly towards formal, legally protected
tenure security (de jure tenure security) should be most effective.
This gradual process would channel initial benefits to current
residents while giving the market time to fully mature so current
low-income residents who decide to sell their rights might receive
greater compensation.
6.5 Without international support, the poor
in many developing countries will never come close to realising
the degree of tenure security that can be such a catalyst to a
better life. It is imperative that governments of developed
nations, through foreign assistance funding and other appropriate
channels, set measurable goals and increase resources to support
the poor's access to secure tenure around the world.
7. The Implications of the Current Global
Financial Downturn for Urbanisation in Developing Countries:
7.1 For the first time ever, it is said
that as of last year, the majority of the world's population is
now urban-based as opposed to rural. Traditionally this is seen
as an outcome of urbanisation ie the migration of people from
rural to urban areas. However we believe—and there is growing
evidence to suggest—that urbanisation is driven by three
factors:
7.1.1 Differential population growth, ie faster
population growth and new household formation within existing
urban areas, compared with in rural areas, is the main driver
of global relative urbanisation.
7.1.2 Growth of rural towns into urban centres
is another major factor. People are not necessarily leaving rural
areas to come to existing cities—rather, smaller cities
and towns are growing and in many cases incorporating rural populations
who have not physically moved.
7.1.3 Physical migration continues to be significant,
but it is probably fair to say that the great historical rural-to-urban
migrations have already taken place in much of the world, excepting
Africa.
7.2 The implication of this is that contemporary
urbanisation is no longer primarily driven by the "attraction"
of cities to rural dwellers. Given this, the current global economic
downturn is not likely to slow urbanisation—indeed, it may
well increase it.
7.3 First, rural economies will suffer the
effects of the downturn as export markets for agricultural commodities,
particularly non-food crops, weaken. Established processes of
consolidation of agricultural production, in which smaller producers
sell land or lose lease agreements to larger landowners, will
gather pace.
7.4 Second, loss of rural livelihood strategies
has not been the only factor impelling rural-to-urban migration.
Urban areas provide a much wider variety of livelihood strategies
than rural areas. Manufacturing and service activities in urban
areas can be parsed into smaller and more specialised activities,
allowing millions of households to make a survival living doing
some small thing as part of a larger value chain. This process
attracts migrants even when rural economies are strong.
7.5 Third, reduced development aid flows,
and public sector investments in rural areas (including investments
in infrastructure, such as dams and railway lines, that just happen
to be located in rural areas), will probably diminish, reducing
the supply of rural jobs.
7.6 Fourth, reduced investment in property
development in regions such as the Persian Gulf has already dramatically
reduced the demand for migrant labour from South Asia and the
Philippines. Many of these migrants originate in rural areas,
and may well go to cities in their own countries in search of
work. In China reduced property and industrial investment has
already resulted in significant reverse migration out of the coastal
cities—but in many cases these migrants return not to farms,
but to larger urban towns and proto-cities in the hinterland.
7.7 It is impossible to say exactly what
will happen, but the safest interpretation would be that the
world's urban populations will continue to grow, both absolutely
and as a proportion of the global population.
8. Conclusion
8.1 In conclusion, increased urbanisation
and consequently the growth of slums can no longer be viewed as
a secondary problem. While we support DFID's contributions to
meeting MDG 7 Target 11, we must acknowledge that more resources
and focus need to be given to urban areas and improving the lives
of slum dwellers.
8.2 Habitat for Humanity has demonstrated
effective ways to improve the lives and life chances of those
living in urban poverty. What this has taught us is that urban
poverty is very complex, yet if it is properly addressed—by
combining housing and shelter with other key interventions and
services— the impacts on the poor can be felt in much greater
numbers and in more lasting, sustainable ways.
8.3 We are grateful to the committee for
taking a serious look into urbanisation and poverty and any additional
focus you can bring to this very important issue will be greatly
appreciated. We look forward to working with the committee in
the future on this and other important international development
issues.
97 UN-Habitat (2006), State of the World's Cities 06/07,
viii. Back
98
Harker, Lisa, Chance of a Lifetime: The Impact of Bad Housing
on Children's Lives, Shelter, 2006. Back
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