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WORLD SOCIAL FORUM-KENYA: A Race to Leave Informal Settlements Behind

Joyce Mulama

NAIROBI, Dec 16 2006 (IPS) - Come the 2007 World Social Forum (WSF), to be held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi next month, many delegates will doubtless be seen running to and from various events. Some may also be running for an event, however: the ‘Marathon for Basic Rights: Another World is Possible Even for Slum Dwellers’.

The official slogan of the forum is “Another World is Possible”.

About 10,000 residents of various informal settlements in the country are expected to compete in the race alongside counterparts from other countries, in a bid to compel governments to improve living conditions in slums. According to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), about a billion people globally are living in informal settlements, most of them in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The 14 kilometre run will begin in Korogocho, a slum in eastern Nairobi, then snake through the streets of the city, ending at Uhuru park. Tegla Lorupe and Paul Tergat, internationally acclaimed marathon runners from Kenya, will be amongst those at the starting line.

“We want to send a message of hope to slum populations that another free and just world is possible, even with the slum dwellers,” Danielle Moschetti, who is helping to arrange the event, told IPS.

“The marathon will remind governments that issues in slums need to be given serious attention, and that leaders should not just look the other way as conditions in slums continue to deteriorate. People are tired of words, they want action.”

Moschetti is in charge of the Korogocho Catholic Church, which is a member of Exodus Kutoka: a network of 15 Catholic parishes working in different slums in Nairobi. Exodus Kutoka and the Kenya Land and Housing Coalition, a group of non-governmental bodies working on land and settlement matters, are jointly organising the race.

There are 199 slums in Nairobi, most densely populated and severely lacking in basic services. Korogocho, which means “confusion” in the language of the Kikuyu – Kenya’s largest ethnic group – is a prime example.

Some 120,000 people are crammed into the 1.5 square kilometre’s worth of land that makes up the settlement. As in most other slums, shacks of mud and metal sheets provide accommodation, divided only by narrow footpaths that also serve as sewers and drains. The settlement becomes virtually impassable during the rainy season, when sewage also spills into shacks, posing a serious health threat. Mountains of garbage and scarce water provision add to the health hazards.

Rights groups have accused authorities of being lethargic in their efforts to improve conditions in slums.

“The government does not seem to have been clear of what approach to use. It has been planning from the top, totally withdrawing from the reality on the ground,” said Boaz Waruku, policy manager at the Shelter Forum, an umbrella body for organisations concerned with housing and related issues.

These charges are echoed by the residents of informal settlements.

“We are the ones who live here and we know what we need. We know exactly where the shoe is pinching and we do not want the government to impose its strategies on us. We want to be part and parcel of government plans that touch on our settlements,” observed Mwangi Mwaniki, a resident of Korogocho.

However, authorities maintain they are in consultation with those living in slums, and that there has been progress in improving these communities. In an interview with IPS, Betty Tett, the assistant minister for housing, pointed to the establishment of the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme.

Launched in 2004, this initiative is run jointly with UN-HABITAT, and seeks to build permanent houses for slum dwellers and provide them with clean water. It is currently being implemented in Kibera, Kenya’s biggest slum, which is home to more than 700,000 people. The programme is expected to get underway in other informal settlements as well.

“This is a nationwide programme that will improve the lives of not only residents of Kibera, but of all informal settlements in Kenya,” Tett said.

Some argue that bettering life in the slums takes more than building permanent houses and providing sanitation, as crucial as these services are. Of key importance, says Moschetti, is establishing job opportunities for people in informal settlements, especially the youth.

“The majority of young people in the slums are unemployed, creating room for them to engage in crime. The anger of the young people increases because of lack of opportunities. This is a time bomb.”

It has also been argued that efforts must be made to enable the youth to earn a living in rural areas, to prevent the rural-urban migration that causes slums to grow. Similarly, calls have been made for increased service provision in outlying regions.

A ‘Youth Enterprise Fund’ was created earlier this year by government, and is expected to start operating shortly following a presidential order this week. Through the fund, money will be disbursed to young people in Kenya to assist them with setting up businesses.

But fears of graft abound. “How will we know that the money is issued in a democratic manner, and that it is used for the purpose for which it is meant, given the widespread corruption in the country?” asked 20-year old Paul Ange’la, another resident of Korogocho.

The WSF, which will take place from Jan. 20-25, 2007, is expected to attract about 150,000 delegates to Kenya. It will mark the first occasion on which an African country is serving as sole host of the event.

Initially convened in 2001 in the Brazilian town of Porto Alegre by local civic organisations, the forum traveled to Mumbai, India, in 2004 – and was held in several venues this year: the Malian capital of Bamako; Caracas, Venezuela; and the Pakistani financial hub of Karachi.

The WSF was founded in opposition to the World Economic Forum, held at the same time in the Swiss resort town of Davos. While the economic forum brings together business and political leaders from around the globe, the WSF is frequented mainly by civil society representatives who reject globalisation in its current form.