Rights of populations living in informal or slum settlements

Monday January 27, 2020

mirrorofsociety

Rights of populations living in informal or slum settlements
Dr Mohammad Rajja
The health and rights of populations living in informal or slum settlements are key development issues of the twenty first century. The majority of the world’s population lives in urban areas. More than billion of these people, or one in three city dwellers, live in inadequate housing with no or a few basic resources. In South Asia urban slum settlements tend to be located in low-lying, flood-prone, poorly-drained areas, having limited formal garbage disposal and minimal access to safe water and sanitation. These areas are severely crowded, with 4–5 people living in houses of just over 100 sq feet. These conditions of high density of population and poor sanitation exacerbate the spread of diseases. People living in these areas experience social, economic and political exclusion, which bars them from society’s basic resources.
Policies and actions that impact the level of exclusion of people living in urban slum settlements in South Asia, with a focus on improving the health and rights of the urban poor need more focus by health responsible people. Despite some strategies adopted to ensure better access to water and health, overall, the country does not have a comprehensive policy for urban slum residents, and the situation remains bleak.The realities of residents living in slums have been long neglected by the state. The absence of regulated housing structures resulting in informal structures. However, many housing estates in South Asia are not regulated and are built in the margins of the city.
The health and rights of people living in slum settlements are key development issues of the twenty-first century. The majority of the world’s population lives in urban areas. More than one billion of these people, or one in three city-dwellers, live in inadequate housing with no or a fewbasic resources.

South Asia, one of the poorest and most densely-populated countries in the world, is facing rapid urbanization. South Asia is responsible for creating an environment that allows its citizens to improve the quality of their lives through access to health, education, and other basic services. Despite these edicts and Dhaka’s huge growth, South Asia has no explicit or comprehensive policy on urbanization and urban poverty.
This rapid growth of urban population is fueled by migration of the rural poor to the cities, drawn by perceived chances of finding cash employment in the industrial sector and pushed by the limited opportunities in rural areas. On arrival, many are unable to afford proper housing and so, turn to live in slum settlements. Urban slum settlements are generally excluded from public-sector resources, severely limiting access of residents to formal education, healthcare services, and water and sanitation.
In South Asia, slum settlements tend to be built on vacant government land or private vacant land located in low-lying areas vulnerable to flooding and other natural disasters. Only 10% had sufficient drainage to avoid water-logging during heavy rains. Many slum settlements are built on waste or polluted spaces, exposing residents to industrial noxious wastes. Houses in slum settlements are usually made of flimsy material which provides little protection from fire, or monsoon rain.
An area characterized by overcrowding, deterioration, insanitary conditions, or absence of facilities and amenities which, because of their conditions or any of them, endanger the health, safety and morals of its inhabitants and community generally regarded as slum area. Subsequently, they often collapse.
These conditions of high density of population and poor sanitation exacerbate the risks of waterborne diseases such as cholera and airborne diseases, such as influenza, pneumonia, and tuberculosis. Poor access to basic resources, such as sanitation, education, and healthcare, perpetuates the inequalities that initially drive people to reside in slum settlements.

The largest concentrations of urban slum settlements are observed in South Asia. However, this phenomenon is common to all the major urban centers in South Asia. Diseases are only immediate causes of human suffering, and the actual roots are political and economic forces, both globaland local in nature, which are present in the local health conditions. Disease
is understood as being social and biological. Efforts need to focus
on the social origins of disease and the links among social class, poverty,
power and ill-health, referred to as the political economy of health. Increasingly,
critical perspectives ask how structural and social inequalities generate and
maintain risk among individuals and groups to particular disease and illnesses.
Farmer among others, points to the role of social inequalities in shaping
the distribution of morbidity and mortality within and between populations. Farmer stresses that the sociopolitical context of a sufferer’s health is critical. Attention
needs to be paid to causes outside the body, to structures and social
hierarchies of gender, race, class, and how these relationships shape an
individual’s power and access to resources. All of these factors impact on
agency, choices relating to health, and global and local political economies,
including state policies, altering health and disease of populations.

While little is known about the synergistic effects of macro-political and
economic conditions which combine with other factors to impact on health of the
urban poor.
Political and economic conditions
ensure that the urban poor are seriously challenged in their abilities to improve their health. These include, overall, a lack of political commitment
towards alleviating the conditions of the urban poor, harsh brutal poverty in
the slum settlements with erratic employment for unskilled populations,
environment of insecurity with dismal or little access to basic sanitation and
health services in most settlements. Poor healthcare and government’s
negligence and forced evictions, resulting in systemic assaults against the
poor, also impact unfavourably on their lives, well-being, and health.
Urban poor continue to remain an underclass living on the margins of cities, constrained socially,
economically, and politically and are vulnerable.

The lack of an appropriate country-wide policy dealing specifically with the urban poor was cited by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), donor agencies,
and even some government officials as the major constraint to working in urban
slum settlements. There is no central government policy that mandates
divisional policies or a national strategy on this subject. Some individual
government agencies are able to include individual mandates in their provisions; however, a few chose not to, as there is no pressure to do so. The
lack of clarity among government officials on policies regarding the urban poor stems from and results in the subject of urban slum settlements often being
omitted from official policy papers or government analysis.
Implicit in the lack of urban policy is the assumption that slum settlements
are a transitory and passing phenomenon, something that can be remedied by programmes for the rural poor to stem migration. This thinking has resulted in the denial of programmes explicitly for the urban poor. People in illegal slum settlements live with the constant threat of
eviction and have restricted access to basic services, such as water,
sanitation, gas, and electricity.
Responsible have to recognize rights of the
urban poor for housing, shelter, and food. There should have some attempts to rehabilitate the poor and to build housing for them but many of these remain problematic and lack political will from the
Government and other parties. Government have to decide to build housing for low-income nuclear households through a sites and services approach. Better strategies are required for such housing schemes to work. For example, as in microcredit projects, groups could become guarantors for each other and ensure that land is not misused or sold.
It is not clear what the actual comprehensive plan was regarding informal settlement
populations. Government should introduce town-housing schemes to
encourage the slum people for returning to villages, with incentives, such as loans, basic housing, a common pond for fishing. The lack of employment opportunities in the villages. The
assumption that people living in slum settlements for decades would return to
their villages, leaving behind extensive social and economic networks and employment opportunities, is unfounded.

Master plans for all major urban areas ranging from Dhaka megacity to
metropolises, medium and smaller towns need periodically revise.
NGOs have been less involved in housing for populations living in slum
settlements mainly due to the high costs of urban land and risk factors in
costrecovery from the beneficiary groups.
However, there are some smaller housing projects by NGOs, which may be promising for the urban poor if done on a larger scale.
NGO programmes targeted to single poor females in urban areas. Most young women who work in the garment industry in Bangladesh live in the urban slum settlements mushrooming around the industrial areas of major cities.
Local gangs control the housing; so, the women become prey to slum settlement lords who charge exorbitant rents, equal to about one-third of the woman’s
income. The environmental and hygienic conditions of these crowded urban slum settlements are appalling. Very little progress has been made in terms of implementing the National Housing Policy with property rights still insecure for people who live in slum settlements, and policies and plans remaining fragmented and uncoordinated.
Failed land and housing policies mean that finding housing that provides adequate shelter and physical safety is one of the greatest challenges
confronting the millions living in urban on less household incomes. NGOs have been the biggest service providers in rural areas, they are reluctant to work in slum settlements and hesitate to construct permanent
structures, such as latrines, schools, and drainage because, if the slum settlement gets evicted, capital investment is at stake, along with investment
of staff time and training. This is true particularly for smaller NGOs, which
cannot afford to sustain such losses. Lack of funding is also a major
constraint, discouraging interventions in slum settlements. In addition, it is reported that some residents living in slum settlements are unwilling to invest scarce funds to build water and sanitation facilities, leading to a vicious
cycle of poverty and poor health. A number of NGOs had projects implemented in the slum settlement,
such as Plan International which was running water and sanitation programmes,
healthcare, and non-formal education. They lost a lot in capital investment. There should be responsibility of the state to ensure nutrition
and improve public health as its primary duties, along with ensuring equality
of opportunity to all citizens and work as a right and a duty for every
citizen. However, slum residents must struggle to access what are fundamental
constitutionally guaranteed rights. As slum settlements are considered illegal, populations who live in slum settlements often have no official addresses and are commonly denied basic
rights and entitlements, including the right to access water, sanitation,
healthcare services, and education. In Bangladesh it is found that more than half did not have access to fixed garbage disposal and had no mechanism for garbage collection. The lack of governance and accountability in slum settlements results in
residents paying heavily for access to basic services. Usually, local influential leaders within the slum settlement extort money for water and access to other
facilities.

In South Asia, slum settlements rely mainly on municipal taps for drinking-water, and outside South Asia, residents rely on tube wells. Women and young girls stood in long queues daily under the hot sun to access water from a few water lines. Number of young pregnant women revealed that their health was aggravated by the long-working hours carrying out household chores, and collection of water was particularly stressful. Electricity is available in slum settlements but illegally and at extorted prices. The internal slum settlement price for electricity, noted by Coalition for the Urban Poor is higher than what those who have legal access would pay. Safe and sanitary latrines are rare in slums in South Asia. Slum settlements had no access to safe latrines. In nearly all slum settlements, latrines were shared by a number of households; in half of the cases, the latrines were shared by at least six families. Problems of poor sanitation and drainage are endemic. The situation is made worse by the high density of population in slum settlements, which have considerable implications for transmission of communicable diseases and other public-health problems.
In slum settlement, open sewers would overflow during the rainy seasons as there was minimal drainage through the muddy congested lanes of the slum settlement. Uncollected garbage, along with excreta, was dumped in drainage ditches, which quickly became clogged during storms and the rainy seasons, leading to flooding which spread wastes widely throughout the surrounding area. Children and adults commonly have skin infections. Rats and cockroaches scurry across the floors of the tiny, damp, dark, and poorly-ventilated rooms. As latrines were few, young children used the local alleyways as a toilet. In the poorer sections of the slum settlement, some young women also spoke of not going to the public toilets at night as they were located far from their homes, and they feared rape or sexual harassment. There should be attempts to ensure access to safe water for slum settlements.
Final drafting of the South Asia Water Supply Policy have to include community participation as a policy priority, mentioning that communities will provide suggestions for better service strategies and help raise awareness among stakeholders on the water policy and monitor the implementation of the government policy and plans. The policy furthermore commits to ensuring full water supply coverage to the urban poor of slum settlements in South Asia. Less people of slum settlements in South Asia city have access to a public-health clinic according to a review of health services for urban poor people who live in slum settlements.
Predicament for urban people who live in slum settlements and who get neglected by the state and forced to rely on services from NGOs and the private sector which are not well-regulated and offer care of varying qualities. The concept of contracting out health service delivery is a pioneering concept in South Asia to reach out to the poor living in slum settlements.
There was a formal competitive bidding process where proposals were invited from NGOs and other private-sector entities. Contractors won bids based on both quality of their technical proposals and bid price. Contracted NGOs are responsible for delivering a series of services, including immunization, prenatal and obstetrical care, family planning, behavior-change communication, and curative care, including management of tuberculosis and childhood illnesses. Contractors initially rent premises in those areas where health facilities have not yet been established, and one of the major advantages of contracting is that the service providers have the autonomy to manage implementation as they see best. This was expected to foster innovation and rapid adaptation to field conditions, which would ultimately lead to greater effectiveness and efficiency. Some experience in low income countries suggests that contracting can be effective in improving service delivery. However, monitoring and regulation are weak in South Asia, and it is uncertain that populations are having their needs met. The urban poor are mostly engaged in low-paid, labor-intensive work in the informal sector as they lack specific skills necessary to gain entry into the more competitive formal sectors of urban employment. Almost one third of male slum residents pulled rickshaws in South Asia. Most rickshaw-pullers tend to be illiterate and have no formal employment training. Another males were involved in street peddling and petty trading, e.g. selling fruits/vegetables, towels, cheap merchandise, etc. They also worked in other occupations, such as construction work, driving and transport, garments and factory work and domestic help. A much smaller portion had access to some education and worked in low-grade government and semi-government institutions. In most cases, adolescent women stop working in garment factories at the time of marriage. Other work opportunities for women include domestic help and brick-breaking work, extremely low-status and poorly-paid work. Women tend to be excluded from jobs in the transport sector, such as rickshaw-pulling, baby-taxi driving, etc.; most skilled craft-work, such as carpet work, and mosaic work; the majority of service industry and retail sector jobs, such as shop/restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, barber’s shops, and as cooks; and working in markets which require movement at night.
In some cases, slum people had to resort to bribing local influential authorities for access to the mainstream job market. As slums are illegal and people who live in slums are viewed as unreliable, many are unable or reluctant to show that they live in slum settlements. Usually, an authorization from the local Ward Commissioner or local-level leader of any political party provides legitimacy and ensures a guarantor, which takes away the stigma of being associated with living in a slum settlement. The systematic social and economic marginalization of the poor slum people only results in further exploitation in the social hierarchy, resulting in greater vulnerability of this marginalizedgroup.

Usually, the available low-skilled jobs are temporary, leaving the urban poor, particularly vulnerable, to fluctuations in the economy. Loss of work is
one of the most devastating shocks they can face. Slum people had been under-employed. Furthermore, many poor men and women work in unsafe environments and remain at risk of injury and death, with no access to health insurance or safety health cover. Living in the city means living in a monetized economy where cash must be generated to survive. This, in turn, requires that the poor integrate into the labour economy. However, barriers to integration range from lack of skills, the inability to get jobs due to lack of transport, social stigma, no connections to influential authorities, to inability to pay bribes for accessing jobs. Few young women who worked in NGO offices hid the fact that they lived in slum settlements for fear of losing their jobs, as slum settlements are associated with crime and violence. It is not uncommon to hear city residents of all backgrounds speaking disparagingly of slum settlements and people who live in slum settlements. In a number of interviews,rural migrants who live in urban slum settlements admitted that they hid their place of residence from families in the villages because that they were ashamed.
The struggle of the urban poor to establish and defend their slum settlements on ‘illegal space’ is an enduring feature of urban history of South Asia. Evictions from squatted public land often occur without resettlement plans. As a result, the evicted some of whom have lived in the slum settlement for 20 years find themselves relocated to the urban fringes in other slum settlements. This movement, in turn, leads to land-filling and grabbing to make space for new settlements. Natural canals and low lying catchment areas allow for the accommodation of excessive water during the rainy seasons. As they are filled to make way for new settlements, the city has become flood prone with poor drainage.
Slum settlements are rarely upgraded for fear of their impending demolition, and this leads to a vicious cycle of under-development and social exclusion. The successful interventions, in some way, worked to reduce exclusion and enhance capabilities or resources. Projects have shown that people who live in slum settlements are willing and able to organize and pay for services if the opportunity is given. Increased engagement among the people who live in poor communities, local government service providers, civil society, and increased citizens’ awareness of rights and participation in the improvement of their livelihood seem promising strategies. Clearly, projects that take advantage of local social, political and cultural capabilities are more likely to be sustainable and develop networks that reduce exclusion.
The Coalition for the Urban Poor is an association of organizations working to improve the situation of people living in the slum settlements. These organizations help people organize in small groups to engage in collective activities to improve their socioeconomic conditions and benefit from the services that the organization provides. Many organizations also now earn a significant part of their operational costs from fees for services they offer. In supporting the MDGs, governments globally have recognized the importance of addressing the rights of people who live in slum settlements. However, in South Asia and in many countries around the world, while the people who live in slum settlements are an integral part of the city, their right to live safely in the city is not recognized or protected. The lack of a comprehensive policy on urbanization and urban poor has resulted in social and structural inequalities, resulting in poor living and environmental conditions in slum settlements, weak access to basic services, and vulnerability to extortion and exploitation. Lack of job and residential security, together with the lack of a comprehensive state policy to address their needs, leaves slum people bearing the brunt of structural and social inequalities on their lives, bodies, and health.
The absence of clear and forward-looking policies on urbanization and urban slum settlements discourages interventions to improve the long-term prospects of slum people not only for the slum people who may want to upgrade their settlements, i.e. install latrines, build better housing, pay for piped water access, etc. but also for NGOs and donors that would like to work with slum people to improve their lives. Eviction and the threat of eviction have a many layered effect on people who live in slum settlements. There are also severe psychological effects, all of which reinforce poverty and social exclusion and its impact on the lives of the urban poor.
In time, this rapid increase in the density of population will be exacerbated by global warming. A sea-level rise of 1.5 metres will submerge 15% of the country’s landmass, further contributing to the exceptional density of population in South Asia and to the challenges associated with ensuring that the basic rights of the population are met. This future scenario emphasizes the urgency of developing strategies now to facilitate the management of the extreme density of population.