Some interesting statistics and facts on the slums:
* Sub-saharan Africa has the world’s largest proportion of urban slum dwellers.* 72% of Africa’s urban population live in slums.
(Statistics from Exec Director of UN Habitat, Dr Anne Tibaijuka)
* 45% of urban Kenyans live in slums (approx 13.5 million).
* In Nairobi 60% of residents are slum dwellers.
* UN-Habitat has been supporting the government in a slums upgrading programme in Kenya but the process is slow and does not require those living in the slums to be involved.
* Kibera slum houses 700,000 people. A planned Kibera can only accommodate about 440,000 and residents are afraid they could not afford proposed rent for new houses.
* Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme (KENSUP) is a government led initiative which suggests communities and individuals in the slums contribute as much as possible into the scheme. This approach should be encouraged as it will help the slum residents take on responsibility, contribute and ultimately benefit from proper housing. To do this the slum community will need a lot of help in how to organise themselves, participate effectively and co-operatives must well lead and free from corruption (tricky). Other donors involved in KENSUP include the government, development partners, private sector, the civil society. The upgrading programme is to be implemented between 2005-2020 (hopefully).
Information from: Oluoch Japheth in ‘The Big Issue’ Kenya, June issue.
(The Big Issue was launched in Kenya 4 months ago)
Thanks for your post. I spent most of last year in Kenya working on a documentary about KENSUP in Kibera and have not been able to find much info at all about the status of the project since I left.
ReplyDeleteDo you know any way I could obtain a copy of "The Big Issue" or have any recent information on the status of the project? Thanks, please feel free to email me at LandonVanSoest@yahoo.com.
Thanks for your post. I spent most of last year working on a documentary about KENSUP in Kibera, but have had a difficult time finding any information on the project since I left the country.
ReplyDeleteDo you know how I might obtain a copy of "The Big Issue" or have any other information on the current status of the project? Thanks, please feel free to email me directly at landonvansoest@yahoo.com.
Hi Landon,
ReplyDeleteYour documentary on KENSUP in Kibera sounds fascinating. It must have been quite a project.
The Big Issue seems to be going well and have just published a new magasine. Their email is: editor@newsfromafrica.org (managing director: Clement Njoroge) and they may have some up to date info on KENSUP.
Good luck with your search and thanks for reading!