UN-HABITAT is one of the key partners of the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme (KENSUP). KENSUP was initiated in 2001 by the Government of Kenya (GoK), and it is complemented and supplemented by UN-HABITAT through cooperation outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding and existing project documents.

Project activities under KENSUP are taking place in Nairobi, Kisumu, Mavoko, Mombasa and Thika.

UN-HABITAT Slum Upgrading Facility Work plan 8. Explains what they are, how they will work and why they are important. A key element of the SUF Pilot Programme work is that of establishing local finance facilities with a specific remit to support slum upgrading.

These facilities are designed to improve access to credit for slum dwellers.

Les actuelles frontières du Cameroun résultent des vicissitudes de la conquête coloniale et des rivalités entre l’Allemagne, l’Angleterre et la France ; aussi, ce pays est-il composé de régions très diverses et de populations très différentes. S’étendant du 2e au 13e parallèle nord, sur une superficie de 475 442 kilomètres carrés, le Cameroun offre des paysages très variés.

À l’ouest, une chaîne de montagnes, dominée par le mont Cameroun, volcan de 4 070 m, s’étend presque jusqu’au Tchad avec d’extraordinaires reliefs volcaniques ; au nord, de vastes plaines, traversées ou bordées par la Bénoué et le Logone, touchent aux marécages du lac Tchad ; le Centre est un vaste plateau de 800 à 1 500 m d’altitude, propice à l’élevage ; le Sud est constitué par un système complexe de longues plaines ou de collines en partie recouvertes par la grande forêt, presque déserte au sud-est ; quant aux rivages du Sud-Ouest, ils sont plats, sablonneux, souvent marécageux.

Kenya’s cities and towns are centres of industry, education, and culture, hosting 34 percent of the national population and generating over 65 percent of the national GDP. With an annual urban population growth rate of 4.4 percent, it is one of the most rapidly urbanizing countries in the region. Due to a combination of demographic, economic, and political realities, many Kenyan cities are facing daunting challenges. Perhaps the most important one is rapid urbanization, outstripping by far the capacity of the government and local authorities to guide the physical growth of urban areas and provide essential urban services for their citizens. This has resulted in the rapid growth of slums in Kenyan cities and towns.

The close of the last millennium saw the development of cities in the developing world being radically shaped by the intrinsically related processes of urbanization and globalization.

Neither of these phenomena is new — what is unprecedented is their pace and scale. Indeed, urbanization processes in most developing countries are intensifying. This poses immense challenges for governments at all levels. These are rapid urban population growth and the urbanization of poverty.

The latter is manifested most conspicuously in the proliferation and expansion of slums and informal settlements, which are home to a growing proportion of urban dwellers in developing countries. It presents a major challenge to the international community.

The Challenge of Slums presents the first global assessment of slums, emphasizing their problems and prospects. It presents estimates of the numbers of urban slum dwellers and examines the factors that underlie the formation of slums, as well as their social, spatial and economic characteristics and dynamics. It also evaluates the principal policy responses to the slum challenge of the last few decades. The report argues that the number of slum dwellers is growing and will continue to increase unless there is serious and concerted action by all relevant stakeholders. The report points the way forward and identifies the most promising approaches to achieving the Millennium Declaration target on improving the lives of slum dwellers.  

The current paper presents the results of a first global enumeration of slums at the country level. The data are analyzed and comparisons established at sub-regional and regional levels while trying to understand what is happening globally. This document is the culmination of attempts to come to grips with changes in the way we measure slums, starting by providing an agreed universal definition of this type of settlements and a clear methodological approach. The preliminary estimations presented in this document represent a baseline year level that permits the preparation of quantitative estimates for future trends. By providing the methodology and the quantitative knowledge base, the document strives to enhance the use of information on urban poverty, as a powerful policy-making tool to help induce the desired structural changes for poverty alleviation.