# data[].attributes.body
COMFORT/JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Join emergency 365
Tropical Cyclone Pam struck Vanuatu on the evening of 13 March causing widespread destruction and devastation across the small island nation. Over 165,000 were affected by the category 5 cyclone.

Many families in Vanuatu are extremely poor and were living in makeshift homes when the cyclone hit. 15,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, up to 96% of food stocks were ruined and water supply to 110,000 people was disrupted, destroyed or contaminated.

Oxfam teams started responding immediately after the cyclone hit by distributing emergency relief items such as clean water, shelter and hygiene kits. In the three months since the cyclone, Oxfam has reached over 21,000 people through our water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and livelihood programs.

Oxfam's response

Clean Water

In the days following the cyclone, Oxfam focused on the immediate supply of clean water to affected communities on the island of Efate. Over the course of a month, our teams delivered 265,800 litres of clean water to almost 3,500 people.

Oxfam has also worked to repair damaged water sources on Ambrym, Efate and Epi islands to make sure clean water can be accessed in the longer term. Over 10,000 people are accessing clean water through Oxfam's water system rehabilitation.

Hygiene & Sanitation

The distribution of hygiene kits including basic essentials such as soap, buckets, towels and toiletries was critical in the days following the cyclone. Our teams have supplied over 3,000 hygiene kits to affected households on Ambrym and Efate, reaching approximately 16,800 people with basic necessities. We're also working with the local community to meet long term sanitation needs.

Rebuilding Livelihoods

Cyclone Pam destroyed the vast majority of gardens and crops that the local communities relied on for food and income. Debris was strewn across large portions of the country, and household and farming tools were lost or destroyed.

In Port Vila, Oxfam is running a cash-for-work program to provide people with an income. So far almost 500 men and women have taken part in the program, clearing debris and rebuilding community gardens in return for cash payments. In the longer term, Oxfam is working with a local partner to provide resources such as tools, chickens, seeds and other materials to help people restart their businesses.

In partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Oxfam has been distributing seeds to communities on Efate and Epi islands to kick start their gardens. Along with seeds, we have been giving out kits including gardening and other tools to help re-grow gardens and crops.

Oxfam is also carrying out a voucher distribution program which allows people to exchange vouchers at local retailers. The vouchers can be used for farming and building materials, as well as general goods to help families recover their livelihoods and lost assets.

Six months after the cyclone, small scale crops and kitchen gardens are growing back and local markets are starting to recover.
See the latest update on Oxfam's work in Vanuatu (as of 13 September 2015)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Join emergency 365 Tropical Cyclone Pam struck Vanuatu on the evening of 13 March causing widespread destruction and devastation across the small island nation. Over 165,000 were affected by the category 5 cyclone. Many families in Vanuatu are extremely poor and were living in makeshift homes when the cyclone hit.

# data[].attributes.body
COMFORT/JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
An extreme lack of food is causing severe hunger and malnutrition across South Sudan, Yemen and the Horn of Africa.

East Africa is in the grip of a devastating food crisis. More than 22 million people are affected by the drought in South Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, and at least 15 million are going hungry.

Oxfam is on the ground in each of these regions, providing lifesaving food, clean water and sanitation to families who are in desperate need of help.

This is the largest hunger emergency in the world. While there are differences between each of these crises, we know that each situation will get worse in the coming months unless urgent help is delivered to those at risk.
This is a crisis we cannot ignore. Worsening hunger and the threat of famine are imminent, but not yet inevitable. We can still prevent a catastrophic loss of life if we act now.
Who is affected?

South Sudan

In South Sudan 4.5 million people are severely food insecure and almost two thirds of the population are in need of emergency assistance.

Horn of Africa

Across the Horn of Africa 15 million people are in need of emergency food and water due to severe drought across Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. Unable to recover from prolonged drought conditions, many families have been stretched to their limits.

How is Oxfam responding?

Oxfam is on the ground, reaching the most affected with the emergency help they need to survive. We are:

Working with local partner organisations who provide emergency food distributions and work with vulnerable people to produce their own food and other income.

Providing emergency water and sanitation, to stop the spread of diseases like cholera and diarrhea.

Providing cash and vouchers so people can purchase the food they need to survive

Trucking in urgently needed water to the worst drought affected areas

Constructing showers and toilets for those who have been forced to flee their homes

We can stop the worst from happening. You can save lives by supporting Oxfam's work providing emergency help to those who need it most.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Learn about Global Hunger, Famine & Food Security | Oxfam Australia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An extreme lack of food is causing severe hunger and malnutrition across South Sudan, Yemen and the Horn of Africa. East Africa is in the grip of a devastating food crisis. More than 22 million people are affected by the drought in South Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, and at least 15 million are going hungry.

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT READ

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Climate change can increase competition among traditional and environmental refugees for water, food and land.

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT VIDEO AND ARTICLE

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
international relations and national security

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A third of Bangladesh under water as flood devastation widens | CNN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In rural areas across northern Bangladesh families are preparing to mark Eid al-Adha, one of the holiest dates on the Muslim calendar.

# data[].attributes.headline
Hurricane Leads To More Poverty in Puerto Rico

# data[].attributes.subject
Hurricane Leads To More Poverty in Puerto Rico

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT READ (short)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
teleSUR English is an alternative representation for world news. We focus on the people, the common citizen, stories untold by traditonal media. You will only find them at teleSUR.

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT/STRETCH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The photos we see of crops withering in fields from lack of rain or of homes splintered by a storm provide only a glimpse of the damage climate change can do to the world's poor.

Peel back more layers, and the interplay between poverty and climate change becomes more complex.

The herder who loses one or two cows to famine amid a drought may feel he has little choice but to sell other livestock at very low prices - the only prices he can get - to keep his family fed. The family may survive the crisis, but they will have lost productive economic assets they relied on, assets that had paid for the children to attend school and were helping the family move out of poverty. The children lose the advantage of an education, the herder has lost an economic base to build from, and he becomes less likely to take risks that could increase his income. Escaping the poverty trap becomes more difficult, and the effects can extend for generations.

Governments can help poor families get through climate shocks with more of their assets intact and build resilience to longer-term climate changes while also working to reduce the drivers of climate change.

Experts in poverty and climate change at the World Bank Group are working with researchers around the world this year to help develop policy guidance and recommendations that can help.To end poverty requires action on both poverty and climate change - quickly.

"Climate change represents a direct and immediate threat to poverty alleviation. It's important that we bring the climate and poverty communities together to design interventions that are effective for both," said Marianne Fay, the World Bank Group's chief economist for climate change.

Four clear issues are opening those conversations:
1) Climate change is an obstacle to ending extreme poverty.
The poor - both those living in poverty and those just barely above the poverty line - are already the most at risk from climate change. They have the fewest resources to adapt or recovery quickly from shocks, and they often live on the most vulnerable land because it tends to be the most affordable, such as homes along creeks that flood or on hillsides prone to landslides, or farmland with limited water access.

The damage extreme weather can to do their homes and businesses can prevent the poor from escaping poverty, and it is often the trigger that tips the vulnerable into poverty. A 25-year survey of households in India's Andhra Pradesh found that 14 percent of households were able to escape poverty while 12 percent of households became impoverished; of those who slid into poverty, 44 percent cited weather events as a cause.
2) Climate policies benefit the poor over the long-term and can benefit the poor in the short-term when accompanied by appropriate social policies.
Climate policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can increase the cost of energy, but they can also generate or free up public finances to help the poor in more targeted ways.

Carbon pricing, for example, puts a price on carbon to help lower emissions and can create a revenue stream from polluters that can be used to help the poor offset any rise in fuel or energy prices. When British Columbia created its carbon tax, it used the revenue to lower income and business taxes and to create a low-income climate action tax credit that provides quarterly support to the poor to help with energy costs.

Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies can also help lower emissions and free up government spending for more targeted support for the poor. The world spent almost $550 billion on direct subsidies for the consumption of fossil fuels in 2013, with the greatest benefit going to the wealthy who typically use more fuel. Through other programs, government support can be more precisely directed to reach the people who need it.

Several countries are now working on subsidy reform. When Indonesia began phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and raised gas prices by 44 percent, it also introduced programs to mitigate the effect of higher energy prices through subsidized rice, free health care, cash assistance to poor students and a one-year conditional cash transfer targeting poor households with pregnant women or school-age children.
3) Creating strong, flexible social safety nets can catch the poor before they fall into poverty.
One clear message from the research across climate change and poverty is that reducing the impact of climate change on poverty requires strengthening the social protection system to make programs scalable and targeted to those in need.

An effective social protection system is one flexible enough to be scaled up quickly in times of crisis. One study in East Africa found that the cost of a drought to households increases from $0 to $50 per household if support is delayed by four months after harvest and to $1,300 if support is delayed by six months or more due to the impact on children and distress sales of livestock and other property.

Beyond emergency support, effective social protection systems help increase access to basic services for the poor, to health care, and to financial services such as loans to help rebuild or build businesses.
4) We have a window of opportunity to reduce poverty now.
We are seeing the impacts of climate change already in melting glaciers and extreme weather. Scientists warn that the world is locked into an increase of about 1.5°C above pre-industrial times even with action to reduce the drivers of climate change - and as much as 4°C by the end of the century without action, with dangerous consequences.

As the impacts of climate change worsen, it will become harder to eliminate poverty. That leaves a narrow window for ending extreme poverty and putting in place the safety nets that can keep poverty at bay while countries also work to lower their emissions toward net zero. The work underway right now, with a goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030, can help governments lead the way on combating climate change while also working to improve the lives and futures of the least well-off in their countries.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Climate Change Complicates Efforts to End Poverty

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Climate change hits the poorest the hardest, those living in this most vulnerable areas with the fewest resources to help them adapt or recovery quickly from shocks. As the effects of climate change worsen, their ability to escape poverty becomes more difficult.

# data[].attributes.headline
Natural Disasters: Rich Leave and Poor Get Poorer

# data[].attributes.subject
Natural Disasters: Rich Leave and Poor Get Poorer

# data[].attributes.body
STRETCH READ

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Every year, major earthquakes, floods and hurricanes occur. These natural disasters disrupt daily life and, in the worst cases, cause devastation. Events such as Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy killed thousands of people and generated billions of dollars in losses.

There is also concern that global climate change will increase the frequency and intensity of weather-related disasters.

Our research team wanted to know how disasters affect people's decisions to move in or out of particular areas. We created a new database that covers disasters in the United States from 1920 to 2010 at the county level, combining data from the American Red Cross as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its predecessors.

Our work shows that people move away from areas hit by the largest natural disasters, but smaller disasters have little effect on migration. The data also showed that these trends may worsen inequality in the U.S., as the rich move away from disaster-prone areas, while the poor are left behind.

Changing risks

The U.S. is a large country, with many regions that differ with respect to their risk of suffering a natural disaster. For example, coastal areas or areas in the flood plain of a river are more likely to experience a natural disaster, whereas areas at higher elevation are at lower risk.

Florida and areas on the Gulf of Mexico are wracked by hurricanes; New England and the Atlantic seaboard are battered by winter storms; the Midwest is a tornado-prone region; and counties along the Mississippi River are subject to recurrent flooding.

There are comparatively few disasters in the West, with the exception of California, which is affected primarily by droughts and fires. (However, the small number of disasters declared in the Mountain West may reflect the limited population in the area.)

Technological innovation has reduced our exposure to damages from disasters. Infrastructure in the U.S. has been upgraded to reduce risks posed by flooding, high winds and earthquakes.

Furthermore, we now have access to real-time information that allows us to be aware of emerging threats. In Asia, for example, tsunami warnings are distributed by text message. Accurate early warning systems are likely to help us adapt, reducing the death count from disasters.

Yet, as of 2010, 39 percent of the U.S. population lived in coastal areas that feature greater risks of hurricane, floods and earthquakes.

Add to this process the wild card of climate change. Basic climate science suggests that, as global greenhouse gas emissions increase, so too will the quantity and severity of natural disasters.

How disasters shape an area

We used our new database to explore whether areas hit by natural disasters lost more residents to migration than areas that were comparatively calm.

We found that, if a county experienced two natural disasters, migration out of that county increased by one percentage point, with the strongest reactions happening in response to hurricanes. This translates into a loss of around 600 residents from a typical county. The effect of one very large disaster - responsible for 100 or more deaths - was twice as big.

Poverty rates also increased by one percentage point in areas hit by super-severe disasters. That suggests that people who aren't poor are migrating out or that people who are poor are migrating in. It might also mean that the existing population transitioned into poverty. We contrasted decades with high disaster activity to decades of comparable calm, thus making it unlikely that we are simply observing areas with higher poverty rates.

We were particularly interested in learning how the 1978 advent of FEMA - the agency that coordinates federal response to natural disasters - may have influenced the likelihood that people will migrate away following a disaster event. One might expect that residents would be less likely to move out of disaster-struck areas after this date, if FEMA increased payments of federal disaster relief.

Yet, we found that, if anything, residents were more likely to migrate out of counties struck by natural disasters after FEMA was created. This pattern is consistent with recent research documenting that the federal funds that flow to victims of disasters come mainly in the form of non-place-based programs like unemployment insurance and food stamps. It appears that many people in disaster-affected areas take the money and move to another county.

Finally, we compared the behavior of people living in low- and high-risk counties. People in areas very prone to suffer disasters - such as counties on a coastline or in a river plain - were three times more likely to leave areas following a severe shock than people in a typical county.

Rising inequality

Despite the progress in preparing for natural disasters, our research suggests the poor will face growing exposure to natural disaster activity. Our research suggests that the rich may have the resources to move away from areas facing natural disasters, leaving behind a population that is disproportionately poor.

During a time of increased concern about income inequality and climate change risk, natural disaster exposure risk could become another cause of rising quality of life inequality between the rich and the poor. Our study suggests that areas that do not adapt to natural disaster risk will become poorer over time, as well-to-do residents move away.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Natural Disasters by Location: Rich Leave and Poor Get Poorer

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Every year, major earthquakes, floods and hurricanes occur. These natural disasters disrupt daily life and, in the worst cases, cause devastation. Events such as Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy killed thousands of people and generated billions of dollars in losses. There is also concern that global climate change will increase the frequency and intensity of weather-related disasters.

# data[].attributes.headline
Unhealthy Diets Could Challenge Food Security

# data[].attributes.subject
Unhealthy Diets Could Challenge Food Security

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Unhealthy diets could undo progress on food security in Asia-Pacific, warns UN report

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Urgent action is needed to tackle malnutrition and promote consumption of healthier foods in the Asia-Pacific region - home to most of the world's undernourished people - the United Nations food security agency said Friday.

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.headline
Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being

# data[].attributes.subject
Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT/STRETCH

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT/STRETCH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As part of an intensified response to the current diphtheria outbreak, United Nations agencies are working to vaccinate more than 475,000 children in Rohingya refugee camps, temporary settlements and surrounding areas in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar.

"All efforts are being made to stop further spread of diphtheria. The vaccination of children in the Rohingya camps and nearby areas demonstrates the health sector's commitment to protecting people, particularly children, against deadly diseases," said Bardan Jung Rana, ai Representative to Bangladesh of the World Health Organization ( WHO).

UN estimates show that some 655,000 people have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh since August 2017.

Diphtheria is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium which primarily infects the throat and upper airways, and produces a toxin affecting other organs. The diphtheria toxin causes a membrane of dead tissue to build up over the throat and tonsils, making breathing and swallowing difficult. The disease is spread through direct physical contact or from breathing in the aerosolized secretions from coughs or sneezes of infected individuals.

Between 8 November 2017 and 11 January 2018, as many as 31 deaths and 3,954 suspected cases of diphtheria have been reported from Cox's Bazar. Nearly 10,594 contacts of these suspected cases have been put on diphtheria preventive medication.

WHO, the UN Children's Fund ( UNICEF) and other health partners are working with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to establish fixed locations for immunization in the Rohingya camps to continue to provide life-saving vaccines to children, in line with Bangladesh's childhood immunization programme.

Nearly 150,000 children aged six weeks to seven years received pentavalent vaccine (that protects against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, haemophilus influenza type b and hepatitis B), and nearly 166,000 children aged 7 to 17 years were given tetanus and diphtheria (Td) vaccine, during a three-week vaccination campaign that ended on 31 December.

Two more rounds of vaccination with a diphtheria-containing vaccine, at intervals of one month, are planned to fully protect the children in camps and surrounding areas.

"Children are particularly vulnerable to diphtheria. Volunteers are making door-to-door visits in the Rohingya settlements to ensure all children receive vaccination," said the UNICEF Country Representative Edouard Beigbeder.

"The massive influx within a very short time has heavily affected basic services in the settlement areas. They have no choice but to live in a very congested environment, which is impacting their health and quality of life," he added.

To limit the spread of diphtheria to communities living near the Rohingya camps and settlements, nearly 160,000 children in 499 schools of Teknaf and Ukhiya sub-districts are also being vaccinated.

This initiative began on 1 January. Vaccination was initiated on a day when children attend school in large numbers to avail themselves of free books provided by the government at the start of the academic year.

WHO has released $1.5 million from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies to scale up the response to diphtheria among the Rohingya population in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, over the next six months.

The funds are being used to support immunization; provide essential medicines and supplies; improve capacities for laboratory testing, case management and contract tracing; and engage with communities.

Via UN News Centre

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Bangladesh: UN agencies working to vaccinate half a million children against diphtheria

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As part of an intensified response to the current diphtheria outbreak, United Nations agencies are working to vaccinate more than 475,000 children in Rohingya refugee camps, temporary settlements and surrounding areas in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar. "All efforts are being made to stop further spread of diphtheria.

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sustainable Development Goals Explained: Good Health and Well-being

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT/STRETCH

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
From the football field to the classrooms of Nepal | UNICEF

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Bridging the education gap in Bangladesh | UNICEF

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Educating the next generation of a Madagascar family | UNICEF

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT/STRETCH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
unicef kids children human rights charity not for profit non-profit development earth

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Drawing a solution to the world's learning crisis | UNICEF

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
121 million children and adolescents are out of school around the world. How can we change this picture? Subscribe to UNICEF here: http://bit.ly/1ltTE3m Investing more and investing better in education to reach every child.

# data[].attributes.headline
Fighting for Education in South Sudan Video

# data[].attributes.subject
Fighting for Education in South Sudan Video

# data[].attributes.body
Comfort

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A fight for education like you’ve never seen before | UNICEF

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT/STRETCH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
At least 17 people - including children - have been killed in Mozambique's capital, Maputo, and many more injured after a huge mound of rubbish collapsed, officials say.

The pile of waste, some 15m (49ft) high, gave way in heavy rains at 03:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Monday.

The dump is known to be home to some of the city's poorest residents, who build makeshift camps amid the rubbish.

Five homes on the edge were also crushed in the disaster.

Rescue workers are continuing to search for survivors.

Mozambique country profile

Africa Live: More on this and other stories

A spokesman for the emergency services, Leonilde Pelembe, warned it was likely there were more victims under the waste.

"The information we received from local authorities is that the number of people living in those houses exceeds the number of deaths recorded," Mr Pelembe said.

The Hulene district of Maputo is one of the most deprived parts of the capital. Many, including children, have little choice but to make their homes either on or next to the dump.

The dump not only provides them with food but also goods to sell, our correspondent Jose Tembe explains.

An accident waiting to happen
Analysis by Jose Tembe, BBC Africa, Maputo
The dump was here when I began living in the area in the 1980s. I saw the buildings being erected around it.

The municipal authorities have tried to clear it. Each time the rainy season comes, they remove people and give them plots of land.

But when there is no rain, people move back to the rubbish dump. It is where they can be close to the city and collect things that have been dumped - things like outdated food to either eat or sell.

The government keeps on promising and promising to close the dump for good but they never do it.

They never close it, and so people continue to pile garbage in the same area.

The authorities said they had previously asked residents in the area to leave because their homes were constructed illegally, Reuters news agency reports.

However one local resident whose son was injured in the landslide, Maria Huo, said: "I live in this neighbourhood because I have nowhere to go. Had the government told me to go to another place to live, I would have left here."

The city of Maputo has experienced heavy rainfall since Sunday, which has damaged homes and flooded roads.

In the poorer suburbs of cities such as Maputo, people sometimes live on land they do not own in the hope of finding work. The dwellings can be built on land that is unsafe.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At least 17 people - including children - have been killed in Mozambique's capital, Maputo, and many more injured after a huge mound of rubbish collapsed, officials say. The pile of waste, some 15m (49ft) high, gave way in heavy rains at 03:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Monday.

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT/STRETCH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
RIO DE JANEIRO * High on a hill in South America's largest slum, Ms Samantha Almeida was startled by the latest volley of gunfire. It was close. Too close. She knew she had to get her girls moving.

The shoot-out had woken them an hour before.

Killings in Rocinha, once the showcase shanty town in Brazil's showcase city, had quadrupled in less than a year. In recent weeks, the town had taken on the feel of a war zone as drug traffickers battled with police.

Suddenly, the bullets were buzzing just above the roof.

The family members had started sleeping in one room because they felt safer together, and Ms Almeida, 33, had drilled her girls on an escape plan - when she gave the sign, they would move fast, keeping low, to a windowless, bunker-like terrace.

Another shot rang out, and Ms Almeida rose, telling the girls to follow, she later recalled. Eight-year-old Natasha moved quickly, but Nicolly, her painfully shy 16-year-old, was still struggling to her feet when they heard the window crack. And then blood was seeping through Nicolly's pink tank top. "Mama," the girl said before slumping. "I've been shot."

Rocinha, Rio's largest favela - or hillside shanty town - was once a symbol of rising fortunes in a nation that finally seemed on the fast track to greatness. Its hive-like streets were even portrayed in the animated Hollywood movie Rio. But a little more than a year after hosting the Olympic Games, that optimism is disappearing in a wave of urban violence.

Across Rio, at least 120 police officers were killed last year. Through December, 6,590 people were slain - the highest rate in nearly a decade. Crippled by corruption scandals and economic woes, the "Marvellous City" is floundering.

The mayhem in the favela of nearly 200,000 reflects a national plague - Brazil suffered a record 61,000 violent deaths in 2016.

Nicolly was unconscious when her stepfather carried her into a hospital. Medical personnel quickly determined she had a bullet lodged just above her left shoulder blade and wheeled her into surgery. As her stunned mother waited, one gunshot patient after another was rushed in. Fortunately, Nicolly survived.

The outbreak of violence in Rocinha was ostensibly triggered by the execution of three top traffickers by rivals last August. But the bigger culprit, observers say, is the erosion of the state in a nation whipsawed by economic crisis and corruption.

Brazil puts the B in the Brics, an elite club of economies including Russia, India and China once seen as emerging powerhouses.

But Latin America's largest country has been weakened by political and economic crises, and its fragility is extending to places such as Rocinha.

A financial scandal cost then President Dilma Rousseff her job in 2016. Her replacement, Mr Michel Temer, has spent the past year fighting graft allegations.

In the Rio state, former governor Sergio Cabral was sentenced last June to 14 years in prison for his part in the massive corruption and bribery scandal known as Lava Jato, or "Car Wash". The authorities say he got over 224 million reais (S$92 million) related to construction projects, including one involving the government-controlled oil giant Petrobras.

The broader Car Wash scandal has rocked Petrobras, causing it to lose billions of dollars and slash spending, and in turn, the turmoil has ravaged the budget of Rio, which relies heavily on royalties from Petrobras.

The financial squeeze has made Rio police officers - notorious for bribe-taking - even more susceptible to temptation. Last May, evidence surfaced that officers in northern Rio had "rented" an armoured vehicle to drug traffickers for the equivalent of roughly US$300,000 (S$398,000).

In Rocinha, gang warfare became so bad that the state called in the army for a week last September. Since then, heavily armed special police forces have patrolled the favela. With no single group solidly in command, and the police struggling to regain control, a crime wave has broken out.

Homes are being burgled, businesses robbed. Residents of the favela are distraught.

"You watch the battles in the Middle East on TV. Here, it's worse," said Mr Marcos Alfredo Guedes de Oliveira, whose butcher shop was robbed at gunpoint recently for the first time in its 20-year history.

"Rocinha is at war."

WASHINGTON POST

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Rio's largest shanty town turns into a war zone

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
RIO DE JANEIRO * High on a hill in South America's largest slum, Ms Samantha Almeida was startled by the latest volley of gunfire. It was close. Too close. She knew she had to get her girls moving.. Read more at straitstimes.com.

# data[].attributes.headline
UN Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

# data[].attributes.subject
UN Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT/STRETCH

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT/STRETCH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
While the global economy has kept up modest growth, the total number of unemployed people will likely remain high in 2018 - at above 192 million - and it will be harder to find a decent job, the United Nations labour agency reported on Monday.

"Even though global unemployment has stabilized, decent work deficits remain widespread: the global economy is still not creating enough jobs. Additional efforts need to be put in place to improve the quality of work for jobholders and to ensure that the gains of growth are shared equitably," ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said.

The World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2018, a flagship report by the International Labour Organization ( ILO), examines employment and social trends for the world as a whole and for each region, and analyses structural transformation and implications for future job quality.

The report says the global economy grew 3.6 per cent in 2017, after hitting a six-year low of 3.2 per cent in 2016. The recovery was broad based, driven by expansions in developing, emerging and developed countries alike. Future growth is likely to stay below four per cent, as economic activity normalizes in most major economies without significant stimulus and fixed investment remains at a moderate level.

The projected fall in the 2018 global unemployment rate would also mark a turnaround after three years of rises, and would remain essentially unchanged in 2019, according to the report. However, with a growing number of people entering the labour market to seek employment, the total number of unemployed is expected to remain above 192 million in 2018, and that number would likely grow by 1.3 million in 2019.

Vulnerable employment is on the rise

The report also notes that the number of workers in vulnerable forms of employment, such as own-account workers and contributing family workers, is likely to increase in the years to come. Globally, the significant achievements had been made in reducing vulnerable employment but progress has essentially stalled since 2012.

In 2017, about 42 per cent of workers, or 1.4 billion, worldwide were estimated to be in vulnerable forms of employment. This share was expected to remain particularly high in developing and emerging countries, at above 76 per cent and 46 per cent, respectively. Worryingly, the number of people in vulnerable employment is projected to increase by 17 million in each of 2018 and 2019.

Slow pace of reducing 'working poverty'

Similarly, the global labour market has seen only weak progress in addressing the problem of 'working poverty,' or living under poverty lines despite employment, the report says. In 2017, extreme working poverty remained widespread, with more than 300 million workers in emerging and developing countries having a per capita household income or consumption of less than $1.90 per day.

"In developing countries though, progress in reducing working poverty is too slow to keep up with the expanding labour force. The number of workers living in extreme poverty is expected to remain stubbornly above 114 million for the coming years, affecting 40 per cent of all employed people in 2018," explains ILO economist Stefan Kühn, lead author of the report.

Emerging countries, on the other hand, achieved significant progress in reducing extreme working poverty, which is expected to affect less than 8 per cent, or around 190 million, of workers there in 2017.

The incidence of extreme poverty should continue to fall, translating into a reduction in the number of extreme working poor by 10 million per year in 2018 and 2019. Nevertheless, moderate working poverty, in which workers live on an income of between $1.90 and $3.10 per day, remains widespread, affecting 430 million workers in emerging and developing countries in 2017.
To dig deeper into the data click here.
The report also looks at the influence of population ageing. It shows that the growth of the global workforce will not be sufficient to compensate for the rapidly expanding pool of retirees. The average age of working people is projected to rise from just under 40 in 2017 to over 41 in 2030.

"Besides the challenge of a growing number of retirees creates for pension systems, an increasingly ageing workforce is also likely to have a direct impact on labour markets. Ageing could lower productivity and slow down labour market adjustments following economic shocks," says the ILO's Director of Research Department a. i., Sangheon Lee.

Via UN News Centre

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Unemployment to remain high, quality jobs harder to find in 2018 - UN labour agency

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
While the global economy has kept up modest growth, the total number of unemployed people will likely remain high in 2018 - at above 192 million - and it will be harder to find a decent job, the United Nations labour agency reported on Monday.

# data[].attributes.headline
Informal Economy in Brazilian Favelas (shanty town)

# data[].attributes.subject
Informal Economy in Brazilian Favelas (shanty town)

# data[].attributes.body
STRETCH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Informal Economy in Rio: Stories from Pedra do Sal and Beyond - RioOnWatch

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Clique aqui para Português The calls of the vendors echo into the warm night over the hum of laughing revelers and the beat of live Samba bands. Under the low light, pedestrian traffic comes to a momentary standstill as a colorfully-dressed woman on stilts weaves her way through the crowd.

# data[].attributes.headline
Economic Opportunity in India Shanty Town (Dharavi)

# data[].attributes.subject
Economic Opportunity in India Shanty Town (Dharavi)

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT/STRETCH

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT/STRETCH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The thriving economy of one of Asia's biggest slums

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Dharvari, a slum in Mumbai, has a large informal econonmy - worth $1 billion according to some estimates.

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT/STRETCH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When Peter Nyagesera's sisters died, leaving him to raise their nine orphaned children, he felt drawn to help other single mothers and street children living in the narrow alleyways of Kenya's gigantic Kibera slum.

Nyagesera, 40, and his wife started clearing a swampy dump site on the edge of the Nairobi slum by hand, laying soiled rags and plastics out to dry in the sun before burning them.

A decade later, the former dump site is a clean, gravelled playground, where children in green school uniforms play tag alongside a dining hall where they eat rice and cabbage for lunch - for many, their only hot meal of the day.

"If it was not for this centre and other centres like this, most kids would be roaming the streets," Nyagesera told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, sitting in the school dining room.

But if the government wins two court cases brought by residents against its plan to build a road through Kibera, the children may be back on the streets, Nyagesera said.

WATCH: See Kibera from the skies - by drone - and hear from the children of Egesa Children's Centre. (Film by Johnny Miller, Benj Binks, and George Ng'ang'a Githiri)

The battle highlights the precarious situation faced by slum dwellers globally who have no legal rights to the land they have occupied for decades, thwarting their efforts to invest in essential services, like education, to better their lives.

Nyagesera fears a government victory in the cases, one of which is to be heard on Oct. 18, may result in children having to scavenge for food again while their parents trek to upmarket areas in search of casual jobs, washing clothes or working on building sites.

Some 100 metres away, yellow diggers pour earth into trucks at the start of a road that is slated to slice through the slum, bulldozing 10 schools, including Nyagesera's, along with thousands of homes, churches, clinics and graveyards.

There are only two government schools in Kibera for more than 50,000 children, according to Map Kibera, which has digitally mapped the slum. Most children attend some 330 informal schools.

Kibera is one of Africa's oldest, largest and celebrity-favoured slums, just five kilometres from Nairobi city centre.

Tours of the bustling slum became popular after actress Rachel Weisz won several awards for her portrayal of an activist working in Kibera in the 2005 film "The Constant Gardener".

Along the century-old railway line, stalls selling broken electronics and vegetables blast out tinny music to attract passing customers.

Women wash and hang clothes between low-slung roofs as children play and men sit chatting on its tightly-packed earthen streets, retreating at night to their one-roomed, mud-walled homes powered by stolen electricity lines.

A 2009 census recorded Kibera's population as 170,000 although the numerous charities working to provide food, water, toilets and medical care estimate it at up to one million.

Nyagesera, who filed one of two petitions against the road works, won a temporary injunction from Nairobi's High Court in February, arguing that the government started painting red crosses on buildings it intended to demolish without consulting residents or offering them compensation.

He believes officials have been bribed to change the route of the road to bypass the properties of influential residents, highlighting the challenges of improving lives in slums without secure tenure.

"It is my mortal fear that somebody has interfered with the development plan of Kibera either for personal or political gain," his court petition states, describing how youths marked the route using an undated, unsigned survey map.

The Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) parastatal, one of the respondents in the case, dismissed the allegations as rumours, saying it is following the route laid out in a 2013 government map.

The Attorney General, another respondent, declined to comment as the cases are in court.

A second group of residents from the marginalised Nubian community won a further court injunction in August, arguing they have nowhere to go if the road is built through their ancestral land, given to them by British colonialists a century ago.

"Young men kept coming and causing nuisance in the wee hours of the night announcing they would demolish the houses," their petition states.

Three residents told the Thomson Reuters Foundation their properties were marked with red crosses after February's injunction by more than 50 rowdy young men wearing reflective yellow KURA jackets.

"They even painted one old man," said Mongare Nyakundi, headmaster at Love Africa School. "He was painted red all over when he tried to ask them what they were doing."

The police used teargas in June to control a crowd who said they were trying to stop buildings being marked for demolition.

"(The police) told me, 'My friend, if you try to bring any (trouble), you will eat bullets'," recalled one resident, Samuel Sabwa, who was later arrested for creating a disturbance.

KURA spokesman John Cheboi said the road agency has respected the court orders and residents were arrested for trying to burn the contractor's machinery.

Kibera residents have known about the road building project for years and talks between KURA and their representatives are ongoing, Cheboi said.

"It is not that we are inhuman," he said. "We will give them some allowance to enable them to move, to obtain residence elsewhere. We are not forcing them out."

The government has demolished numerous luxury homes and a gigantic supermarket in recent efforts to decongest the rapidly-growing city of Nairobi by expanding major roads.

In a country plagued by decades of unbridled corruption, it is often hard to tell whether the property owners knowingly encroached on public land or if they were the victims of conmen who made a quick buck by selling sites they didn't own.

"The government gives us the chance to compensate people who have title deeds because those are the real owners," said Cheboi, tracing the road on a map of Nairobi criss-crossed with fluorescent lines highlighting KURA's latest projects.

"But if you are just a squatter, then you are just given an allowance."

Officially, everyone who lives in Kibera is a squatter as its corrugated iron shacks, perched next to open sewers, are built on public land.

Kibera was first settled in the early 20th century by Nubian soldiers from Sudan who fought for the British and were rewarded with a 4,000 acre plot on the outskirts of Nairobi.

They never received title deeds. With independence in 1963, other communities moved in, jostling for scarce housing.

The Nubians were forcibly evicted from much of what they call Kibra - Nubian for forest - in the 1970s and 1980s to make way for middle class housing estates.

While campaigning for the 2013 elections, President Uhuru Kenyatta promised the Nubians a title deed. But the plan was shelved following opposition from other Kibera residents.

"We are waiting to be awarded this land," said Mohamed Abubakar, a Nubian who lives with his mother, wife, children and numerous relatives in a spacious, leafy compound built by his father.

"Once we are scattered, I think the community will be done ... We'll lose our values, our culture, our language."

Kenya introduced legislation in August laying out the steps for communities to acquire titles to their ancestral land, which makes up about two-thirds of the country.

"Their history is clear - (the Nubians) have always occupied Kibera," said Luke Obala, an expert on urban land conflicts at the University of Nairobi.

He said the state should provide the court with evidence of its plans to give them alternative land or compensation.

Forced evictions are common across Nairobi, where the majority of its four million residents live in slums.

There are tensions between Kenyans who want the right to property to be respected and campaigners focusing on the welfare of the poor whom, they argue, often have no choice but to become squatters because the state has not provided affordable housing.

International law regards forced eviction as a gross violation of human rights, regardless of whether or not the land was occupied legally.

Such evictions often push people into extreme poverty, posing a risk to the right to life itself, the United Nations says.

Kenya introduced a law in August that says people illegally occupying public land should only be evicted after receiving three months notice in writing, in a national newspaper and via the radio in a language they understand.

But the law does not oblige the government to consult affected people or offer them alternative housing or compensation, said Amnesty International activist Naomi Barasa.

"It does not have the capacity to safeguard the victims of forced evictions," she said.

Nyagesera fears for the 11 orphans who live in his school.

"They will have nowhere to go," he said, trying to quieten exuberant children running up and down during break time.

"Children are going to suffer."
This story first appeared on Place, a property rights website run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What a road tells us about one of Africa's oldest slums

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When Peter Nyagesera's sisters died, leaving him to raise their nine orphaned children, he felt drawn to help other single mothers and street children living in the narrow alleyways of Kenya's gigantic Kibera slum.

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT/STRETCH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How slums can inspire the micro-cities of the future

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Using artificial intelligence, pooled energy systems and blockchain membership, today's deprived areas could become the innovation hubs of tomorrow

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT/STRETCH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Urban Planning Analyst, World Bank

Stay up to date:

Cities and Urbanization

Follow

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

More on Cities and Urbanization

See all

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why public space planning is vital to improve slums

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in 1971, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Forum is tied to no political, partisan or national interests.

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Urban Planning Analyst, World Bank

Stay up to date:

Cities and Urbanization

Follow

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

More on Cities and Urbanization

See all

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why public space planning is vital to improve slums

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in 1971, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Forum is tied to no political, partisan or national interests.

# data[].attributes.headline
Shanty Town in Pakistan Makes Their Own Sanitation

# data[].attributes.subject
Shanty Town in Pakistan Makes Their Own Sanitation

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.headline
Successful Economy in Dharavi Shanty Town

# data[].attributes.subject
Successful Economy in Dharavi Shanty Town

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Most homes in Dharavi double up as businesses - creating an economy worth $1bn by some estimates

By Rina Chandran

MUMBAI, Oct 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Malik Abdullah's plastic recycling business in Dharavi, the sprawling slum in Mumbai that is among the largest in Asia, has survived fire, building collapses, and the criminal underworld for decades. Now, it is threatened by development.

For 35 years, Abdullah has carried on the business built by his father, pulverising used plastic cans and bottles into pellets, then selling them to factories to refashion.

Thousands of small businesses like his thrive in Dharavi, creating an informal economy with an annual turnover of $1 billion by some estimates.
WATCH: Inside Dharavi's $1 billion unrecognised economy
Now, plans to replace the ramshackle workshops and decrepit homes with office blocks and high-rise apartments threaten the businesses that employ thousands of its 1 million residents.

"The city doesn't care about the businesses here, which are our livelihood," said Abdullah, 52, standing in an alley crammed with towering stacks of plastic containers.

"This is where we live, this is where we work. Where will we go if they only build flats and offices?" he said.

During the past two decades, there have been several attempts to develop Dharavi, which sprawls over 240 hectares (590 acres). However, residents have opposed many of them, saying they do not consider their interests.

Real estate in Mumbai, India's financial hub, is among the most expensive in the world. The contrast between rich and poor is stark, and about 60 percent of the city's population of more than 18 million lives in slums.

Dharavi has always been a magnet for migrants from across India. Many have lived there for decades, their one-room tenements and low-rise homes dwarfed by the gleaming glass and chrome office towers and luxury hotels that dot the city.

Amid Dharavi's narrow alleys, open drains and canopies of electric cables, migrants who came in search of better economic opportunities have created a community of schools, temples, mosques, restaurants, tailors and mobile phone shops.

Tens of thousands work as potters, leather tanners, weavers, soap makers, and in Dharavi's massive recycling industry.

Most homes double up as work spaces, the whirr of sewing machines, the clang of metal and the pungent odour of spices mingling with the call for prayer and the putrid smell of trash.

"People think of slums as places of static despair as depicted in films such as 'Slumdog Millionaire'," said Sanjeev Sanyal, an economist and writer, referring to the Academy Award-winning movie that exposed the gritty underbelly of Dharavi.

"If one looks past the open drains and plastic sheets, one will see that slums are ecosystems buzzing with activity... Creating neat low-income housing estates will not work unless they allow for many of the messy economic and social activities that thrive in slums," he said.
ROOF TOPS
Once a small fishing village, Dharavi was notorious as a den of crime in the 1970s and '80s. Following a massive crackdown, violent crime is rare and Dharavi has featured in movies, art projects and a Harvard Business School case study.

Fed by two suburban railway lines and perilously close to the Mumbai airport, Dharavi has lured developers, too.

Recent plans by city officials envisaged private developers clearing the area and building high-rise flats in which each eligible family gets a free 225 sq ft (21 sq metres) unit. The developer in turn gets rights to build commercial space to rent.

Dozens of such housing blocks have been built over the years, falling into disrepair as facilities were not upgraded.

What these buildings also lack is room for work. The squat tenements are perfectly suited for businesses, with living and sleeping spaces sitting atop work spaces, workers spilling into the alleys, and material stacked outside and on roof tops.

In Kumbharwada, the potter's colony, where migrants from neighbouring Gujarat state make earthen water pots and lamps, potters' wheels can be seen through open doorways, while ready pots are stacked in the alleys awaiting pickup.

The colony is abuzz ahead of the Dussehra and Diwali festivals, when decorated pots and lamps are in demand.

With small televisions turned on low, women sit cross-legged on the floor in their homes, painting motifs in red, yellow and green, and gluing on sequins and shiny bits of mica.

Down another alley, a group of women chat and braid leather strips for belts and bags on the stoop of a home.

"We want new flats, but they are small," said Sharada Tape, who earns about 100 rupees ($1.50) a day.

"There are no spaces like this where we can all sit and work. It will be difficult, but we need the money," she said.
RESIDENTS WANT MORE SAY
City officials last month submitted a new 250 billion rupee ($3.7 billion) redevelopment plan to Maharashtra state for approval after previous plans failed to attract bidders.

The new plan, a public-private partnership, has ample commercial space for businesses, but only for the "formal, legitimate" ones, said Debashish Chakrabarty, head of the Dharavi Redevelopment Authority.

"All the licensed businesses will have space under the plan. It will be better, cleaner than what they have now," he said.

"Those that are engaged in informal businesses have the option of applying for commercial licences, then they can also get a space. If they don't, then we can't help them," he said.

It is this narrow definition of what's legal and permissible that is the biggest challenge, not just to recognising Dharavi's businesses, but also determining Dharavi's fate, said Rahul Srivastava, a founder of the Institute of Urbanology in Mumbai.

"The biggest impediment to the improvement of many of these settlements is the misconception that they are illegitimate, because residents don't own the land they occupy," he said.

"Can settlements which are home to fifth-generation migrants be called 'informal'? We need to transform our perception of these neighbourhoods," he said.

Across the country, plans to build modern Smart Cities will force tens of thousands of people from their slum homes as planners spruce up central business districts and build metro train lines, activists say.

Campaigners say until authorities give Dharavi residents more power and recognise the vital role of their businesses, any redevelopment plan is destined to fail.

"If we don't have these small enterprises, it wouldn't be Dharavi," said Jockin Arputham, president of the National Slum Dwellers' Federation in Mumbai.

"This is a people-sponsored economic zone, and the redevelopment should be around the economic zone. It is a township, not a slum, and it should be treated as one," he said.

Abdullah, the plastic recycler, is reconciled to his fate.

"We want development. We also want to keep our businesses," he said.

"But we have to be prepared for any eventuality. We are not owners of the land, so we may have to shut down," he said.
MORE: Look out for more stories each day this week and watch the video trailer below. This is the second story from SLUMSCAPES: a five-part series from PLACE. Using exclusive drone photography, interviews, and reportage, we uncover how residents of the world's five biggest informal settlements are shaping their futures.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What's a slum? India's Dharavi defies label with thriving informal economy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Most homes in Dharavi double up as businesses - creating an economy worth $1bn by some estimates By Rina Chandran MUMBAI, Oct 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Malik Abdullah's plastic recycling business in Dharavi, the sprawling slum in Mumbai that is among the largest in Asia, has survived fire, building collapses, and the criminal underworld for decades.

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Zimbabwe's slums grow as hard-up residents seek cheaper housing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Place is a news and information website designed to shed light on the many issues revolving around land and property rights.

# data[].attributes.headline
Corruption and Graft in Kenyan Slum (Kiberia)

# data[].attributes.subject
Corruption and Graft in Kenyan Slum (Kiberia)

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.headline
Making Life Easier in South African Slums

# data[].attributes.subject
Making Life Easier in South African Slums

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT

# data[].attributes.headline
Indians Pushed Out Of Their Homes As City Modernises 

# data[].attributes.subject
Indians Pushed Out Of Their Homes As City Modernises 

# data[].attributes.body
JUST RIGHT/STRETCH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
About 53,700 homes were destroyed last year by authorities in cities, towns and villages, uprooting at least 260,000 people

By Rina Chandran

NEW DELHI, Feb 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - At least six homes are destroyed and 30 people forcibly evicted each hour in India as authorities modernise cities and build highways, activists said on Friday, highlighting the urgent need for greater investment in social rental housing.

'Smart Cities' projects and other upgrades were responsible for most evictions, data compiled by the advocacy group Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) showed.

Infrastructure and development plans, wildlife conservation efforts and disaster management projects were also to blame.

"The notion that 'beautification' implies removing the poor from cities reflects an alarming prejudice and discrimination against the country's most marginalised populations," said Shivani Chaudhry, executive director of HLRN.

Its data showed about 53,700 homes were destroyed last year by authorities in cities, towns and villages, uprooting at least 260,000 people.

Chaudhry said the true figure was likely far higher, as its data was comprised only of cases reported to it. The evictions are the highest recorded by HLRN since it began collecting information in 2015, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"Homes of the urban poor continue to be considered illegal encroachments and are demolished without any consideration that people have been living (there) for decades ... and possess documents that validate their legality and proof of residence."

Officials at India's housing ministry could not be reached for comment on Friday. There is no official data on evictions.

An official with the Delhi Development Authority said the city abided by the law.

"Whenever an eviction is required, we take all the necessary steps and resettle whoever is eligible with all amenities," said Jai Prakash Agrawal, speaking of evictions in the city.

The rapid growth of Indian cities, combined with unclear land ownership, is increasingly triggering legal disputes and violent evictions of poorer communities, rights groups say.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Smart Cities Mission aims to modernise 100 cities by 2020. The plan to spruce up central business districts and build metro lines has triggered evictions of people from slums and informal settlements.

In nearly every case recorded last year, authorities did not follow due process, including giving communities sufficient notice, or offering adequate resettlement, Chaudhry said.

Police used force in several cases, with deaths reported from some such instances, Chaudhry said. Several evictions were carried out during the monsoon and in the winter, leaving families particularly vulnerable.

Agrawal denied that officials in New Delhi had used force at any time.

A government plan, Housing for All, is meant to create 20 million new urban housing units and 30 million rural homes by 2022. But implementation has been slow, and campaigners say it will not fix the issue of homelessness and informal settlements.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
India evicting 30 people an hour as cities modernise - activists

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
About 53,700 homes were destroyed last year by authorities in cities, towns and villages, uprooting at least 260,000 people By Rina Chandran NEW DELHI, Feb 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - At least six homes are destroyed and 30 people forcibly evicted each hour in India as authorities modernise cities and build highways, activists said on Friday, highlighting the urgent need for greater investment in social rental housing.

# data[].attributes.headline
In One Slum, Misery, Work, Politics and Hope

# data[].attributes.subject
In One Slum, Misery, Work, Politics and Hope

# data[].attributes.body
STRETCH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
In One Slum, Misery, Work, Politics and Hope (Published 2011)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
More than a warehouse for the poor, Dharavi, a Mumbai slum, contains a hive of workshops with an annual economic output of more than $600 million.

# data[].attributes.body
Just Right

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
the us poverty challenge facing donald t

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Baltimore: 'This is what poverty in the US looks like' - BBC News