- Nairobi
- Mumbai
- Mexico City
- Rio de Janeiro
Katy Fentress, Nairobi Community Manager
In order to engage in urban poverty reduction, it is essential to have a clear understanding of the nature of the area to be targeted and the essence of the problems faced by the people there.
The initial phase of a project is extremely important, as it helps define the target group or area that stands to benefit from the intervention and break down the different issues in order to select an effective point of entry. Consequently, it is essential to collect as much information as possible in order to ensure that the project will be successful, sustainable, and reflect the needs of the people on the ground.
Data collection methods vary according to the commissioning institution, the funding available for the initial research phase, and the time frame in which the intervention is taking place. These different approaches can be as superficial as putting ten questionnaires into the hands of selected slum dwellers and calling this a “baseline survey.” They can also be in-depth and highly nuanced, with organisations employing methods such as community mapping, participatory design, or ethnographic research as a way to get a comprehensive picture of the reality on the ground.
During the Huruma slum-upgrading project, the Italian NGO COOPI collaborated with Pamoja Trust in order to come up with a participatory data collection technique to identify the needs of the community. Chiara Camozzi, an architect who works at COOPI and closely followed the project through its different phases, agreed to talk to urb.im and explain how the data was collected and later used.
KF: What data did you focus on collecting? What was deemed to be important and how was this decided?
CC: In order to identify a point of entry for the Huruma project, COOPI and Pamoja Trust adopted a participatory data collecting methodology called enumeration. Project beneficiaries were involved in selecting questions that were important for the survey and identifying useful data to be targeted in the questionnaire. The focus of this initial exercise was to gather socioeconomic information on all of the different families involved. This included what kind of structure they lived in, livelihoods, infrastructure and types of service delivery they received, tenure, an area map, photographs of every structure and its inhabitants and, finally, individual needs and priorities assessments.
KF: How did you verify and elaborate the data?
CC: The survey was undertaken entirely by Pamoja Trust, although each team had a community representative present to ensure that the information collected reflected the reality on the ground. Once the data had been elaborated in a series of maps and tables, it was reviewed at COOPI, and any doubts or discrepancies that we came across were brought back to the community for a second review.
KF: How was the data used?
CC: The data collected was then used as the base on which to plan our upgrading strategy. It was important information because it allowed us to identify structure owners, landlords, and tenants and to begin a process of negotiation to secure the land on which the new houses were to be built. In the end we were able to draw out an MOU between the City Council and the community, in which the City Council gave full authorization to build on the land that had been identified.
KF: In what way was the data important in the monitoring and evaluation phase of the project?
CC: COOPI followed this project from 2005 to 2010, when the funding we received from the Italian Ministero degli Esteri (Ministry for External Affairs) dried up. Because of this, there were not enough funds to be able to continue into the monitoring and evaluation phase of the project. This was unfortunate, as the data that had originally been collected was no longer relevant within a year of the project being finished. We soon discovered that many of the original beneficiaries of the program had moved out, sometimes because they were unable to repay the housing loan they had received through the project. Although Pamoja Trust still have all the data that was collected, I do not know the extent to which they have used it to review the project outcomes against what had been predicted would happen.
KF: Why do you feel enumeration is important?
CC: Ultimately I believe that this approach to data collection is very interesting, as it allows all the different stakeholders to be involved and helps build consensus around the project, giving people the authority and certainty needed to successfully negotiate with the local authorities.
Submitted by Katy Fentress — Mon, 01/28/2013 – 00:00
Carlin Carr, Mumbai Community Manager
In Dharavi, Mumbai’s largest and best-known slum, the population is estimated to be a half-million people living within one square kilometer of overcrowded space. However, the accuracy of these “estimates” is questionable. Capturing accurate data of vulnerable populations can be difficult for reasons that include varying household numbers (residents and their families move back and forth between their native villages) and difficulty in gaining access to densely populated areas. Most frequently, however, the reason is denial: if the government doesn’t have the numbers, the government doesn’t have to react.
As Sheela Patel, chair of Slum Dwellers International (SDI), wrote in a discussion hosted on Striking Poverty, “Almost all cities have no up-to-date data about slums in their city, and their engagement with slums is demolitions. SDI affiliates undertake settlement profiles and present the city with status of and conditions of informal settlements in the city. The logic is simple: if you know who needs to be included then projects to address infrastructure have to accommodate them.”
Up-to-date and accurate data on slums, the people who live there, and the services they receive is the basis for all interventions. Despite the difficulties, data is essential in order to respond appropriately to community situations. The reality is that accurate data is scarcely available on slum communities; however, gathering good data also makes sense financially. Funds can be appropriately allocated toward necessary projects without wasteful guessing games that result in defunct interventions.
A sanitation mapping project undertaken by Harvard Public Health students in Mumbai last year underlines the woeful lack of knowledge of the reality of slum situations on the ground. The students visited Cheeta Camp, an unusual slum because it is a planned settlement. Residents were relocated there “to make way for a government atomic research station,” says an article in The New York Times. “The displaced residents were given plots of land on which to settle, but no provision was made for basic infrastructure like sewers.”
Like most slum areas in the city, adequate sanitation is a major problem in Cheeta Camp. The lack of infrastructure planning resulted in toilets springing up at random. “The first thing the students found was that nobody really knew how many toilets were in the camp: the local authorities said one thing, local nongovernmental organizations another,” notes the article. The students decided to undertake a mapping exercise to understand the reality of the toilet situation. With that, they found that there was just one toilet per 170 people in the 117,000-person settlement.
These numbers tell a powerful story: the relocated community was moved for the government to gain access to valuable land with little provided in return for those displaced. Years on, the slum dwellers waste unnecessary time waiting in line to take care of their daily duties, often in extremely unsanitary conditions. In urban India, the ratio of toilets to people can be as high as 1:2,500. Understanding where these toilets do and don’t exist is important in order to advocate effectively for additional services, but this information must go hand-in-hand with settlement and land-use mapping as well. Space is consistently an issue with sanitation and other basic service projects, making it important to have reliable data on a cross-sector of variables involved in understanding cities, and slum areas in particular. (Read here for controversy in Mumbai over land-use mapping issues.)
Back in Cheeta Camp, students planned to bring their information to the municipal corporation for review to incite action. “By mapping the locations and functionality of the toilets, the students were echoing a process that had been used by slum dwellers organizations in India to force government to act,” says the New York Times article. “The act of naming streets, counting citizens, and mapping facilities turns information into an advocacy tool.”
Submitted by Carlin Carr — Mon, 01/28/2013 – 00:00
María Fernanda Carvallo, Gestor Comunitario de Mexico D.F.
Data is the main input for social policy design in terms of diagnosing and addressing social problems, including poverty reduction. The CONEVAL and Evalúa DF councils were created to obtain data on the dimensions of poverty, vulnerability, and inequality in Mexico. However, it is important to reflect on the extent to which public policies really address social problems, as there are often issues with the understanding and measurement of data.
Las ideas mueven al mundo, al igual que los números lo modifican. De acuerdo a Miguel Székely, un número puede despertar conciencias, puede movilizar voluntades, puede llevar a la acción, puede generar debate, y en casos afortunados, puede llevar a la solución de un problema.
Los números que han sido protagonistas en México son los datos que surgieron de la medición del nivel y la intensidad de la pobreza en el país. En el año 2000 con el cambio de administración Federal, así como de alternancia en el poder del partido hegemónico que gobernó por más de 70 años; el equipo de la administración entrante preguntó a sus antecesores cuántos pobres había en México, sin encontrar respuesta; ya que anteriormente existía muy poco posicionamiento oficial por parte del gobierno en torno a la pobreza y solo se contaba con estimaciones del INEGI, CEPAL y el Banco mundial. En este contexto, funcionarios de la Secretaría de Desarrollo Social (SEDESOL) y académicos conformaron un Comité Técnico para la Medición de la Pobreza a nivel federal a fin de encontrar un indicador que estableciera la magnitud del problema, caracterizara el fenómeno para el diseño de políticas públicas, programas y acciones y evaluara los cambios en las condiciones de vida de las personas al igual que la incidencia de las acciones gubernamentales en la pobreza. Bajo la nueva necesidad de identificar el fenómeno del a pobreza, en el 2004 se promulgó la Ley General de Desarrollo Social que dio origen al Consejo Nacional de Evaluación de la Política de Desarrollo Social, y estableció como su objetivo normar y coordinar la evaluación de las Políticas y Programas de Desarrollo Social que ejecuten las dependencias públicas.
Influenciado por el contexto nacional, en el 2008 se creó el Consejo de Evaluación de Desarrollo Social del D.F. (Evalúa DF) con atribuciones similares para la Ciudad de México. Evalúa DF es un organismo público descentralizado sectorizado a la Secretaría de Desarrollo Social del DF que tiene a su cargo la evaluación externa de la Política Social de la Administración y de los Programas Sociales que ésta ejecuta. Entre sus atribuciones se encuentra la medición de la desigualdad y la pobreza en el D.F., medir y dar seguimiento al grado de desarrollo social de las Delegaciones, medir el cumplimiento de los derechos sociales, la elaboración de un informe anual de la cuestión social en el D.F, emitir recomendaciones sobre las evaluaciones externas de la política social y dar seguimiento a las recomendaciones, y recibir la información de operación de los programas sociales del D.F., entre otras; lo anterior, bajo la metodología desarrollada por el propio instituto.
En sentido estricto, tanto las mediciones de la pobreza, así como las evaluaciones a las acciones de gobierno tanto a nivel nacional y estatal, se originaron para impactar en el fenómeno de la pobreza y mejorar las condiciones de vida de las personas; sin embargo es importante reflexionar sobre la vinculación de estas y de las políticas públicas en su etapa de operación. Dentro de la metodología de las políticas públicas, la información debe ser el diagnóstico de partida para identificar la dimensión y caracterización del problema en gestión, y de ahí partir con la planeación de la estrategia que impacte positivamente en la población objetivo; no obstante no todo el diseño de las políticas públicas en el DF y a nivel nacional no se encuentra justificado a partir de la información certera del fenómeno, puesto que las instituciones encargadas de la medición en mención se originaron años después de la instrumentación de algunas acciones de gobierno. Haciendo referencia a Jesús Gastelum, en su artículo “To what extent does social policy design address social problems? Evidence from the ’70 y más’ program in Mexico” el autor afirma que el diseño de las políticas públicas no hacen frente a las problemáticas sociales debido a esta desvinculación entre el diagnóstico y la instrumentación, particularmente en el caso de la erradicación de la pobreza; así como la falta de focalización de las políticas hacia la reducción de pobreza como objetivo central de estas.
Submitted by Maria Fernanda Carvallo — Mon, 01/28/2013 – 00:00
Catalina Gomez, Coordenadora da Rede em Rio de Janeiro
Segundo o censo 2010, Rio de Janeiro tem 6,2 milhões de moradores, dos quais 20 por cento (1,2 milhões de pessoas) habitam em assentamentos irregulares. O desenho de intervenções de redução de pobreza para estas populações precisa de informações muito bem feitas para conhecer detalhadamente suas condições e necessidades. Atualmente, Rio de Janeiro tem varias fontes de informação pública e independente para que os tomadores de decisão e líderes comunitários consigam planejar ações de redução de pobreza com objetividade e eficiência.
Uma das fontes de informação mais importantes para Rio e para os demais municípios brasileiros é o censo liderado pelo Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE). O censo é a única pesquisa que visita todos os domicílios brasileiros (cerca de 58 milhões) para conhecer a situação de vida da população, incluindo informação sobre aceso a serviços básicos e condição da moradia. O IBGE lidera o censo a cada 10 anos desde 1940. Este é um trabalho gigantesco, que envolveu cerca de 230 mil pessoas na coleta e processamento de dados.
Especificamente para Rio, a informação do Censo junto com outras pesquisas de nível de bairro lideradas pelo instituto municipal de urbanismo Instituto Pereira Passos, permitem atualizar os dados do Sistema de Assentamentos de Baixa Renda (SABREN), a principal fonte de informação sobre assentamentos irregulares na cidade. Aquele sistema facilita ao governo local ter dados atualizados para planejar e priorizar investimentos de urbanização de bairros carentes.
Outra fonte de informação relevante é a Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios (PNAD), que também é feita pelo IBGE. A PNAD é uma pesquisa amostral realizada anualmente para conhecer características socioeconômicas da população. No Rio aquelas estatísticas levantadas são um importante instrumento para a formulação, validação e avaliação de políticas orientadas para o desenvolvimento socioeconômico e também para a focalização de vários programas de transferência e subsídios.
Como complemento das informações do governo, tem surgido varias organizações da sociedade civil e ONGs que vem avançando no mapeamento e pesquisa das condições de vida de algumas comunidades carentes no Rio. Provavelmente um dos exemplos mais interessantes é o Censo da Maré. Maré é a nona comunidade de baixa renda no Rio e pelo esforço das organizações Redes de Desenvolvimento da Maré e o Observatório de Favelas, aquela comunidade esta avançando num censo que permitirá conhecer detalhadamente as condições de vida e dinâmicas sociais de seus 130 mil moradores. O esforço tem sido muito rico e tem um valor adicional por ter se coordenado com o governo municipal por meio do Instituto Pereira Passos; aquele envolvimento tentará garantir que os resultados do censo sejam utilizados pelo governo na tomada de decisões sobre possíveis investimentos de redução de pobreza e urbanização. No futuro esperamos ver mais inciativas lideradas localmente, mais com parceria do governo local para ter maiores informações confiáveis e atualizadas dos bairros de baixa renda no Rio e seus moradores.
Catalina Gomez, Rio de Janeiro Community Manager
According to the latest census from 2010, Rio de Janeiro is home to 6.2 million people, 20 percent of whom (1.2 million people) live in informal settlements. Designing poverty alleviation interventions targeting this population requires in-depth knowledge of their living conditions and of their most pressing needs. This is no easy task, as there is always the concern of how accurate and how current that data is. But several government and independent information sources are available to Rio’s policy makers and community representatives that can help them to make more objective and better informed decisions regarding poverty reduction efforts.
One of the main sources of relevant data in Rio and the rest of the Brazil is the national census, which is carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística – IBGE). The IBGE has been conducting the census every decade since 1940. The 2010 census involved 230,000 people in the data collection and processing of over 58 million households. The census gives a general overview of the Brazilian population and their living conditions, including information on their access to basic services and the quality of their housing.
In Rio, the information collected from the census is supplemented by data from additional surveys at the neighborhood level conducted by the municipal urbanism institute, which is known as Instituto Pereira Passos. Together, the data informs the Low Income Areas Information System (Sistema de Assentamentos de Baixa Renda – SABREN), the main source of information on the city’s informal settlements. This system enables the local government to have relevant information for planning and prioritizing investments related to neighborhood upgrading.
Another relevant source of data is the National Household Survey (Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios – PNAD), which is conducted annually by the IBGE. This sample survey provides in-depth information on the socio-economic conditions of the Brazilian population. In Rio, it is commonly used to design, implement, and evaluate several programs, including money-transfer initiatives and subsidies.
In addition to these government-sponsored data sources, there are increasing numbers of civil society organizations and NGOs that produce surveys, allowing more in-depth knowledge of specific communities in Rio. One of the most relevant examples is the case of the Maré Census (Maré is the ninth-largest low-income community in Rio). Thanks to the initiative of the Redes de Desenvolvimento da Maré and the Observatório de Favelas, the neighborhood is currently undertaking a census exercise that aims to provide a more detailed look at the estimated 130,000 people living in these neighborhood, and to offer a more accurate version of reality than the one provided by national sources. Interestingly, this census is conducted in coordination with the local government through the Instituto Pereira Passos, which ensures that the new data will be taken into account for future poverty reduction and urbanization interventions. Hopefully more of these “locally-led” and “government-aligned” initiatives can take place in the future to draw more accurate maps of Rio’s neighborhoods and their residents.
Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Mon, 01/28/2013 – 00:00