Commission on Population and Development

Forty-first Session

6^th Meeting (AM)

effects of poverty dominant theme as commission on population

and development considers impact of urbanization

 

The historical resilience of poverty -- its many faces, the slums and shantytowns it created, the relative ease with which it moved from rural to urban areas, and how urbanization did not always hold the key to reversing it -- dominated discussion today as the Commission on Population and Development considered the impact of urbanization on the world population.

Delivering today’s keynote address, Eduardo Moreno, Chief of the Global Urban Observatory in the Monitoring System Branch of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), emphasized the need for “good articulation” between national policies and implementation by cities to hasten the benefits of urbanization.  There was a very strong correlation between the two, but benefiting the population required good governance on the part of both central and local governments.

By some estimates, the number of slum-dwellers worldwide was keeping pace with overall urbanization rates, exceeding 800 million, he said, adding that the proportion of the urban slum-dwelling population in developing countries was approaching 40 per cent.  The number of slums was highest in Africa, at 57 per cent, while the incidence in Asia amounted to 39 per cent.  Latin America was the only region in the world, which, with some exceptions, had not recently achieved any reduction in the number of slum-dwellers, with one third of the urban population living in slums.

To solve urban poverty, the first step was to acknowledge it, he stressed.  It was also important to rethink the principle of urban governance decentralization in order to strengthen local government because municipal responses were weak in many cases.  The search for a solution should start with counting the slum-dwellers and finding out their level of deprivation.  Then, central Governments should scale up their remedial actions in cooperation with provincial and local authorities and with the participation of the private sector.

As the Commission concluded its general discussion on national experience in population matters, it took up programme implementation and the Secretariat’s future work programme in the field of population, with members hearing from United Nations regional commissions.

Keiko Osaki, Chief of the Population and Social Integration Section of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) said several of its activities in the past year had focused on population ageing and its social and economic implications for the region.  Five years after the adoption of the landmark Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, several meetings had been held to review developments aimed at addressing the “greying” of the population.  The global five-year review of the Plan’s implementation in 2007 had produced recommendations for action in the region, providing a coherent and concrete way forward.

Batool Shakoori, Population and Social Policies Team Leader of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), highlighted her team’s mission to enhance Member States’ capabilities in integrating demographic changes and emerging population issues into their national and regional development policies.  Chief among the Commission’s activities was the organization of a regional expert group meeting on integrating youth into the development planning process.  ESCWA had also published a bulletin on population ageing and convened a regional seminar on the review and appraisal of the Madrid Action Plan.  It had collaborated with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), national population councils and research centres to advance the merits of integrating and changing age structure in national population policies.

Armindo Miranda, Senior Population Affairs Officer in the Population Division, introduced a note by the Secretary-General on the proposed strategic framework for the Division’s activities in 2010-2011 (document E/CN.9/2008/7) and a report describing its activities in 2007 (document E/CN.9/2008/6) and covering the areas of fertility and family planning studies; mortality and health; international migration; population estimates and projections; population policy; and population and development.

Also participating in the conclusion of today’s general debate on national experience in population matters were the representatives of Japan, Sweden and Peru.  The Permanent Observer for the Holy See also spoke.

Additional statements in that exchange were delivered by representatives of the International Organization of Migration (IOM), AARP and the World Youth Alliance.

Addressing issues of programme implementation and future programme of work of the Secretariat in the field of population were the representatives of the United States, Norway, Cuba, Jamaica, Morocco and China.  Representatives of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation also spoke.

The Commission will meet again at 10 a.m. Thursday, 10 April, to continue its work.

Background

The Commission on Population and Development met today to conclude its general debate on national experience in population matters and to begin considering programme implementation and future programme of work of the Secretariat in the field of population (documents E/CN.9/2008/6 and E/CN.9/2008/7), and follow-up actions to the recommendations of the International Conference on Population and Development.  The Commission was expected to hear a keynote address by Eduardo Moreno, Chief of the Global Urban Observatory of the Monitoring System Branch at the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) in Nairobi.

Statements

SHIGESATO TAKAHASHI, Deputy Director-General, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, said his country’s population had been largely urban for some time.  In 1950 the urban-to-rural population ratio had stood at 37.3 per cent but that figure had doubled by 1975 and stood at 86.3 per cent as of 2005.  The disparity between urban and rural areas had widened with the advance of urbanization.

Declining rural vitality might make it more difficult for people to secure food and water or engage in disaster management and land conservation as forests deteriorated, he said.  For that reason, Japan was promoting not only urban policies, but also measures aimed at regional revitalization.  Under a concept of “mutual reliance between rural areas and cities, Japan had convened the “Meeting of Regional Revitalization Headquarters”, where the regional revitalization strategy and the plan to improve cities and urban life had been announced.  Japan had also introduced “Directors in Charge of Regions”, which solicited and heard the views of people in communities and were setting up a unified counselling centre in each region.

The country had also inaugurated a Government-sponsored programme for regional revitalization which aimed to upgrade urban life, he said.  It was making efforts, through community activities, to change from a “flow-system society”, characterized primarily by engagement in construction and destruction, to a “stock-system society”, which was characterized mainly by the creation of goods.  It was also developing diverse human resources to develop towns and cities.  Based on those plans, it had established three priority areas:  realizing safe and secure urban lives; responding to global environmental issues; and strengthening global competitiveness and promoting international exchange.

ULLA STRÖM ( Sweden) said a new programme to facilitate urban development measures was being established to mitigate the effects of climate change and reduce its negative environmental impact.  The growing trend of segregation between city districts was addressed in a cross-sector urban development policy, which focused on employment, education and security.  A system was also needed for measuring and evaluating the effects of policy and supporting the exchange of experiences and knowledge.  Local development agreements between the Government and municipalities formed a key instrument of urban development policy aimed at facilitating partnerships between Government agencies, municipalities, private actors and civil society.

She said urban areas could provide poor people from rural areas with options for a better life provided they could gain access to productive job opportunities, health services, sanitation, education and adequate housing conditions.  The Government had placed coherence at the centre of its policy for development.  Guided by a rights perspective and by poor people’s perspectives on development, the policy had recently been renewed to ensure coherent work on six global challenges, sustainable urban development being one of 18 areas of focus.

Half of all urban slum dwellers would be under the age of 25 in 2025, and opportunities must be made available for them, she stressed.  The prevalence of HIV was reported to be higher in urban than rural areas, with young women and girls most affected.  They urgently needed education about sexuality, access to youth-friendly services, voluntary counselling and testing, and treatment.

LUIS ENRIQUE CHÁVEZ ( Peru), associating himself with the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said his country had taken fundamental steps to implement the Cairo commitments and those of the Millennium Summit.  It was implementing public population-development policies and combating social exclusion through State policies to achieve, among other things, quality education and a decentralized State in the service of its citizens.  With its 27 million inhabitants, Peru’s urban population had increased by more than 70 per cent in recent decades.  The majority lived in the main cities, including Lima, the capital, and those along the coast, with the capital alone holding one third of the population.

He said the Government had laid the basis for achieving greater dynamism in national growth, curbing the high level of poverty on the basis of productive inclusion, and guaranteeing economic, social and political opportunities for all citizens without discrimination.  The goal was to promote sustainable economic growth and efficient decent management through regional governments which could meet the basic needs of the population and provide access to education and health services.  Programmes to provide social infrastructure in rural areas had greatly improved, and access to such services had increased by 30 per cent.

He said a food security initiative was being implemented, along with development initiatives to promote and strengthen rural and medium-sized cities and urban centres, with a view to future rapid economic development.  Peru continued to advance but it still faced huge challenges, not only in attaining the Millennium Development Goals, but also in achieving a cohesive society in which each citizen enjoyed his or her rights, particularly the right to housing, and in which all development gaps were adequately tackled.

BERNARDITO AUZA, Observer for the Holy See, said people’s needs and concerns rather than economic or environmental considerations should be placed first in addressing migration and development.  The human person was at the heart of massive internal and transnational migrations and the reasons why people moved, as well as the sacrifices they made, should be addressed.

One of the most pressing and painful consequences of rapid urbanization was the rising number of people living in urban slums, he said.  Lacking in almost everything, they became trapped in a vicious cycle of extreme poverty and marginalization.  Instead of attending school, children scavenged in dump sites.  Policymakers and civil society actors must place slum-dwellers among their top priorities in their decision-making.  In order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, greater concern must also be shown to rural communities, where some 675 million people still lacked access to safe drinking water and 2 billion lived without basic sanitation.

LUCA DALL’OGLIO, Permanent Observer for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said the Cairo Programme of Action aimed to offer adequate protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, particularly women, children and the elderly, and to find solutions to the root causes of their displacement in order to prevent a recurrence and facilitate return or resettlement.  Since 1994 international and national responses had unfortunately remained painfully inadequate, but the international normative framework had improved considerably.  Methods to address operational challenges had also evolved significantly.  IOM was deeply involved in and committed to a cluster approach involving the building of partnerships that could strengthen the humanitarian response to internal displacement.

While the international focus on the social consequences of climate change was growing, the impact of gradual environmental degradation on human mobility was still largely under-researched, he said, stressing that it required much more attention from policymakers and other stakeholders.  Mass environmental migration created stress on urban infrastructures and posed the risk of fuelling new conflicts or reigniting existing ones or creating tensions and competition for already scarce resources between host countries and displaced communities.  IOM, alongside the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), was launching a multidisciplinary programme to define the research agenda on environmental migration.  As part of the Migration and Development Policy Seminar, IOM, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the MacArthur Foundation would hold a seminar on climate change, environmental degradation and migration on 9 May at New York Headquarters.

JESSICA FRANK LOPEZ, AARP, said the projected increase in the number of older people worldwide and migration to urban areas would recalibrate social compacts and transform the way in which support systems met the needs of the ageing.  Those emerging population shifts raised concerns about the way in which older people would live and whether their communities would be liveable, whether they had access to necessary health care and if they would be financially secure.  The 1994 Cairo Programme of Action called on Governments to strengthen formal and informal support systems and safety nets for seniors, and to eliminate all forms of violence and discrimination against older people.  It also called for the development of social security systems that would ensure greater equity and solidarity between and within generations.

While community design clearly impacted the ageing, the special needs of older people were often ignored during the drafting of community plans, she said.  AARP supported the Secretary-General’s recommendations on addressing urban community design, which highlighted the need to ensure that the urban poor benefited from improved service delivery, had access to public health facilities, and were involved in property decisions affecting the quality of their housing.  While the Secretary-General’s report correctly noted that rural-urban migration tended to support population ageing by expanding the number of working-age people and thereby lowering old-age dependency ratios, projections for large-scale urban migration by older people could undercut that model over the long term.  Efforts to sustain economic growth -- such as diversification, employment generation and increased productivity -- must be accompanied by investment in social pension schemes and other retirement savings vehicles.  Such investments would help reduce urban poverty and improve older people’s overall quality of life.

ALIAH DIMAPORO, World Youth Alliance, said nine years of partnership with organizations promoting sustainable development through investment in human capital had taught the Alliance many valuable lessons about the challenges associated with shifting population distributions, urbanization and internal migration.  For example, a programme in Guadalajara, Mexico, aimed to stabilize families in extreme poverty so as to allow for the reintegration of street children into mainstream schools.  That programme had helped close to 500,000 people break the cycle of poverty.

A programme in the Philippines was aimed at enabling slum-dwellers and squatters to own land and build their own homes, she said.  The process began by helping people organize with others in the same situation and learn the skills needed to help themselves.  Children in those situations had begun with life ambitions no higher than drug dealing or exotic dancing because that was all they could imagine.  In transformed communities where children had already achieved beyond what they had thought possible, ambitions included becoming mayors, teachers and nurses and they worked to achieve those dreams.  Working with poor communities in rapidly urbanizing areas had taught the Alliance that investing in people led to lasting development.  No amount of investment in infrastructure or development of industry could substitute for people committed to their society and believing in their unique individual contributions.  The Commission should recommend the development of programmes focusing on human capacity-building and person-centred development.

ARMINDO MIRANDA, Senior Population Affairs Officer, Office of the Director, Population Division, introduced a note by the Secretary-General on the proposed strategic framework for the Division’s activities in 2010-2011 (document E/CN.9/2008/7) and the report describing its activities in 2007 (document E/CN.9/2008/6), covering the areas of fertility and family planning studies, mortality and health, international migration, population estimates and projections, population policy, and population and development.

Among the Division’s other activities, he mentioned last year’s sixth Coordination Meeting on Internal Migration and significant progress in the development of a database on international migrant stocks by age, sex and country of origin.  The Division had also issued the results of the 2006 Revision of World Population Prospects and completed the 2007 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects, officially released last month.  Most of the activities in the area of population and development had been focused on the socio-economic implications of changing population age structures to support the five-year review of the Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing, and urbanization.

He said the Division was mindful of the need to ensure that the results of its work had reached those who needed them, wherever in the world they might be.  Practically all its publications, papers presented at expert meetings, databases and other technical materials were available on the Division’s website.  The Division also offered a service -- with more than 1,400 subscribers -- that alerted subscribers about new issuances or the posting of new items on the website.

PETER WAY ( United States) said the Division continued to play an essential role as a source of policy-neutral population expertise.  With products representing definitive international references on a wide range of relevant topics, it had done an excellent job in carrying out its stated mission of ensuring that population issues remained high on the international agenda and enhancing awareness of progress made in implementing the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action.  Of particular note was the Division’s work in the area of mortality, including World Mortality Report 2007 and its wall chart summarizing its current understanding of worldwide mortality trends and its continuing development of models of mortality patterns.

The Division’s extensive and wide-ranging work in the area of migration had truly enhanced the visibility of the population topic and attracted well-deserved attention, he continued.  Also worthy of note was its outstanding work on population distribution, urbanization and internal migration.  Through a series of expert group meetings and its preparation of reports and other activities, it had ensured that the Commission had before it a comprehensive look at that issue of growing importance.

Noting that the Secretary-General’s report mentioned that the Division had devoted some of its scarce resources to supporting the Global Forum on Migration and Development, he expressed some concern, since the Forum was an intergovernmental activity rather than a United Nations process, and not in any way sanctioned or directed by the Organization.  Given the numerous competing demands on the Division, the United States urged it to prioritize its work within the United Nations system.

KEIKO OSAKI, Chief, Population and Social Integration Section, Emerging Social Issues Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), noted that five years after the adoption of the landmark Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing at the Second World Assembly on Ageing in 2002, several meetings had been held to review developments and address the “greying” of the population.  ESCAP had organized a meeting in Macao, China, from 9 to 11 October 2007 to review progress towards building a society for all ages.  The Macao outcome document provided a coherent and concrete way forward on ageing matters in the region.

Another meeting, convened in July 2007, had called urgent attention to some of the many implications of ageing, she continued.  Organized in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and UNFPA, it had provided a comprehensive overview of the causes and socio-economic and health consequences of ageing, focusing on changing families which traditionally had cared for their elders.

Turning to the issue of international migration, she said ESCAP was taking the lead in preparing a situation analysis for the region.  The Commission had conducted research in East and South-East Asia and planned to publish its findings with a view to making them available to policymakers and practitioners as comprehensive reference materials and policy recommendations.  Another upcoming publication in that field was a study on the social implications of international migration.  It highlighted the increasing scale of migration by women and highly skilled professionals in the region, and addressed critical issues such as protection of the rights of migrants and access to basic social services.

HELGE BRUNBORG ( Norway) said that, while the reports before the Commission presented important results on urbanization trends and their economic and social demographic implication, it would have been useful if they had included a discussion of the meaning of the term “urbanization”.  The 2007 Revision of the World Urbanization Prospects showed that the definition of urbanization varied tremendously, from 200 persons for the Nordic countries to 20,000 in Nigeria.  For many countries, there was no definition by size, but only administrative designations.

He encouraged the Population Division to reflect in its future reports a wider discussion of definitions and data problems, and to look at ways to improve urbanization estimates.  At yesterday’s side meeting, satellite imagery had been mentioned as a possible method for collecting data on urbanization, which could be one way to go.  With more consistent definitions and better data, it might be possible that the world’s population had become half-urban several years ago or that it was yet to happen.

BATOOL SHAKOORI, Population and Social Policies Team Leader, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), said her Team’s overall mission was to enhance Member States’ capabilities in the integration of demographic changes and emerging population issues into their national and regional development policies, including through its initiatives to promote the commitment of Arab countries to the common population and development goals stemming from international conferences.  Another aspect of its work related to qualitative factors and emphasized the formulation of policies that acknowledged the fundamental links between population change and development.

Stressing the centrality of ESCWA’s strategy of integrating youth, working-age people and the elderly into the developmental process, she said the Commission had become increasingly involved with regional demographic centres, national population councils and concerned ministries.  It had published a bulletin on population ageing and convened a regional seminar on the review and appraisal of the Madrid Plan of Action said.  The Commission had also developed a reference tool on integrating demographic transition into development plans in the Arab region, which had been the subject of discussion at an expert group meeting in Jordan.  The Commission had also become increasingly involved in the area of migration and development.  ESCWA was also involved in disseminating information through publications and establishing a strong presence on the World Wide Web.

PAULO SAAD, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), reviewed activities carried out in the past year and outputs relating to specific population and development topics.  The Commission had prepared a working document for a 2008 meeting on population and development, to be held in the Dominican Republic on 10 June.  It provided updated information on current and past demographic trends in the region and possible future scenarios, and incorporated the most relevant aspects of the challenges posed by those developments.  In the context of ECLAC’s statistical conference for the Americas, the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Center had conducted a survey to identify the challenges inherent in forthcoming censuses and the technical assistance needs.  A study done in Nicaragua suggested uses for population and housing censuses, highlighting their potential for public-policy research.

He said the Demographic Center, in cooperation with the Ibero-American secretariat, was organizing a forum on migration in Ecuador this month.  The Center sought to maximize the benefits and minimize the impacts of migration by strengthening national coping mechanisms.  It was acting as the Commission’s focal point on ageing and, as such, offered technical support to member countries, with a view to advancing implementation of the Madrid Action Plan.  Last year, a second regional intergovernmental conference on ageing had been held to consider achievements in regional ageing strategies.  The outcome had been the adoption of the Brasilia Declaration, which set priorities for regional strategies over the next five years.  In the human rights context, work was under way to tackle the challenges of indigenous peoples, including efforts to incorporate an ethnic approach to databases and registers on vital statistics.

JUAN CARLOS ALFONSO ( Cuba) supported comments regarding the importance of the Population Division’s activities and emphasized the need to reconcile the work of various statistical bodies on annual population calculations and projections, which constituted a common denominator for important indices and indicators.  In some cases, national estimates did not coincide with data provided by some international organizations regarding the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals relating to health, nutrition and other issues.

DEON LLOYD WILLIAMS ( Jamaica) made specific comments on the proposed strategic framework of the activities of the Division, and proposed language for consideration in redrafting the programme.

ABDELLAH BENMELLOUK ( Morocco) said the Secretariat should strengthen its links with national statistics institutions and continue its cooperation with the International Organization on Migration and other relevant United Nations-affiliated agencies.  It was important to take into account that those agencies lacked expertise in the area of population and statistics.

He also stressed the important role of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, noting that the Division had made a tremendous contribution to the first one.  It was noteworthy that the Secretary-General had appointed a Special Representative on Migration, and the Secretariat should continue contributing to the organization of the upcoming Forum.

HAO LINNA, Director-General for International Cooperation, National Population and Family Planning Commission of China, thanked the Statistics Division pointing out that her country, as the most populous in the world, attached great importance to such data.  Many Chinese citizens had recently been moving into urban centres, yet the statistical data lagged behind.  Another population census would soon be conducted, and it was to be hoped that the Division would support China in that endeavour.

HANIA ZLOTNIK, Director, Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said she would definitely take delegations’ comments into account.  Regarding the Global Forum, the reason why the Secretariat provided it with some degree of support was that it had some resources with which to do so.  It was designed to support the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, mainly in following up what was happening in order to be able to report back to the Commission.

Referring to the issue raised by the Cuban delegate, she said the Population and Statistics Divisions had decided to look into that problem, adding that the whole United Nations system was having problems concerning indicators for the Millennium Goals.  Work was under way on that and the Division was mindful of the relevant resolution.

MALEA HOEPF, Research Associate, International Planned Parenthood Federation, said population distribution, urbanization, internal immigration and development all impacted upon the sexual and reproductive health and rights of urban and rural populations.  While many migrants moved to cities from rural areas every year, most urban growth resulted from natural increase, which occurred even though fertility and desired family size were nearly always lower in urban than rural areas.  In addition, fertility rates were higher among poor urban women than wealthier women.  It was vital, therefore, to ensure gender equality through the empowerment of women to choose and plan their pregnancies through access to quality sexual and reproductive health care and services, including family planning.

She said 200 million women who wished to plan the number and spacing of their children lacked access to contraception.  Factors hindering the fulfilment of their sexual and reproductive rights included under-resourced health and education systems; a lack of access to adequate information and sex education; and a failure on the part of Governments, donors and the international community to assign a high priority to those rights.  Policymakers must address ways to change oppressive legal and social norms linked to gender and sexuality, which fostered discrimination on the basis of sex and sexual orientation.  Moreover, urban poverty, with its associated unmet sexual and reproductive health needs, called for innovations in service delivery.

Emphasizing the need for Governments to commit to poverty reduction and sustainability initiatives, she said the alternative was an increase in the number and density of unplanned “informal settlements”, or areas where all persons, particularly women and young people, faced increased health risks and were subjected to violence, abuse and maternal morbidity and mortality.  The nearly 1 billion urban slum-dwellers were projected to double in number by 2025, and half of those would be under the age of 25.  Supporting a healthy, educated and self-confident young generation was the best investment a Government could make, which highlighted the need for investment in comprehensive sex education, and youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services.  Without adequate funding, the spiral of poverty and ill-health would continue.

Keynote Address

EDUARDO MORENO, Chief of the Global Urban Observatory, Monitoring System Branch of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), Nairobi, focused on the theme “Improving the Lives of Urban Slum-Dwellers”.

Defining a slum-dweller on the basis of security of tenure, sufficient space, durable structures, and improved water and sanitation, he said the number of slum-dwellers in the world was in keeping with general urbanization rates, which exceeded the 800 million mark, according to some estimates.  Some 37 per cent of the urban population in developing countries lived in slums and the number of slums was highest in Africa, where the prevalence amounted to 57 per cent.  Up to 9 out of 10 urban dwellers in the Sudan lived in slums, for example.  There were also a tremendous number of slum-dwellers in sub-Saharan Africa, whereas in Asia, slum incidence amounted to 39 per cent.  In Latin America -- the only region in the world, which, with some exceptions, had not recently achieved any reduction in the number of slum-dwellers -- one third of the urban population lived in slums.

He said approaches that did not work in terms of policy orientation and slum-upgrading analysis included denial, “quasi-resignation”, allocating responsibility “to somebody else”, using the excuse of technical deficiency and eradicating slums without providing appropriate alternatives.  To solve urban poverty, it was necessary to acknowledge it.  It was also important to rethink the principle of decentralizing urban governance and to allocate it to the appropriate level, because municipal responses were weak in many cases.  Strategic decisions required appropriate information and planning.  The search for a solution should start with counting the slum-dwellers and finding out their level of deprivation.  Policy responses could be tailored to those indicators.

Based on the experience of more than 40 countries, it was important to enable civil society representation to discuss the problem openly, he said.  A long-term political commitment was also needed, as were appropriate institutional reforms, articulation of policies and actors responsible for their implementation; and the mobilization of domestic resources, the monitoring of implementation and the scaling up of efforts.  Action should be taken by central Governments, in cooperation with provincial and local authorities and with the participation of the private sector.  Equally important was the setting of benchmarks for urban policies, for example, making plans to reduce the number of slum-dwellers by 5 per cent by a certain date.  Sustainable urbanization required measures to reduce poverty, and slum reduction was a fundamental aspect of those efforts.

Commenting on the presentation, one delegate said the depiction of slums and slum-dwellers was a reminder of how resilient the inequalities and the gap between the rich and poor could be.  Strategies and programmes to integrate the poor must be considered seriously and the solution was to develop policies at both the municipal and national levels.

Another speaker said there seemed to be general satisfaction with the idea that the percentage of people in urban areas was increasing, but an important question in that connection was:  “But in what conditions?”  Some of the data presented made it clear that, unless the move from rural to urban areas was made under proper conditions, poverty would simply move from rural to urban areas.

Responding to questions, Mr. Moreno cited South Africa as an example of a successful approach to poverty reduction.  The country had adapted a whole range of measures, including a decentralization policy and the creation of a network of cities.  Important national housing and service-delivery reforms had been implemented and significant resources had been allocated to that end.  A revision of governance structures was needed to include all the actors concerned.

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For information media • not an official record