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Humanitarian challenges of urbanization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2010

Raimond Duijsens
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Abstract

More than one billion people nowadays live as slum-dwellers in informal settlements characterized by vulnerability and poverty. The ‘normal’ situation in slums can, in several ways, be classified as a ‘crisis’, and violence levels often contribute to situations akin to ‘armed conflict’. The plight of these people should be the concern of humanitarian organizations, which should consequently widen their spectrum and address vulnerability to disasters and to violence as mutually reinforcing. Applying the ‘human security’ framework and ‘livelihoods’ approach can enable them to take a proactive role. However, particularly for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, a greater involvement also poses several challenges.

Type
Urban violence
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 92 , Issue 878: Urban violence , June 2010 , pp. 351 - 368
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 2010

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References

1 UN-HABITAT, State of the World's Cities 2006/2007 – The Millennium Development Goals and Urban Sustainability: 30 Years of Shaping the Habitat Agenda, UN-HABITAT/Earthscan, Nairobi, 2006, p. iv.

2 UN-HABITAT, Global Report on Human Settlements 2007: Enhancing Urban Safety and Security, UN-HABITAT/Earthscan, Nairobi, 2007, Table B2, p. 348.

3 These thirteen include cities in China (Beijing and Shanghai). See UN-HABITAT, State of the World's Cities 2010/2011: Cities for All: Bridging the Urban Divide, UN-HABITAT/Earthscan, Nairobi, 2010, pp. 166–176.

4 UN-HABITAT, State of the World's Cities 2006/2007, above note 1, p. 6.

5 Ibid., p. 5.

6 David Satterthwaite, The Transition to a Predominantly Urban World and its Underpinnings, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London, 2007, p. 28.

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9 UN-HABITAT, State of the World's Cities 2010/2011, above note 3, pp. 166–176.

10 UN-HABITAT, State of the World's Cities 2006/2007, above note 1, p. 13.

11 Millennium Development Goals, Goal 7, Target 4, available at: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/environ.shtml (last visited 30 June 2010).

12 UN-HABITAT, State of the World's Cities 2006/2007, above note 1, p. 21.

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15 See Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), ‘Media advisory: half of the world's refugees now live in cities’, 7 December 2009, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/4b1cda0e9.html (last visited 30 June 2010).

16 Ann Varley, ‘The political uses of illegality: evidence from urban Mexico’, in Edésio Fernandes and Ann Varley (eds), Illegal Cities: Law and Urban Change in Developing Countries, Zed Books, London, 1998, pp. 172–190.

17 While industrialization in Latin America during the era of import substitution (1940s–1970s) has led to a decrease in informal employment (from 29% in 1940 to 21% in 1970) (see Mike Davis, Planet of Slums, Verso, London, 2006, p. 176), the informal economy currently employs 57% of the workforce and supplies four out of five new jobs (see UN-HABITAT, Global Report on Human Settlements 2009: Planning Sustainable Cities, UN-HABITAT/Earthscan, Nairobi, 2009, p. 6). In most sub-Saharan cities, formal job creation has virtually ceased to exist: informal employment will have to absorb 90% of urban Africa's new workers over the next decade (UN-HABITAT, Global Report on Human Settlements 2003: The Challenge of Slums, UN-HABITAT/Earthscan, Nairobi, 2003, p. 104).

18 Mission as stated in the Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, adopted by the 25th International Conference of the Red Cross at Geneva in 1986, amended in 1995 and 2006, Preamble, available at: http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/statutes-movement–220506?opendocument (last visited 30 June 2010): ‘ … to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found, to protect life and health and ensure respect for the human being, in particular in times of armed conflict and other emergencies, to work for the prevention of disease and for the promotion of health and social welfare, to encourage voluntary service and a constant readiness to give help by the members of the Movement, and a universal sense of solidarity towards all those in need of its protection and assistance’.

19 See International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Strategy 2020: … saving lives, changing minds, adopted by the 17th session of the General Assembly, Nairobi, 18–21 November 2009, pp. 7–8, vision statement, based on Article 4 of its Constitution: ‘To inspire, encourage, facilitate and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by National Societies, with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world’.

20 See Hernando de Soto, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else, Basic Books, New York, 2000, pp. 5–6, advocating land titling as a solution to create assets for the poor. The desire of the poor to upgrade their houses contributes to the property's economic value, making it more attractive for renting or selling, and consequently strengthens people's economic resilience (besides the fact that more robust houses also decrease vulnerability to disaster risk). Homeowners become eligible for small-scale loans, and capital is supplied to micro-entrepreneurs, who create jobs and contribute to economic growth. For researchers questioning the economic benefit of land titling, see, for instance, M. Davis, above note 17, pp. 79–81, who points out that titling is also a way for governments to incorporate slum-dwellers into the tax base, which counterbalances the benefits of ownership. As most slum-dwellers are tenants, they will be confronted with rising rents so that the landowners can pay these taxes. It thus effectively contributes to vertical social differentiation and undermines solidarity.

21 Ben Wisner, Piers Blaikie, Terry Cannon, and Ian Davis, At Risk: Natural Hazards, People's Vulnerability and Disasters, 2nd edn, Routledge, London, 2004, p. 70.

22 United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, UNISDR, Geneva, 2005, p. 12, available at: http://www.unisdr.org/eng/hfa/docs/Hyogo-framework-for-action-english.pdf (last visited 30 June 2010). The Framework was adopted by the states at the UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction, held in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan in 2005. Under the priorities for action, section 4(iii)(n) (on p. 12) states: ‘Incorporate disaster risk assessments into the urban planning and management of disaster-prone human settlements, in particular highly populated areas and quickly urbanizing settlements. The issues of informal and non-permanent housing and the location of housing in high-risk areas should be addressed as priorities, including in the framework of urban poverty reduction and slum-upgrading programmes’.

23 IFRC, Introduction to the Guidelines for the Domestic Facilitation and Regulation of International Disaster Relief and Initial Recovery Assistance, IFRC, Geneva, 2008, p. 13. Guideline 8 addresses the legal policy and institutional frameworks: ‘1. As an essential element of a larger disaster risk reduction programme, States should adopt comprehensive legal, policy, and institutional frameworks and planning for disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness, relief and recovery …’.

24 See, for instance, Fajnzylber, Pablo, Lederman, Daniel, and Loayza, Norman, ‘Inequality and violent crime’, in Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 45, 2002, pp. 1–40CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Hsieh, Ching-Chi and Pugh, M. D., ‘Poverty, income inequality, and violent crime: a meta-analysis of recent aggregate data studies’, in Criminal Justice Review, 1993, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 182–202CrossRefGoogle Scholar, referred to in UN-HABITAT, Global Report on Human Settlements 2007, above note 2, p. 67.

25 According to Galtung, Johan, ‘Violence, peace, and peace research’, in Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1969, pp. 167–191CrossRefGoogle Scholar, violence, either manifest or latent, can target individuals or be of a more structural nature and can be of a physical or psychological nature (which are often closely related).

26 See Steenkamp, Christiana, ‘Xenophobia in South Africa: what does it say about trust?’, in The Round Table, Commonwealth Journal for International Affairs, Vol. 98, 2009, pp. 439–447CrossRefGoogle Scholar, discussing the pogroms of May 2008 in South Africa as a clear example of how socio-economic, ethnic, and historical elements are at play. The violence was remarkable since it was directed by black South Africans against black Africans on the basis of their nationality and is in stark contrast to their good relationship during apartheid. A constellation of various factors, including foreign policy, competition for scarce resources, official and media discourses, and the perpetuation of stereotypes provided fertile ground for the increasing mistrust vis-à-vis African migrants, while the political context offered an important explanation for the timing of the violence. The violence is explained as an erosion of social capital, i.e. low levels of trust in foreign migrants (the ‘bonding’ function of social capital) and in the state (the ‘linking’ social capital) to either stand up against the migrants or provide (overall) for better living conditions in the post-apartheid era, and even within the black South African community (the ‘bonding’ capital, manifested as the polarization within the ANC between Mbeki and Zuma supporters).

27 Moser, Caroline, ‘Urban violence and insecurity: an introductory roadmap’, in Environment and Urbanization, 2004, Vol. 16, pp. 4–6CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

28 Geneva Declaration Secretariat, The Global Burden of Armed Violence, Geneva Declaration Secretariat, Geneva, 2008, pp. 71–72, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/494a455d2.pdf (last visited 30 June 2010).

29 Hagedorn, John, ‘The global impact of gangs’, in Journal of Contemporary Justice, Vol. 21, No. 2, 2005, pp. 153–169CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

30 UN-HABITAT, State of the World's Cities 2006/2007, above note 1, p. 31.

31 See UN-HABITAT, Global Report on Human Settlements 2007, above note 2, pp. 64–65, which states that: ‘In sub-Saharan Africa, where the impacts of rapid urbanization and poverty have been particularly severe, many young men from marginalized communities join gangs who help to replace the extended family and who provide economic and social values not found in mainstream society. … Regional variations show that youth homicide rates were lowest in Western Europe and in the high-income countries of the Pacific. The highest rates are found in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa … This coincides with regions where there are large bulges in the youthful population’.

32 See Dreier, Peter, ‘How the media compound urban problems’, in Journal of Urban Affairs, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2005, pp. 193–201CrossRefGoogle Scholar, stating in the abstract of his research on the role of media in reporting on urban news in the United States, that: ‘Major news media coverage of cities reinforces an overwhelmingly negative and misleading view of urban America. The images … are an unrelenting story of social pathology … Moreover, this perspective on our cities is compounded by misleading news coverage of government efforts to address these problems. Government programs are typically covered as well-intentioned but misguided, plagued by mismanagement, inefficiency, and, in some cases, corruption. There is very little news coverage of collective efforts by unions, community organizations, and other grassroots groups to address problems. Only when such efforts include drama, conflict, and/or violence do the major media typically pay attention’.

33 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Eighth United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems, UNODC, Vienna, 2006, p. 8.

34 See, for instance, UNODC, Assessment of the Integrity and Capacity of the Justice System in Three Nigerian States: Technical Assessment Report, UNODC, Vienna, January 2006, p. 125, revealing that in Lagos more than 40% of court users believed that political pressure completely dominates the justice system.

35 Kees Koonings and Dirk Kruijt, ‘Fractured cities, second-class citizenship and urban violence’, in Kees Koonings and Dirk Kruijt (eds), Fractured Cities: Social Exclusion, Urban Violence and Contested Spaces in Latin America, Zed Books, London, 2007, pp. 4–21.

36 Ibid., p. 14.

37 See UN General Assembly, Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact-finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, UN Human Rights Council, Twelfth Session, Agenda Item 7, September 2009, available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/9/docs/UNFFMGC_Report.pdf (last visited 30 June 2010). Section VIII-E of the report discusses military activities of the Palestinian armed groups in Gaza in relation to their obligation to protect the civilian population, such as the alleged forcing of civilians to remain in an area for the specific purpose of sheltering that area or forces in that area from attack.

38 Ibid., Section XI on the alleged deliberate attacks by the Israeli armed forces against the civilian population. Paragraph 804 of Section XI-C discusses information about the instructions given to the Israeli armed forces with regard to opening fire against civilians.

39 The Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 are available at: http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/genevaconventions (last visited 30 June 2010).

40 Berma Klein Goldewijk, ‘“New wars” and the state: the nexus religion – human security’, in Georg Frerks and Berma Klein Goldewijk (eds), Human Security and International Insecurity, Academic Publishers, Wageningen, 2007, p. 82.

41 See ICRC, How is the Term ‘Armed Conflict’ Defined in International Humanitarian Law?, ICRC Position Paper, Geneva, 2008, available at: http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/armed-conflict-article–170308/$file/Opinion-paper-armed-conflict.pdf (last visited 30 June 2010), pp. 3–5, stating that: ‘First, the hostilities must reach a minimum level of intensity. This may be the case, for example, when the hostilities are of a collective character or when the government is obliged to use military force against the insurgents, instead of mere police forces. Second, non-governmental groups involved in the conflict must be considered as “parties to the conflict”, meaning that they possess organized armed forces. This means for example that these forces have to be under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations’.

42 United Nations General Assembly, Resolution 217 A(III), 10 December 1948, adopting the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, available at: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ (last visited 30 June 2010).

43 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Report 1994: New Dimensions of Human Security, UNDP/Oxford University Press, New York/Oxford, 1994, pp. 24–33.

44 UN-HABITAT, State of the World's Cities 2006/2007, above note 1, pp. 136–142.

45 See UN-HABITAT, Global Report on Human Settlements 2007, above note 2, pp. 4–5. Although using different terminology and labelling ‘vulnerability’ as the overarching term, the report essentially applies a human security approach, since it covers ‘urban crime and violence’ (the narrow definition of human security), ‘vulnerability to natural disasters’ (the added elements of the broad definition of human security), and ‘security of tenure’ (as a condition for economic development, contributing to reducing poverty).

46 IFRC, Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief, full text and definitions available at: http://www.ifrc.org/publicat/conduct/index.asp (last visited 30 June 2010).

47 See Vinay Gupta, Six Ways to Die, available at: http://www.blip.tv/file/2710476 (last visited 30 June 2010).

48 Haddad, Lawrence James, Ruel, Marie T., and Garrett, James L., ‘Are urban poverty and undernutrition growing? Some newly assembled evidence’, in World Development, Vol. 27, No. 11, 1999, pp. 1891–1904CrossRefGoogle Scholar, as cited in UN-HABITAT, Global Report on Human Settlements 2003, above note 17, p. 74.

49 M. Michael, Global Health Cluster: Rapid Health Assessment Guidelines, 2007, p. 16, available at: http://www.wpro.who.int/internet/files/eha/toolkit/web/Health%20Cluster%20Approach/Resources%20and%20Tools/Global%20health%20cluster%20rapid%20health%20assessment%20guidelines.pdf (last visited 30 June 2010).

50 See IRIN, ‘Djibouti: high malnutrition rates in slums “alarming”’, 17 February 2009, available at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=82971 (last visited 30 June 2010).

51 D. Satterthwaite, above note 6, p. 54; Janice Perlman and Molly O'Meara Sheenan, ‘Fighting poverty and environmental injustice in cities’, in The Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2007, pp. 176–177.

52 Human Rights Watch, Police Violence and Public Security in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, New York, 2009, p. 1.

53 Alex Stevens and Dave Bewley-Taylor, Drug Markets and Urban Violence: Can Tackling One Reduce the Other?, Drug Policy Programme, Report 15, The Beckley Foundation, Oxford, 2009, p. 5.

54 In 2007, the FARC was allegedly responsible for 272 attacks, which led to 283 deaths and 100 kidnappings. See Stratfor Global Intelligence, ‘Colombia: a militant merger?’, 6 June 2008, available at: http://www.stratfor.com/memberships/117868/analysis/colombia_militant_merger; see also Project Ploughshares, Armed Conflicts Report 2009: Colombia, available at: http://www.ploughshares.ca/libraries/ACRText/ACR-TitlePage.html (last visited 30 June 2010), claiming a total of around 100 casualties due to combat; Forero, Carolina and Fishback, Sally, ‘Human security in Colombia’, in Josef Korbel Journal of Advanced International Studies, Vol. 1, 2009, p. 29Google Scholar, available at: http://www.du.edu/korbel/jais/journal/volume1/volume1_fishback_forero.pdf (last visited 30 June 2010), claiming 895 casualties from landmines, attributed to the conflict between the rebels and the Colombian government.

55 Ian Scoones, Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: A Framework for Analysis, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, 1998, pp. 7–8.