WRITTEN QUESTION P-2206/02

by Walter Veltroni (PSE) to the Commission

(12 July 2002)

Subject: Situation of the poor in Nairobi

55 % of the population of Nairobi, approximately 2 million people, are living in slums scattered around the urban area without there being any relevant building policy. The economic, social and health conditions in these settlements are appalling and unfit for human beings. Most of the slums are on publicly-owned land which the government considers as unoccupied land which it can sell. When that happens the poor inhabitants, who have no legal entitlement, are forcibly evicted and their shacks are demolished, without there being any prospect of alternative accommodation.

Can the Commission say, in the context of its cooperation policy with the developing countries, what it thinks of this urgent and complex issue and whether it has taken the problem into account in its relations with the Kenyan authorities?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(6 August 2002)

1. The Government of Kenya, supported by the international community, has undertaken a large-scale consultation process, with the active participation of civil society, in order to define a coherent strategy to fight poverty and to eradicate it in the long term. This has led to the drafting of a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) which is at the centre of the co-operation strategies of Kenya's main donors, including the Community.

No donor including the Community is in a position, however, to tackle the full range of Kenya's poverty issues alone. The coordination between the Government of Kenya and the donors leads to a sharing of work on the various aspects of poverty.

In this context, the Commission's main objective in Kenya is the fight against poverty in rural areas, reflecting the priorities of the PRSP. Three quarters of the poor live in rural areas.

The concentration on rural areas does not mean, however, that there is no contribution to fighting urban poverty: such contribution is made through support to national policies (e.g. health) which greatly influence the determinants of poverty in Kenya. In addition, support is given through a number of specific actions in areas such as education, water and sanitation. Income-generating projects are also financed through a micro-enterprise support programme. Furthermore, the Commission also funds a number of non governmental organisation (NGO) co-financed projects in the Nairobi slums supporting vocational training, the reinsertion into society of street children and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) prevention.

2. Questions relating to land tenure in African countries are complex and usually difficult to resolve. They are far from being a particularity of urban areas alone and are usually linked to issues such as traditional property rights and colonial and post-independence legislative developments. By contributing to a more sustained development in rural areas, the Commission seeks to alleviate the flow of rural populations to the slums of

major cities. It is preparing, in consultation with Member States, guidelines on sustainable urban development, which deal with questions related to housing and land tenure. The Commission is also currently associated with the World Bank/United Nations- sponsored partnership Cities Alliance, the main focus of which is supporting urban development strategies, including slum upgrading. Kenya is one of Cities Alliance's target countries.