Nasidi Adamu Yahaya
6 October 2008
The number of urban slum-dwellers worldwide has broken the one billion mark, making it clear that the urbanization of poverty is arguably one of the biggest challenges facing development today, executive director of UN-Habitat, has said.
Mrs Anna Tibaijuka said in a televised message to mark the World Habitat Day in Abuja yesterday that "no longer can we turn a blind eye to the plight of slum-dwellers living in life-threatening conditions. Nor can we hide from the fact that urban poverty and urban inequalities are on the rise around the world, in developed and developing countries alike.
"We have both a moral and an ethical responsibility to make our cities more harmonious by making them more inclusive. It is a societal imperative that we fight urban poverty and squalor if we are to secure urban safety and security," she said.
Mrs Tibaijuka stated that it was no coincidence that climate change is now coming to the forefront of international debate at the same time and at virtually the same pace as the world becomes urbanised.
She said cities consume upwards of 75 per cent of all energy and contribute to an equally substantial amount of greenhouse gas emissions, noting that they must therefore, be an integral part of any mitigation efforts.
"Reducing cities' contribution to climate change and vulnerability to the effects thereof, must be viewed as a historical opportunity to improve the living conditions of all men and women, including the most vulnerable sectors of our urban populations. Both adaptation and mitigation efforts require improved land-use planning, more robust infrastructure and smarter construction. I can think of no better initiative than to combine these efforts to make our cities and towns greener, safer and more equitable", Mrs Tibaijuka said.
In his speech, Minister of state for Environment, Housing and Urban Development, Chief Chuka Odom, said the theme of this year's world habitat day, "harmonious cities" was meant to draw attention to the different problems of rapid urbanisation, especially its widespread impacts on the total environment.
He said "to put the scale of the problem in proper perspective, a well researched World Bank study identifies 42 slums in Lagos metropolis. This report which implied that there are more slums than well managed neighbourhoods in Lagos, mirrors to a large extent, the situation in many other Nigerian cities."
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