Urbanisation and poverty: seventh report of session 2008-09: Vol. 1 Report, together with formal minutes

House of Commons papers 511-I 2008-09

Corporate Author:: Great Britain Parliament House of Commons International Development Committee
Author:: Malcolm Bruce (chairman)
Publisher:: TSO (The Stationery Office)

The Department for International Development (DFID) needs to sharpen and refine its approaches to urban poverty. The last five years have seen rapid urbanisation, almost all of it within developing countries, yet DFID - along with other donors - has downgraded its support to urban development over this period. This process should be reversed. The Department overwhelmingly focuses its efforts to address urban poverty in Asian, rather than African, countries. This balance needs to be redressed. Africa is the world's fastest urbanising region and it has the highest proportion of slum dwellers. Addressing urban poverty offers the opportunity to tackle wider development issues such as: unemployment and crime; social exclusion; population growth; and climate change and the environment. The urban context presents specific development challenges, especially relating to the provision of basic services such as health, education, sanitation and water. DFID opts not to distinguish between urban and rural interventions in most of its programmes. This has reduced the visibility of urban poverty within the organisation. A specific focus on urban poverty should be re-established within DFID. A modest but highly targeted increase of financial resources for urban poverty would enable DFID to support other stakeholders to achieve widespread gains in slum upgrading and urban development. In many cases, the pre-requisites for rapid and sustainable urban development are already in place. Deploying resources in urban contexts can be highly cost-efficient and deliver sustainable benefits to many millions of the world's poor.

Extent	[2], 74p.	ISBN	9780215541321
Size	N/A	Price	£14.50
Binding	Paperback	Published	22 Oct 2009
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