UN warns of explosion in world slum population

London - The population of the world's slums will double to two billion people within 30 years, presenting a major threat to global stability unless drastic measures are taken urgently, the United Nations says.

From the kampungs of Indonesia to the townships of Africa and the favelas of Brazil one-third of the world's three billion urban dwellers are already crammed into slums, a figure set to mushroom as the country-to-town trickle turns into a torrent.

In a report titled The Challenge of Slums, the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT) has called on governments around the world to recognize the scale and seriousness of the looming crisis.

"This is a time-bomb," Naison Mutizwa-Mangiza, UN-HABITAT's chief of policy analysis, told reporters.

In a foreword to the report launched on Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that without concerted efforts by governments world-wide, the number of slum dwellers was likely to increase in most developing countries.

"And if no serious action is taken, the number of slum dwellers worldwide is projected to rise over the next 30 years to about two billion," he said.

IRREVERSIBLE FLOW

Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, said there was an irresistible and irreversible flow from the countryside to the towns, with half of the world's six billion people already urbanized.

Asia already had 550 million slum dwellers or 60 percent of the world's total, Africa had 187 million slum dwellers or 20 percent of the total and Latin America had 128 million slum dwellers or 14 percent of the total.

Even in the developed world there were 54 million slum dwellers or six percent of the world's total.

"By 2050 we estimate that the world's population will be nine billion people, of whom six billion will be living in cities and of those 3.5 billion will be living in slums unless we do something radical to address the problem," Tibaijuka said.

Despite all the evidence of what was happening, the report said there was little or no planning to accommodate the mass of people pouring into cities seeking a better life.

Shelter, water, sanitation, power and employment were all in critically short supply, opening the way for crime to boom.

"Governments' failure to supply services to the spreading slums leave a gap where criminals can move in. There is a vacuum which is dangerous," Tibaijuka said.

"In Africa we have explosive slums. In Latin America there are many slums to which the authorities have no access.

"The poor are not terrorists. But extreme social deprivation can lead people to anti-social behavior Population flows are all interlinked. That is why this is a global issue."

Mutizwa-Mangiza said the key to short-circuiting the problem was to make the slum dwellers part of the solution not part of the problem by encouraging the development of craft businesses.

"The informal economic sector is extremely important in efforts to improve the lot of the slum dwellers," he said. "We need to emphasize boosting income generation in informal settlements." -- Associated Press

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