About 60 per cent of the estimated one billion slum dwellers worldwide are in Africa, Kenyan Lands and Housing Minister Amos Kimunya said in Nairobi Thursday. Opening a habitat stakeholders workshop ahead of the World Urban Forum slated for September in Barcelona , Spain , the Minister warned that the population of the world's slum dwellers could double by 2030 to two billion. Kimunya, therefore, urged decision-makers to come up with better planning policies and an improvement in urban governance to combat urban slum. The first global forum on urbanisation was held in Nairobi in 2002. The Barcelona Forum would be held under the theme "Cities: Crossroads of Cultures Inclusiveness and Integration." "Individual interests have surpassed those of national development issues, where politicians are only interested in feeding themselves, gluttony has marred development in African countries," the Kenyan Minister lamented. According to him, rapid urbanisation posed immense challenges in both developing and developed countries of the world. Solomon Karanja, Kenyan representative to the Nairobi-based UN human settlements agency, UN-HABITAT, said the workshop demonstrated UN's commitment and assistance to Kenya . He said the world body would help to improve the lives of citizens through better urban settlement programme. |
