-Caveat Lector-
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Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2003 11:14:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: Party of Citizens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: Habitat Partners Network <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [BCPOLITICS] Re: [partners] UN-HABITAT launches The Slum Challenge
Last night's TV news informed us that Vancouver's solution to the Slum
Challenge is proposed to be the building of a PERMANENT SQUAT. Clr. Green
says 6-7,000 Vancouverites will be made homeless and destitute in six
months when the government of BC, led by Premier Campbell, officially
abnegates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and begins severing
all BC government provision of food, clothing and shelter to the poorest
of Vancouverites. The total, BC-wide could be anywhere from 30-60,000 over
the next two years. All may converge on Vancouver's permanent squatter's
city within a city.
Soon-to-be Prime Minister Martin is expected to follow suit with
Canada-wide rescinding of Canada's compliance with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Thus the poor of Canada, "from sea to sea"
will officially become a pariah class, the only identifiable group in the
country which can be legally given the death penalty. The legal method of
execution is to refuse the provision of the necessities of life, ie
food, shelter, clothing etc.
Clr. Ladner says there are other alternatives to the permanent squat but
they weren't stated. We would all like to hear what they are. The 20
senators of the Croll Senate Committee in 1971 had recommended a
guaranteed income for all Canadians and they included a taxation mechanism
to support it in their report. But the direction of political leaders like
Martin and Campbell since that time has gone in the opposite direction.
Martin and Campbell do not even believe society at large has a commitment
to keep the poorest of Canadians alive. But who is this "society at
large"? If there are 1,000 millionaire families in BC, why do they need
the other 4,000,000 British Columbians at all? Aren't we all just "surplus
population" to them?
Yours for the true spirit of Hallowe'en,
POC
********* <http://www.geocities.com/CITIZENS_ASSEMBLY> **********
$$$ "Capital punishment is not just penalty for poverty" $$$
On Wed, 8 Oct 2003, Party of Citizens wrote:
> Vancouver now has three slums to match the conditions of any impoverished
> country. Some 50-100 people live in each of Stanley Park, Hastings Park
> and Creekside Park in tents. The rainy season has begun in Vancouver so
> the dampness makes living conditions unhealthy as well as the garbage
> and sewage problems. Premier Campbell of BC and soon-to-be Premier Martin
> of Canada believe that capital punishment is just penalty for poverty in
> Canada as well as the rest of the world. Poor people in Canada are the
> only identifiable group which can be legally given the death penalty. The
> method of execution is that they can be deprived of the necessities of
> life by society at large in violation of the Universal Declaration of
> Human Rights Article 25.
>
> A neighbourhood is not a slum just because it is poor. The problem has to
> do with habitats in which people live on the threshold between having
> the necessities for sustaining life and not having them and society at
> large has no commitment to providing these necessities. This is life 'in
> the valley of the shadow of death'. It is the way of life for several
> million of Canada's poorest citizens.
>
> POC
>
> ********* <http://www.geocities.com/CITIZENS_ASSEMBLY> **********
> $$$ "Capital punishment is not just penalty for poverty" $$$
>
> On Wed, 8 Oct 2003, Zahra Hassan wrote:
>
> > UNHSP/12/03
> > UN-HABITAT launches The Slum Challenge
> > the new Global Report on Human Settlements
> >
> > Slum Dwellers to double by 2030:
> > Millennium Development Goal Could Fall Short
> >
> > 6 October 2003, Nairobi: Nearly one billion people alive today -
> > one in every six human beings - are slum dwellers, and that
> > number is likely to double in the next thirty years, according to
> > UN-HABITAT's new publication The Challenge of Slums: Global
> > Report on Human Settlements 2003 which was launched today.
> >
> > Unprecedented urban growth in the face of increasing poverty and
> > social inequality, and a predicted increase in the number of
> > people living in slums (to about 2 billion by 2030), mean that
> > the United Nations Millennium Development goal to improve the
> > lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020 should be
> > considered the absolute bare minimum that the international
> > community should aim for, according to the report to be released
> > in October 2003.
> >
> > In his foreword to the report, United Nations Secretary-General,
> > Mr. Kofi Annan, points out that the locus of global poverty is
> > moving to cities, a process now recognised as the urbanisation of
> > poverty. Without concerted action on the part of the municipal
> > authorities, national governments, civil society actors and the
> > international community, the number of slum dwellers is likely to
> > increase in most developing countries. And if no serious action
> > is taken, the number of slum dwellers worldwide is projected to
> > rise over the next 30 years to about 2 billion.
> >
> > This movement towards "full urbanisation", which has already been
> > completed in Europe and in North and most of South America, means
> > that most new population growth will be absorbed by the cities of
> > the developing world, which will double in size by 2030. Three
> > quarters of this growth will be in cities with populations of 1
> > to 5 million people, and in smaller cities of under 500 000
> > people. The report finds that, alarmingly, there is currently
> > little or no planning to accommodate these people or provide them
> > with services.
> >
> > "The United Nations' goal of "Cities without Slums" is not
> > unattainable," said Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, the Executive Director
> > of Un-HABITAT, "without the vigorous implementation of urban
> > planning and management policies designed to prevent the
> > emergence of slums, along with slum-upgrading and a commitment on
> > the part of governments to reduce poverty."
> >
> > Professor Jeffrey Sachs, the Special Adviser to the UN
> > Secretary-General on the Millennium Development Goals, reinforced
> > the central message of the book, stating that it would not be
> > possible for the world to meet the goals set by the international
> > community without greater political will and an increased
> > commitment of resources.
> >
> > Economic Trends at the Heart of Slum Growth
> >
> > Slum formation is closely linked to economic cycles, trends in
> > national income distribution, and in more recent years, to
> > national economic development policies. The report finds that the
> > cyclical nature of capitalism, increased demand for skilled
> > versus unskilled labour, and the negative effects of
> > globalisation - in particular, economic booms and busts that
> > ratchet up inequality and distribute new wealth unevenly -
> > contribute to the enormous growth of slums.
> >
> > The report notes that, in the past, the global economic system
> > was responsible for creating the famous slum areas of major
> > cities in today's developed world and it is very likely to do the
> > same again in the developing world.
> >
> > Slum development is fuelled by a combination of rapid
> > rural-to-urban migration, spiralling urban poverty, the inability
> > of the urban poor to access affordable land for housing and
> > insecure land tenure.
> >
> > More than half of the twenty nine case study cities covered in
> > the UN-HABITAT report indicate that slum formation will continue
> > throughout Africa, and in many parts of the Middle East, Latin
> > America, and Asia.
> >
> > Focus should be on poverty
> >
> > While traditional approaches to the slum problem have tended to
> > concentrate on improvement of housing, infrastructure and
> > physical environmental conditions, the report's authors advocate
> > a more comprehensive approach to addressing the issue of
> > employment for slum dwellers and the urban poor in general.
> >
> > Slums are largely a physical manifestation of urban poverty, a
> > fact that has not always been recognized by past policies aimed
> > either at the physical eradication or the upgrading of slums. For
> > this reason, future policies must go beyond the physical
> > dimension of slums by addressing the problems that underlie urban
> > poverty.
> >
> > Slum policies should be integrated with broader, people-focused
> > urban poverty reduction policies that deal with the varied
> > aspects of poverty, including employment and incomes, shelter,
> > food, health, education and access to basic urban infrastructure
> > and services.
> >
> > Improving incomes and jobs for slum dwellers, however, requires
> > robust national economic growth, which is itself dependent upon
> > effective and equitable national and international economic
> > policies, including trade. Current evidence suggests that
> > globalisation in its present form has not always worked in favour
> > of the urban poor and has, in fact, exacerbated their social and
> > economic exclusion in some countries.
> >
> > "Improving the effectiveness of slum policies can be achieved by
> > fully involving the urban poor and those traditionally
> > responsible for providing slum housing," says Mrs. Anna Kajumulo
> > Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT. "But this will
> > require more inclusive urban policies on the part of the public
> > sector which must be made more accountable for the supply of
> > urban public goods and services to all."
> >
> > There is abundant evidence of innovative solutions developed by
> > the poor to improve their own living environments, leading to the
> > gradual consolidation of informal settlements. Where appropriate
> > upgrading policies have been put in place, slums have become
> > increasingly socially cohesive, offering opportunities for
> > security of tenure, local economic development and improvement of
> > incomes among the urban poor. UN-HABITAT's Global Campaign on
> > Secure Tenure is closely linked with policy intervention in
> > slums. The campaign is designed to promote the commitment of
> > Governments to providing "Adequate Shelter for All", one of the
> > two main goals of the Habitat agenda. Providing secure tenure is
> > seen as essential for a sustainable shelter strategy, and is a
> > vital element in the promotion of housing rights.
> >
> > In addition, the quality of urban governance plays a central role
> > in the eradication of poverty and slums, and the creation of
> > prosperous, more liveable cities. UN-HABITAT's Global Campaign on
> > Urban Governance, launched in 1999, envisions and promotes
> > "inclusive cities", cities in which everyone, regardless of their
> > economic status, gender, race, ethnicity or religion, is enabled
> > and empowered to fully participate in the economic and political
> > opportunities that cites have to offer.
> >
> > "For slum policies to be successful, the kind of apathy and lack
> > of political will that has characterized both national and local
> > levels of government in many countries in recent decades needs to
> > be reversed," says Tibaijuka. "Much more political will is needed
> > at all levels of government to confront the huge scale of slum
> > problems that many cities face today, and will no doubt face in
> > the foreseeable future."
> >
> > Investment in Infrastructure Key
> >
> > At the core of efforts to improve the environmental habitability
> > of slums and enhance economically productive activities is the
> > need to invest in infrastructure - to provide water and
> > sanitation, electricity, access roads, footpaths and waste
> > management. Low-income housing and slum-upgrading policies need
> > to pay attention to the financing of citywide infrastructure
> > development. Having said that, however, the main focus of policy
> > makers must be on poverty reduction and the up-grading of slum
> > communities.
> >
> > The report finds that upgrading existing slums is more effective
> > than resettling slum dwellers and should become the normal
> > practice in future slum initiatives. It goes on to state that the
> > eradication of slums and resettlement of slum dwellers can create
> > more problems than are solved. Eradication and relocation
> > unnecessarily destroy a large stock of housing affordable to the
> > urban poor and the new housing provided has frequently turned out
> > to be unaffordable, with the result that relocated households
> > move back into slum accommodation.
> >
> > Slums of Hope Rather than Despair
> >
> > UN HABITAT's The Challenge of Slums: Global Report on Human
> > Settlements 2003 finds that there is, despite the current crisis,
> > abundant evidence of innovative solutions developed by the poor
> > to improve their own living environments, becoming more socially
> > cohesive when appropriate upgrading policies are put in place.
> > Such policies offer opportunities for more secure tenure, local
> > economic development and improvement of livelihoods and incomes
> > for the urban poor. They can transform the settlements in which
> > the urban poor struggle to survive from filthy ramshackle housing
> > developments characterised by disease and insecurity to upgraded,
> > well-maintained homes, where families and communities can thrive.
> > This transformation - from slums of despair to slums of hope -
> > is, according to the Report, not only conceivable given the right
> > policies, but highly achievable.
> >
> > GRHS/03/B1
> >
> > This is a UN-HABITAT Feature/Backgrounder, please feel free to
> > publish or quote from this article provided UN-HABITAT Features
> > is given credit. Suitable photographs are available on our
> > website.
> >
> > For further information, please contact:
> > Mr. Sharad Shankardass, Spokesperson
> > Ms. Zahra Hassan, Press & Media Liaison
> > Press & Media Relations Unit
> > Tel: (254 20) 623153/623151/623136
> > Fax: (254 20 624060
> > E-mail:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Website: www.unhabitat.org
> >
> >
> > -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
> > [partners] - from the <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> electronic mailing list
> > for the habitat partners network http://www.undp.org/un/habitat/partners
> > . whole earth partnership, informatics & participation .
> > . http://www.igc.org/habitat/wepip .
> >
>
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