INTRODUCTION TO UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR AND THE PACIFIC AND THE AGENDA ITEM “To address urban poverty effectively, policymakers at the national and local levels need a good understanding of the nature of urban poverty as well as accurate data that present its dynamics, trends and conditions.” (United Nations Economic and Social Council, 2007) The region of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) encompasses is a big one, from Turkey in the West, Kiribati in the East, Russia in the North and New Zealand in the South; it also has a complex cultural structure and a big economy and market with 2/3 of the World’s population, and many developing countries. The economy of the region used to be very agriculture-dominated 20 years ago, yet today it is heading towards becoming a more developed, industrialized region and this has direct correlation with urbanization. Although the definition of urban differentiates from state to state, it is clear that for the first time in the world’s history more than 50% of the total population now lives in cities and the regional statistics for and Pacific are the same. As the urban population grows so does urban poverty. Urban poverty affects millions of people in Asia, and although there are many regulations on how to deal with rural poverty, urban poverty is more of a recent issue that needs urgent addressing as it holds back further economic development for Asia and Pacific. For that reason it is important that UNESCAP addresses the matter in order to create unifying, effective and solid regulations. UNITED NATIONS AND REGIONAL COMMISSIONS In order to understand the workings of UNESCAP, first its structure and significance within the other regional commissions of the United Nations must be examined. The United Nations Regional Commissions consist of five regional development arms which divides the member states according to their socio-economic relevance, these are: United Nations Economic Commission for United Nations Economic and Social Commission for and the Pacific (UNESCAP) Economic Commission for (ECLAC)
Economic and Social Affairs, showing the urban population of the world, and dividing it by continent. The growth in Asia’s urban population, which used to be less than Europe fifty years ago, is visible. In addition, the projections of 2050 show that the urban population of the world is foreseen as 6.3 billion which indicates a vast majority of the world’s urban population will be living in Asian cities. Nevertheless, it is uncertain whether the current infrastructure of the Asian cities can provide living for the upcoming explosion of the urban population. Urban Poverty in Asia and Pacific As mentioned more than 600 million people in the Asia Pacific region live under $1.25/ day. Although Asian economy has been handling the global financial crisis relatively better, for example compared to North America, it is documented that 44 million people have reverted back to poverty in 2011 because of it. Overall, although there have been progress in decreasing rural poverty, urban poverty is documented to be increasing and when the level of urbanization in the region is taken under consideration it will continue to increase unless effective and direct policies addressing the situation are not implemented in cooperation. a. Problems Relating to or Caused by Poverty According to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, urban poverty is most usually not caused by unemployment but because of the high costs connected to living in a big city, with more access to various goods and services. Moreover, urban areas may be dominated by the private sector, which most usually means higher prices, especially transportation. Even if the public services are available, the cost of reaching and waiting for them may be overwhelming; this includes bribes and any other illegal payments that may seem to be mandatory because of the abuse of rank by law enforcement personnel. Furthermore; the health costs of living in a city without sanitation, supplies or access to clean water may be a lot for someone without regular and decent income. Therefore whether it is population growth or migration that leads to urbanization, rapid urbanization and high costs of urban life and low wages cause urban poverty. The newly growing urban population is facing poverty and cumulative social and economic problems caused by it,
these problems will be examined in detail below. Slums and Low-Income Housing Housing is a very important aspect of the life yet the lack of proper housing may be very problematic for the urban poor. Studies show that in some urban areas, households with average incomes cannot afford proper housing; as a consequence the need for low-income housing emerges. Low-income housing is “housing which is reasonably adequate in standard and location for lower or middle income households and does not cost so much that a household is unlikely to be able to meet other basic needs on a sustainable basis”. According to UN Habitat, the costs of living in the city exceed what most can provide for, 42% of the urban poor in Asia lives in slums -half of the World’s slum population- which is the equivalent of 581 million people. “Usually the term slum is used to cover a wide range of areas with poor quality housing, insufficient infrastructure and deteriorated living environments, but in which the occupants have some kind of secure land tenure: as owners, legal occupants or formal tenants of the land.” (UNESCAP, 2008) Slum areas are the most common informal settlements; they are overcrowded, vulnerable to natural disasters, they lack access to clean water and sanitation; slum residents face eviction and social exclusion. Access to energy and telecommunication is also a hardship for slum dwellers, despite the concentration of those services in cities. Most slum settlements do not have access to formal electricity and heating services, most families use coal for heating, which creates health and environmental problems. Overall, there are seven most common characteristics of slums that are used for defining the word slum: of basic services housing and structure and illegal settlement living living conditions tenure (Figure: 4 Inequality, poverty and slums, UNHABITAT, 2003) exclusion and poverty of over a certain square-meter (Photograph 1: Joseph, BBC NEWS) The main reason behind slums is the lack of affordable formal housing. The poor migrate to the cities only for a short period of time and because of this; they do not want to a lot of money on temporary
excursion, inadequate access to education and information combined with peer pressure are aggravating factors when it comes to youth violence. Drug-related violence and gang activity is common in the Region since the urban youth is exposed to high levels of drug trafficking, especially considering the existence of “the Golden Triangle” –Burma, Laos and Thailand- and “the Golden Crescent” –Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran-, areas named for the triangular and crescent shapes on the map, significant source of opium growth from which heroin is made. Opium growth in the Golden Crescent, according to 2007 projections of the UN, accounted for 92% of the world’s total opium growth. Ineffective policing in the cities of Asia and Pacific also remains a significant issue in the face of increasing crime rates. Policing is generally defined as “the civil force of a state, responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the maintenance of public order”. According to UNESCAP’s report on Urban Safety and Poverty in Asia and the Pacific, the isolation of slums and the elitist, corrupt façade of the police forces, bribery and lack of access to a strong justice system create a non-trust relationship with the poor and police. The recreation of the trust between the community and law enforcement is essential in most Asian cities in addition to empowering the law enforcement in number and capacity in order to effectively deal with megacities. Women and Urban Poverty Problems relating to poverty examined above, such as increase in crime rates, inadequate sanitation and the growing numbers of informal settlements particularly affect urban women. Women’s role is quite significant when sustainable urbanisation and economy is in question, therefore the lives of women living in Asian cities must be improved for overall development. Firstly, face many problems relating to accessing water and sanitation in slums. According to the United Nations Women Watch: “Women and girls typically take responsibility for fetching water when supply is poor, and this can take hours out of their day, reducing time for education, employment, childcare and rest. When relatives become sick because of poor hygiene, it is also women and girls who bear the greatest burden of care. A lack of separate-sex toilet facilities in schools,
The urban populations living in informal settlements such as slums usually do not get a chance to clean their food properly due to lack of clean water. Water sanitation may be the most significant issue, as even today, there are people who access water from unimproved sources, such as wells, rivers and ponds. Slum-dwellers may (Photograph 2: Man using the bathroom where the children are playing, D’Souza, 2006) have to wait in for hours and end up having to store water in their houses which lowers the quality of the drinking water. According to the World Health Organization, the lack of sanitized toilets is another matter, only 66% of the urban population has access to safe sanitation; some living in slums defecate in plastic bags, buckets and 8% per cent of urban residents defecate to open pits or public areas. Food hygiene and quality are issues threatening the health of the urban poor. Women in the region, because of hard working conditions and consumption of high levels of processed food, end breastfeeding their children 2-3 months prior to the common period of time in the urban areas. Malnutrition is also problematic since, for example in India, underweight children constitute 66% of the poorest one fifth of the urban population not to mention that the urban poor pay 30% more for their food compared to the rural poor. Street Children "Unless governments, in partnership with civil society, embark on poverty alleviation through massive investments in social programs for urban working/street children, more and more will become victims of drugs, sexual exploitation, physical abuse or forced into criminal activities". (Senator Ernesto Herrera, Philippine Senate) In most countries in the region, children under the age of 14 make up for more than 30% of the population. A child is defined in Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), as any human being below the age of 18. The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund defines street children as: “..children from migrant families living and working on the street in public areas, with one or both parents or guardians; children working on the street who live at home with their parents or guardians; or children who have left home for economic reasons and
live and work on the street, in public areas such as parks, under bridges in cities without their parents or guardians.” United Nations projections show that there up to 150 million street children in the World. There are various reasons why these children would end up on the street, such as the need to provide more income for the families or escaping a hostile environment in the household. Economic consequences of having recently migrated from rural areas to the cities or being homeless because of poverty or a natural disaster may also increase the number of children on the streets. Also becoming an orphan or losing their houses because of poverty or a natural disaster may lead children to a life in the streets. Most commonly; when these children are out of place, they may end up as beggars, picking rubbish or shine shoes all day meanwhile not getting proper education or regular nutrition. They face violence, sexual abuse or substance abuse, possibility of getting HIV/AIDS, being involved in gangs or drug trafficking, or if not any of these, jobs where they are working in dangerous conditions and face health problems. One of the most distressing problems street children face is abuse. For instance, for children who work in the streets, there is an adult supervising the work and the earnings of these children and children have a quota of a minimum amount of earnings they have to bring at the end of every day or they might end up being bullied. Children may be coerced into theft, bag snatching or drug trafficking where they may be used as couriers. However once caught, the crimes of these children are most commonly dealt with in an informal manner, such as being beaten by the police, shopkeepers or any other adult. Street children also experience various health problems as a direct consequence of their lives on the streets. These may be caused because of the lack of continuous and proper nutrition or exposure to common diseases such as tuberculosis. In addition, children may get injured in the streets or because of an abusive adult. According to World Health Organization, girls are especially vulnerable to “physical and sexual abuse and exploitation. Common sexual and reproductive health problems include sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions” HIV is a disease that destroys a person’s immune system,
Concrete steps must be taken in the leadership of UNESCAP as to provide adequate living standards for the millions living in Asian cities. INCOME INEQUALITY Introduction Although there are many technical methods of measuring and defining income inequality, bluntly the term defines itself as 20% of the World’s population enjoys the 70% of the total income. Furthermore, according to recent projections, the richest 1% of the world owns 46% of total wealth. In the mean time, the poorest 2/3 of the total population of the world owns %3. This situation is deemed to be morally undesirable and unfair; furthermore it is also known that inequality creates physical and emotional distress on those who are subjected to it mostly the youth. It is alarming that the youth dominate the poorest 20%, which is 50 cents below the $2/day poverty line. Defining Inequality Inequality is usually examined in two perspectives, inequality of income and inequality of opportunity. a. Inequality of Opportunity: Asian Development Bank summarizes inequality of opportunity as: “Preventing individuals from enhancing their human capital to augment their earning potential— through discrimination or incomplete service coverage—creates inequality of opportunity.” Unequal opportunity affects the poor in such instances as less access of the poor to public services, most commonly education and health. Unequal access to health and education services will hamper a person’s self-development process, and consequently that person’s chances for acquiring an employment with higher earnings. These inequalities may rise from matters of gender, wealth or concentration or insufficiency of services in some areas. b. Income Inequality: Income inequality is the distribution of the wealth of a amongst its people in a way that creates a gap between the poor and the rich, which is deemed to be an unfair and inequitable social situation. Inequality is driven by progress in technology, globalization and urbanization which then is combined with the lack of state regulation on the matter. The technological advancements of the 21st century creates new areas and new employment opportunities however these only advantage those with higher levels of education and income. In addition, technological advancements also reduce the labour force needed, therefore creating an increase of unemployment for the workers