chapter 4 - DRK

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Strictly under embargo until Wednesday 22 September at 00:01 GMT (02:01 Geneva time)4migrants80CHAPTER 4into city life creating a volatile atmosphere and leading to violent confrontationsbetween groups competing for scarce resources. Forcible eviction is a constantthreat. Large-scale evictions by public authorities displace millions every year, sometimesfor redevelopment or beautification projects, or simply to target and removeundesirable groups.In Mumbai, India, up to 400,000 people were displaced by a slum-clearance drive inlate 2004 and early 2005, while in Zimbabwe, 700,000 people were forced to vacatetheir homes in six weeks in May–June 2005. Most of these people ended up even morevulnerable than before. Cambodia has one of the fastest-growing rates of urbanizationin Asia and, in recent years, Phnom Penh has experienced an unprecedented boom inproperty values. As market prices have increased, whole communities have been relocatedfrom land they occupied or bought in the post-war period, or forced out of theirhomes to make way for condominiums, shopping malls and office blocks. Housingrights groups estimate that 133,000 people – 10 per cent of the city’s population – havebeen evicted since 1990.Many of these conditions can also be seen in Dhaka, Bangladesh, one of the world’sfastest-growing cities. Here, the population was 400,000 in 1950, grew to around 12million by 2007 and is projected to reach 20 million by 2020. Between one-third andone-half of its residents are poor, living in 3,000 slums and squatter settlements. Manyexperience physical harm or murder at the hands of mastaans, armed thugs who controlthe slums through extortion and terror. Migrant women who work long hours andwalk home late at night are particularly vulnerable. In 2001, the government enactedan urban cleansing programme in the slums. Reportedly, while the police carried outmass evictions, mastaans raped and looted unhindered.InequalityA factor even more important than poverty is inequality. Countries with high levels ofurban violence tend to suffer from very unequal income distribution patterns and thisunequal access to economic opportunity is frequently cited as the main risk factor forurban violence. Studies have shown that income inequality – which is highest in Africaand Latin America – is much more strongly associated with violent crime than poverty.In Latin America, homicide rates are between 40 and 56 per cent higher than the restof the world. According to data compiled by the UN Economic Commission for LatinAmerica and the Caribbean (ECLAC), 180 million people in the region are living inpoverty, 71 million of whom are classed as indigent or ultra-poor. Figures for 2008indicate a slowdown in poverty reduction and a reversal of the downward trend inindigence since 2002. Only Brazil, Paraguay and Peru continued to reduce the numberof people living in ultra-poverty, by around 1 percentage point. Indigence increased bybetween 1.4 and 2.5 per cent in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexicoand Panama. Costa Rica and Uruguay recorded very slight increases. In Colombia,indigence rose by 2.7 per cent between 2005 and 2008, or 0.9 per cent per year.
Strictly under embargo until Wednesday 22 September at 00:01 GMT (02:01 Geneva time)Table 4.1 Measuring inequalityCountry 1992–2007*Chile 52Mexico 48.1Brazil 55Colombia 58.5Peru 49.6Ecuador 54.4Dominican Republic 50Jamaica 45.5El Salvador 49.7Honduras 55.3Bolivia 58.2Guatemala 53.7South Africa 57.8Kenya 47.7Haiti 59.5Source : UNDP (2009)* The Gini index co-efficient lies between 0 and 100.A value of 0 represents absolute equality and 100 absolute inequality.Although income distribution also improved compared with 1990, with an averagedrop of 4 per cent in the Gini index, income inequality in Latin American countriescontinues to be among the highest in the world. The most significant improvementswere in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Panama and Uruguay, while Argentina, Costa Rica andEcuador recorded increased levels of inequality.These increases no doubt contributed to citizens’ perception that their countries sufferedfrom great distributive injustice. A 2009 ECLAC report found that: “The perceptionthat income distribution is highly inequitable is associated with a distrust ofpolitical institutions and a belief that governments serve the elites more than theyserve the majority.” For many people, inequality is a consequence of an elite minorityretaining a disproportionate level of control and influence over income and economicopportunity. This was seen as a threat to social cohesion, particularly in the context ofincreasing poverty and deprivation.Spatial segregation is also an important factor in increasing urban violence. The geographicalconcentration of the poor in slums, shanty towns and outlying semi-urbanareas isolates them from the rest of society and from the housing, health and educationservices, employment opportunities and social capital they need to improve their lives.As cities expand and develop, the poor are increasingly subjected to a combination ofeconomic decline and social cleansing programmes to remove them from the streets.World Disasters Report 2010 – Focus on urban risk81
Page 1 and 2:
Strictly under embargo untilWednesd
Page 4 and 5:
A global humanitarian organizationT
Page 6 and 7:
Strictly under embargo until Wednes
Page 8:
Page 12:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34: Strictly under embargo until Wednes
Page 83: Strictly under embargo until Wednes
Page 101: Strictly under embargo until Wednes
Page 118 and 119: 114CHAPTER 6Strictly under embargo
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
138CHAPTER 7Strictly under embargo
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
Page 156 and 157:
Page 158 and 159:
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 174 and 175:
Page 176 and 177:
Page 178 and 179:
Page 180 and 181:
Page 182 and 183:
Page 184 and 185:
Page 186 and 187:
Page 188 and 189:
Page 190 and 191:
Page 192 and 193:
Page 194 and 195:
190ANNEX 2Strictly under embargo un
Page 196 and 197:
Page 198 and 199:
Page 200 and 201:
Page 202 and 203:
Page 204 and 205:
Page 206 and 207:
Page 208 and 209:
Page 210 and 211:
Page 212 and 213:
Page 214 and 215:
Page 216 and 217:
Page 218 and 219:
214INDEXStrictly under embargo unti
Page 220:
The International Federationof Red
show all

chapter 4 - DRK

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?