United Nations Radio

Slums are home to one in three urban dwellers in developing countries.

Marking World Habitat Day, October 6th, Anna Tibaijuka, the Executive Director of UN-Habitat said the number of urban slum inhabitants around the world is moving above the 1 billion mark, making it clear that the urbanization of poverty is arguably one of the biggest development challenges.

Tibaijuka: No longer can we ignore the plight of slum dwellers, who live in life-threatening conditions. Nor can we hide from the fact that urban poverty and urban inequalities are rising around the world.

PRES:Dr. Axumite Gebre-Egziabher, Director of the New York Office of UN-Habitat says the solution lies not in evictions and demolitions of slums, but in empowering communities and balancing development with respect for human rights.

Egziabher: Rich or poor, everyone has a right to live in the city, and to have a decent living environment, clean water, sanitation, transportation, electricity and other services. How this is managed is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity.

PRES:Marking World Habitat Day at the UN in New York, Dr. Gebre-Egziabher read out a message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in which he noted that in Africa, the percentage of slum-dwellers in cities is even higher, reaching 60%, which makes improving their lives a development priority.

Egziabher:Large investments will be necessary, for example, to provide access to water, sanitation, durable housing, or sufficient living space. But even in that region and in others .... Low-cost interventions could go a long way. Cities have tremendous potential to be places, where balanced development prevails, where diverse people live in harmony and where healthy living conditions co-exist with low levels of energy consumption, resource use and waste.

PRES:Ambassador George Olago Owuor, the Deputy UN Representative of Kenya, which has the distinction of hosting the largest slum in Africa, Nairobi's Kibera, says his country is trying to improve and beautify its cities, and invest in roads and water and sanitation services, but finds resources lacking.

Owuor:Currently, only 75% of the country's ... urban population has access to safe drinking water. Out of the 150,000 units required annually, only 35,000 are constructed - that is only 23%. Similar divergences can be traced in health, education, and employment and many other sectors.

PRES:The theme of this year's habitat day is Harmonious cities. UN-Habitat gave out Habitat Scroll of Honour awards to 6 cities that are close to achieving this goal. China had 3 of its cities honoured, including Nanjing, which got the top prize for its environmentally sound waste-management solution. Ms. BAI Yongjie, Counselor of the Chinese Mission to the UN, says harmonious development should be the goal of all cities, but there are challenges.

Bai:Harmony is easier said than done, because there will be contradictions of interest, and competition of resources. There will also be need to balance the expansion of cities and maintaining the land for sustainable agriculture.

PRES:Ms. Bai added that there are no one-size fits-all solutions, but countries can also learn from each other, which is the purpose of the fourth session of the World Urban Forum to be hosted by the city of Nanjing next month. Adaptation to climate change will also be a major theme of discussion there, as Ms. Tibaijuka pointed out that cities consume upwards of 75 percent of all energy.

Tibaijuka:Reducing the contribution of cities to climate change and the vulnerability of cities to the effects of climate change must be viewed as a historical opportunity to improve the living conditions of all women and men.

Producer: Bissera Kostova

(duration:4'51")