urban poverty in bangladesh - Gtz

The urban poverty blog emerged in 2008 out of the interest of writing about the life of the urban poor in Bangladesh.It has been on the internet for 18 months now. We would like to congratulate the group of authors that started this initiativeand contributed to the blog and ultimately to this booklet you hold in your hands.The initiators were German students, who came to Bangladesh for the first time to do an internship in the area of GoodUrban Governance. The strong impressions they had during their field work became a driving force to report on what theyhad witnessed. Exposed to the life in the slums of Bangladesh, they did not concentrate on the less-than-ideal conditionsin which people lived in, but rather on “their daily routine, their areas and places of living, … their struggles, their hopesand fears”.The initiative was then taken up by newcomers in 2009 and also by young researchers, who were invited to blog. Theirblog demonstrates that they have gotten very close to the people that are anonymously labeled as the “target group” inDevelopment Cooperation jargon. The faces, destinies and day-to-day joys and worries described here help us to see theslum dwellers in a different light, and highlight the individuals behind the numbers.The blog does not claim to tell the ‘one true story’ about the life in slums, but its does contribute a few more facets of thewhole picture. The blog provides a better understanding of the life of the urban poor - for those distant to the slums, butalso for those – like us – who work to improve living environments and access to services, improve livelihoods and increaseassets, and ensure the rights of the poor. It helps to understand the complex reality of the challenge of urban poverty. Inthis way, the blog is both an attempt to communicate personal impressions and to create new knowledge.Now, after two years of writing, the publication of this blog as a booklet will help disseminate these insights, with hopesthat more people will start to care about the situation of the urban poor in Bangladesh.As a next step, with the enabling support of GTZ and the Urban Parnerships for Poverty for Reduction Project, the slumdwellers themselves will start to write their own stories. There are millions of stories to tell, and as many people that cantell them. Let us listen to them.Alexander JachnowGTZ Principal AdvisorGood Urban GovernanceRichard GeierInternational Programme ManagerUrban Partnerships for Poverty Reduction Projectiii