 |
|
In This Update:
Thousands of Middle-Income Residents in Nairobi Face Government Eviction
Waste Management in Jakarta Could Facilitate the Spread of COVID-19 in Jakarta
Women Informal Workers Disproportionately Affected by COVID-19 in South Africa
UN-Habitat and the World Food Program Release Report on COVID-19 in East Africa
Community Mapping Enhances Disaster Management in Indonesian Cities
Urban Transport and Equity in the Global South
In the News And Around the Web
|
Thousands of Middle-Income Residents in Nairobi Face Government Evictions
More than 20,00 middle-income residents of the Nairobi suburb of Langata are facing eviction, following a government announcement the residents were illegally sold the land and that the government planned to demolish the neighborhood to carry out a tree-planting drive. A court order has temporarily stopped the government's appropriation efforts, but advocates point out Langata residents are only able to halt the pending evictions because they have the financial means to do so. In contrast, the government often evicts low-income slumdwellers overnight and in defiance of court orders. In the midst of the pandemic, for example, the government demolished 600 homes in the Nairobi slum Kariobangi and forcefully evicted 5,000 people with only two days' notice.
|
Waste Management in Jakarta May Facilitate the Spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia
Jakarta's waste management system could facilitate the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia. Its Bantar Gebang landfill, the largest in the world, which receives 7,000 tons of waste from Jakarta each day, is home to 100,000 people, many of whom work as informal waste pickers. COVID-19 could make waste scavenging more dangerous due to the presence of large amounts of medical waste that the pickers may encounter. Indonesia has 2,852 hospitals, 9,909 public health centers, and 8,841 health clinics yet less than 100 medical facilities have their own medical waste treatments to process waste like face masks, infusion bags, tubes, syringes, and gloves. It is estimated that due to the pandemic, which has inflicted 100,000 people in Indonesia so far, medical waste will increase five-fold.
|
Women Informal Workers Disproportionately Affected By COVID-19 Pandemic in South Africa
The COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa and the country's subsequent lockdown are disproportionately disrupting the livelihoods of its women informal workers, write Caroline Skinner and Mike Rogan at The Conversation. The National Income Dynamics Study revealed that during South Africa's lockdown, women were "locked out" of their jobs at a higher rate than males leading to a 10% earning loss difference. The data also showed that the largest gender gap in earnings occurred among the urban poor workers with the lowest earnings. The authors urge the South African government to increase child support and social grants, use the special COVID-19 grant as the basis of a universal income guarantee, scale up food packages, and reform the unemployment insurance system.
|
UN-Habitat and the World Food Program Release Report on COVID-19 in East Africa
A new report by UN-Habitat and the World Food Program, "Impact of COVID-19 on Livelihoods, Food Security, and Nutrition in East Africa: Urban Focus," examines how the COVID-19 pandemic and virus containment strategies are disrupting the livelihoods, food security, and nutrition of East African city dwellers. Cities have borne the brunt of the outbreak so far: Kenya has reported that 90% of its COVID-19 cases are in Nairobi and Mombassa and Burundi has reported over 80% of its cases in its capital. The proliferation of informal settlements and slums in the region, home to approximately 58% of its population or 35 million people, renders East Africa more susceptible to disease transmission and its residents more vulnerable to the economic impacts of lockdowns.
|
Community Mapping Enhances Disaster Management in Indonesian Cities
At Urbanet, Harry Mahardhika Machmud explains how citywide mapping and community participation is building disaster resilience in Indonesian cities, which are especially vulnerable to disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. Machmud asserts that citizen input is critical for determining where to improve public infrastructure, health facilities, evacuation shelters, and public roads because residents are themselves the first responders in the aftermath of a disaster and therefore have first-hand knowledge of specific areas and specific gaps in preparedness. The cities of Surabaya, Semarang, and Jakarta are now enhancing their disaster resilience through mapping, field surveys by mobile phone apps, map distribution, trainings, and workshops.
Read more here.
|
Urban Transport and Equity in the Global South
Transport is a critical part of urban equity, write Anjali Mahendra, Dario Hidalgo, and Schuyler Null at TheCityFix. Mahendra, Hidalgo, and Null assert that when cities do not invest in a high-quality transport network to support land development, they exacerbate spatial segregation. For instance, only 20% of residents in Johannesburg can access more than 60% of the city's employment opportunities within an hour of travel time. A World Resource Institute report has also determined that only 9% of residents in Johannesburg and 7% in Mexico City are "well-located" in terms of transport costs and access to jobs. The authors urge policymakers to better design streets for walking and bicycling, advance multimodal public transport networks, and subsidize transport for lower-income residents.
Read more here.
|
|
In The News and Around the Web
-
COVID-19 May Displace One Million in the Sahel: A new modeling tool predicts that COVID-19 will displace more than one million people across the Sahel.
-
Airbnb Founder Apologizes for Negative Impact on Cities: Airbnb founder Brian Chesky apologized for the impact of Aibnb on cities and communities and reported that the company would prioritize small-scale every day hosts over larger commercial operators going forward.
-
Smart City Training Series: In case you missed it, IHC Global presented at a recent Smart City Training Series on gender-inclusion hosted by the UN Development Program's Global Center for Technology, Innovation, and Sustainable Development. The recording can be found here.
|
|
The Bantar Gebang landfill outside of Jakarta (Adam Dean/The New York Times)
|
Thank you for reading! We have a request for you since you care about these issues: Please support IHC Global's fight against inequality through equitable urban development. New approaches to housing, healthcare, and justice are necessary for systemic change. We are working on all fronts to advance these critical changes. Any amount will make a difference. We thank you for your support!
|
|
|
|
Head Office: 5425 Wisconsin Ave, Ste 600, Chevy Chase, MD 20815
Satellite Office: 430 N. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611
|
|
|
|
|
