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En la segunda parte de esta radiografía, abordamos el tema del presupuesto ejercido de acuerdo a la propia información vertida por cada una de las entidades federativas a través de los Reportes Estadísticos del Cuestionario Financiamiento Educativo Estatal.

Ahora, es importante ver la posible saturación que pudiera tener la planta docente por entidad federativa. Para ello, se calculó el número de alumnos por cada profesor por entidad federativa, y se comparó con el promedio nacional. A continuación se muestran los resultados obtenidos para 2013:

Tal como se aprecia, el promedio nacional de alumnos por profesor en el nivel básico es de 22.27. En rojo, se señalan las entidades federativas donde la Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE) tiene mayor presencia, ya que es ésta la que se ha opuesto primordialmente a la Reforma Educativa y a la prueba de Evaluación Nacional de Logro Académico en Centros Escolares (ENLACE). Al respecto, únicamente Chiapas tiene 1.5 niños más por profesor que el promedio nacional, mientras que Guerrero, Michoacán y Oaxaca tienen entre 3 y 4 niños menos por profesor.

En lo que respecta al nivel medio superior tenemos lo siguiente:

En la gráfica se puede observar que en las entidades antes señaladas no se están generando los suficientes profesores para el nivel medio superior, por lo que es necesario replantear la generación de éstos, siendo una posibilidad la actualización y preparación de algunos docentes del nivel básico para que accedan a la impartición de clases en el nivel medio superior. Asimismo, una mayor asignación presupuestal será necesaria, y deberá establecerse de acuerdo a diversas métricas, siendo la prueba ENLACE y PISA, ejemplos de éstas.

Finalmente, se indica lo referente al nivel superior:

Tal como se indica, el promedio nacional del número de alumnos por profesor en el nivel superior es de 9.83, siendo en el Distritito Federal donde se presenta la menor relación, de acuerdo a los datos de la Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP), con 4.34. Dicha relación, presenta una disminución importante ya que en el año 2012 fue de 7.51 alumnos por maestro.

Nuevamente, se observan casos preocupantes como el de Baja California Sur (17.37) y Guerrero (14.66) donde se sugieren acciones inmediatas para poder brindar una educación de calidad, eficiente y eficaz.

En la siguiente entrada, se comentarán los resultados de las Pruebas ENLACE que ha tenido el país, así como también a nivel estatal.

Durante el último siglo, la esperanza de vida en el país ha presentado un crecimiento importante, el cual ha sido constante, pasando de 59.4 años en 1965 a 76.8 años en 2011, es decir, ha presentado una tasa de crecimiento media anual de 0.57%, de igual forma, el cambio epidemiológico se ha comenzado a observar.

Submitted by Saúl Guarneros — Wed, 02/27/2013 – 12:05

“Pobre es aquel que no tiene ni pa comer…” — Esther

Según el CONEVAL, una persona que vive en una zona urbana es pobre cuando su ingreso es menor a $2,114 pesos al mes y carece de un derecho social o más.

Submitted by Jesús Gastelum — Sat, 02/23/2013 – 09:36

En la Ciudad de México, el impuesto conocido como predial es cobrado por la Secretaría de Finanzas, tal como lo establece el Código del Distrito Federal (Art. 126-133) Dicho impuesto, es establecido de acuerdo al valor determinado por el gobierno local o por ciertas instituciones o personas que deberán cumplir con diversos requisitos (Artículo 22 de dicho código), tomando en cuenta el valor de mercado, el tipo de construcción y otras características (valor catastral).

Submitted by Saúl Guarneros — Sun, 02/17/2013 – 19:41

Hoy en día el proceso de concentración de la población en las áreas externas de la Ciudad, como respuesta a la concentración humana, industrial, comercial y financiera, ha provocado cambios importantes en los patrones de viajes de la movilidad del D.F.. Mientras que en la década de los ochentas los viajes tenían origen y destino en las mismas Delegaciones, actualmente las distancias por recorrer son más largas e interdegacionales, inclusive hasta los municipios del Estado de México pertenecientes a la Zona Metropolitana. En este contexto, la administración del Gobierno del Distrito Federal desde el 2006 ha implementado diversas estrategias para transformar la movilidad y sentar las bases de una política pública de transporte integral. Leer más o discutir.

Submitted by Maria Fernanda Carvallo — Mon, 02/04/2013 – 23:00

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 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. Leer más o discutir.

Submitted by Maria Fernanda Carvallo — Mon, 01/28/2013 – 00:00

In Mexico City, the land levy known as ‘predial’ is collected by the city’s Ministry of Finance, as established by the Código Fiscal del Distrito Federal (Art. 126-133). The tax is set based on the value determined by a government official or institution (Art. 22 of the same code) by considering its market value, the type of building, and other characteristics (known as valor catastral).

Submitted by Saúl Guarneros — Sun, 01/27/2013 – 18:52

“La ciudad (polis) es una de las cosas que existen por naturaleza; y el hombre es, por naturaleza, un animal político.” — Aristóteles

Según la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) el hombre y la mujer son seres biopsicosociales. Este término engloba al ser humano como un ente físico, mental y social.

En otras palabras, este término quiere decir que el ser humano es un ente con un organismo complejo y con una mentalidad enredada que construye su vida con base en valores, conciencia, ética, motivaciones, deseos, personalidad, entre varios ingredientes. Estas variables se forjan en sociedad a través de la familia, amistades, comunidad, municipio, nación, grupos sociales, entre otros.

Si estas aseveraciones son ciertas, sin duda vale la pena analizar, debatir, describir y entender lo que ocurre en las ciudades tomando en cuenta que dentro de ellas habitan millones de personas que por diversos que sean sus intereses, todos buscan construir un mínimo de bienestar.

En este contexto, agradezco a Dallant Networks, URB.IM y en especial a Víctor Dallant por invitarme a deliberar sobre historias de personas en ciudades que buscan incrementar su bienestar y disfrutar su dharma, a través de diferentes estrategias e interacción con diversos actores de la sociedad civil, gobierno, organismos internacionales y sector privado.

Es así que les comparto que a partir de hoy damos el banderazo a este Blog en donde vamos a reflexionar sobre historias de personas que buscan incrementar su bienestar en la Ciudad de México. Algunas serán historias exitosas, otras serán historias de fracaso y otras serán ideales para abrir el debate y opinar en esta arena ciudadana que es el world wide web.

Por último, te invito a que formes parte de este debate activo en twitter a través de las cuentas de @urb_im, @dallant, @fer_carvallo y @jesusgastelum.

Submitted by Jesús Gastelum — Sat, 01/19/2013 – 21:20

Les doy la bienvenida a este blog, el cual estará enfocado a la Prospectiva Estratégica, la cual es una disciplina que abarca una visión global y dinámica del futuro, reduciendo así la incertidumbre del futuro, es decir, en palabras de Maurice Blondel: “El futuro no se predice, sino que se construye”.

Bajo este tenor, en este espacio se abordarán temas socioeconómicos, es decir, desde temas variados como la obesidad, hasta temas de recaudación fiscal.

Submitted by Saúl Guarneros — Mon, 01/14/2013 – 21:50

Al interior de México las mujeres, indígenas y adultos mayores no gozan de igualdad de oportunidades en temas de acceso educativo, salud y laboral entre otros. Dentro de estas poblaciones, los adultos mayores analfabetas que viven en las ciudades enfrentan una constante vulnerabilidad al no contar con las habilidades suficientes para poder satisfacer sus necesidades básicas y difícilmente pueden ingresar al mercado laboral por falta de capacidades. La generación de adultos mayores de 65 años o más, son los que presentan mayor rezago educativo. De acuerdo al Consejo Nacional de Población (CONAPO), en México en el año 2011 el 24 por ciento de las personas de 65 años o mayores eran analfabetas, mientras que el 94 por ciento de la población entre los 15 años de edad y los 64 saben leer y escribir y son capaces de utilizar dicho conocimiento. Leer más.

Submitted by Maria Fernanda Carvallo — Wed, 11/07/2012 – 00:00

Investigadores pertenecientes a la Asociación Latinoamericana de Investigadores de la Comunicación (ALAIC), afirman que las TIC constituyen hoy en día un factor nuevo que se suma a la brecha de la desigualdad social, ya que el acceso a ellas ocasiona un distanciamiento cultural entre quienes la usan y aquellos sectores de la población que no tienen la posibilidad. Además del distanciamiento social, dicho factor provoca un fenómeno educativo de analfabetismo digital, que consiste en la incapacidad para el uso de estas nuevas tecnologías. Leer más.

Submitted by Maria Fernanda Carvallo — Wed, 10/24/2012 – 01:00

María Fernanda Carvallo, Gestor Comunitario de Mexico D.F.

En al año 2001 se constituyó la Red por los Derechos de la Infancia en México (REDIM). Es una sinergia de 73 organizaciones que buscan que se adopte la Convención de los Derechos de los Niños en los marcos legales de México y en el diseño de políticas públicas dirigidas a los niños.

Entre los programas de REDIM se encuentran: la construcción de una agenda de políticas públicas sobre la infancia y sus derechos; propuestas para la legislación sobre derechos de la infancia; talleres, materiales de análisis, y producción de conocimiento dirigidos a padres, escuelas, instituciones y a la sociedad en general, y también vigilancia y defensoría de los derechos de la niñez.

En el marco de la difusión de los derechos de la infancia, REDIM lanzó la campaña, “Las niñas también cuentan”, en la que uno de los argumentos centrales es que las mujeres que fueron víctimas de violencia en su infancia, son más propensas a serlo en la etapa adulta. La campaña se llevó a cabo a través de foros así como cápsulas y entrevistas radiofónicas difundidas en el marco del día Internacional Contra la Violencia de Género.

Otra de las campañas, “Infancia sin violencia”, pretende visualizar y medir el fenómeno de la violencia infantil para detenerlo, a través de tres pasos. En primer lugar, difundir la situación actual de la violencia contra los niños a través de un portal web. En segundo lugar, involucrar a las personas para que compartan la información en redes sociales. Finalmente, generar un mecanismo para que la población reporte casos de violencia contra la niñez.

Así mismo, REDIM y UNICEF generaron una iniciativa llamada “10 por la Infancia”. La iniciativa tiene medidas estratégicas para avanzar en la defensa de los derechos de las niñas, niños y adolescentes con el apoyo de las instituciones gubernamentales, congresos locales y federal, y la sociedad civil. En abril del 2013 el Jefe de Gobierno del Distrito Federal firmó el acuerdo para la adopción de los 10 pasos:

1. Garantizar a todos los niños salud y nutrición adecuadas en la primera infancia;

2. Asegurar el acceso a agua potable y alimentos saludables en escuelas;

3. Otorgar actas de nacimiento gratuitas a todos los niños durante el primer año de vida;

4. Garantizar una educación de calidad para niños y adolescentes en el país, especialmente para discapacitados;

5. Garantizar apoyos para que los adolescentes ingresen y terminen la escuela media superior;

6. Abrir espacios de participación para adolescentes

7. Asegurar que los adolescentes cuenten con información y servicios de salud sexual y reproductiva;

8. Impulsar la aprobación de la Ley Federal de Justicia para Adolescentes y su efectiva implementación;

9. Proteger contra la violencia en la familia, la escuela y la comunidad;

10. Presentar una iniciativa de Ley General sobre Derechos de la Infancia y la Adolescencia.

Así mismo, respecto a las acciones de incidencia en política pública, las OSCs participantes han generado diversas propuestas de políticas, además del continuo debate y posicionamiento de las sugerencias a través del proyecto “Por una Ley de Altura”; cuyo objetivo es difundir los contenidos, efectos e impacto de la Ley General de Protección a la Niñez que fue aprobada por la Cámara de Diputados, así como las áreas que requieren reestructurase para la creación de una ley integral para una mejor protección de la niñez.

A través de la labor de la red, se ha logrado ampliar el conocimiento sobre la infancia y sus derechos, fortalecer la capacidad de organizaciones de la sociedad civil, e impulsar mecanismos legales para garantizar el cumplimiento y respeto de los derechos de la infancia.

Foto:

María Fernanda Carvallo, Mexico City Community Manager

The Red por los Derechos de la Infancia en México — REDIM (Network for Children’s Rights in Mexico) was established in 2001. It is a synergy of 73 organizations seeking to adopt the Convención de los Derechos de los Niños (Convention of Children’s Rights) in the Mexican legal framework, as well as in the design of public policies directly related to children.

The REDIM programs include building a public policy agenda about childhood and its rights, proposals for legislation on children’s rights, and workshops for creating awareness amongst parents, schools, institutions, and society about advocacy for children’s rights.

In an attempt to spread the word about children’s rights, REDIM launched the campaign, “Girls Count Too,” in which one of the central arguments is that women who were victims of violence during childhood are more likely to be victims of violence in adulthood. The campaign took place through forums and radio interviews, creating awareness about the International Day Against Gender Violence.

“Childhood without Violence” is a three-step campaign that aims to visualize and measure the phenomenon of childhood violence in order to stop it. First, it spreads the word about childhood violence through an online portal. Secondly, the campaign encourages the public to share information about childhood violence on social networks. Lastly, it creates a mechanism for citizens to report cases of childhood violence.

Furthermore, REDIM and UNICEF have launched an initiative called “10 for Childhood.” The program has strategic measures to advance the rights of children and adolescents with the support of government institutions, local and federal congresses, and civil society. In April 2013, the Head of the Federal District Government signed an agreement for the adoption of the ten points:

1. Ensure the health and nutrition of all young children;

2. Ensure access to safe water and healthy food in schools;

3. Provide free birth certificates to all children during their first year of life;

4. Ensure a quality education for children and adolescents, especially for the disabled;

5. Ensure support for adolescents entering and completing middle and high school;

6. Open participation spaces for adolescents;

7. Ensure that adolescents have information and services related to sexual and reproductive health;

8. Promote the adoption of the Federal Law of Justice for Adolescents and its effective implementation;

9. Protect against violence in families, schools, and communities;

10. Draft the General Law initiative protecting Children’s and Adolescents’ Rights.

With respect to public policy advocacy, participating civil society organizations have generated diverse policy proposals and the project “Por una Ley de Altura” (“For a Height Act”), which aims to disseminate the contents, effects, and impacts of the General Law on Childhood Protection that was passed by the House of Representatives. This law also details the areas that require restructuring in order to create a comprehensive law to better protect children from violence.

REDIM has been successful in expanding on the knowledge about children and their rights; they have also strengthened the capacity of civil society organizations, and promoted legal mechanisms to ensure compliance and respect for children’s rights.

Tariq Toffa, Johannesburg Community Manager

In South Africa, the government’s response to the characteristically peri-urban poverty of informal settlement (between 1.7 million and 2.5 million households) has occurred within the paradigm of individual title (subsidised housing), the conventional route for informal settlement upgrading in the country. Despite well-intentioned policies, however, this ownership model is far removed from lived realities; where many households are condemned to either waiting patiently for state-subsidised housing or to land occupation, while others cannot access the state subsidy, such as foreign nationals and the poor-but-not-poor-enough-to-qualify. In the longer term, the model could even be said to lock poor people into marginal locations.

Reflecting global trends over the last decade, however, a more flexible approach is also emerging, as represented by the Urban LandMark (Urban Land Markets Programme Southern Africa) programme, which advocates for opening up more officially recognised channels of land supply as a primary means for improving the pro-poor access to and functioning of urban land markets, and the benefits that flow from it. Based in Pretoria, the programme was set up in 2006 with funding from the UK’s Department for International Development (UKaid), and is now hosted at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa.

While an emphasis on individual ownership rights represents one approach to tenure; a second approach emphasises the administrative and legal mechanisms to tenure security as a first step towards official recognition. The Urban LandMark model, in seeking to realistically provide increasing levels of security during the period between informal settlement of an area and the delivery of ownership (through the housing subsidy), incorporates elements of both views. This incremental approach is probably the most distinctive feature of the model.

A second and integral aspect of this approach is context specificity. By recognising existing local practices in land management (how land is accessed, held, traded, etc.), more appropriate responses that enhance community agency are built. Co-funded by the Cities Alliance Catalytic Fund with UKaid, Urban LandMark researched little-understood, local practices in six poorer urban areas in Southern Africa in order to provide guidance on incrementally securing different routes to tenure in informal settlement upgrading (or “regularisation”). In Johannesburg, from 2009 the City worked closely with Urban LandMark in the City’s Regularisation programme. Tenure security was provided to informal settlements through legalising the land use, allowing them to be upgraded in situ in an incremental way until they can be formally developed. This legal innovation entailed an amendment to the zoning scheme, and resulted in some 23 settlements being declared as transitional areas in 2009.

A third important — though not emphasised — aspect of the incremental approach is the potential role accorded to space; for recognising local practices also means engaging the socio-spatial relationships that underpin them. Since municipal registers of informal settlement occupants have already been found to play a role in the land market, by linking it to the actual spaces through which practice occurs (e.g. layout plans), they may become an important hybrid resource for tenure security, and economic and social functions.

Although the delivery of ownership will likely remain a national objective for some time, given the magnitude of informal settlements, alternative approaches remain crucial. However, land use and allocation in Southern Africa remains a highly political issue. It remains to be seen how perceptions of interim-focused models will fare in the long term, against the evidence of past provisions and current expectations of formal housing.

Fig. 1: Different routes to greater tenure security. Fig. 2: Street and shack numbering: one mechanism for incrementally securing tenure. Both photos by Urban LandMark.

Carlin Carr, Bangalore Community Manager

Housing tenure can have a transformative impact on the lives of the poor. The security of ownership rights opens pathways for slum dwellers themselves to upgrade their living environments without fear of relocation or demolition. Beyond improved structural environments, tenure security also leads to improved health conditions, education levels and income levels. In this sense, housing tenure’s ripple effects make it one of the single most important aspects of improving the lives of slum dwellers.

Yet housing tenure is a complicated issue. India’s most recent policy to tackle urban poverty and create “slum-free cities,” Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), recognizes the importance of tenure in creating inclusive cities, but has run into obstacles. RAY’s main tenet is “the security of tenure through entitlement.” In order to enforce this, the policy states that no Central Government support will be given to states which do not give legal entitlement to slum dwellers. The progressive mandate, however, has been less than well received from local governments, leaving RAY in a state of stagnation. “Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) has failed to take off, with states expressing reluctance to comply with mandatory provisions for availing central funds under the scheme such as according property rights to slum dwellers and earmarking 25% of the municipal budget for spending in colonies and slums where the urban poor live,” says a 2012 article in the Hindustan Times. Policymakers have had to revisit the strict mandates to encourage movement with the scheme.

At meeting of over 100 policymakers, academics and practitioners at the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology in Ahmedabad, the participants broke down into working groups and devised strategies and recommendations for providing land tenure in RAY’s policy on slum-free cities. Here are a few key recommendations:

• Review land ownership patterns: It’s essential to start from a point of identification in the land tenure process. Many tenure issues arise from slums being on private lands or on public lands designated for other uses. It’s important to advocate for bringing all parties — owners and residents — together to negotiate the process and devise mechanisms and strategies for residents to gain rights to tenure.

• Provide tenure at the slum level: Giving land tenure at the slum level rather than the individual level reduces the likelihood that the tenure will be misused.

• Ensure basic services are available: Whether the slum has tenure rights or not, basic services should be extended to all the slums. There was a consensus by the group that there should be universal coverage of basic services in all the slums.

• Involve the community in the process: While “community participation” has become a great buzzword around urban poverty policies and interventions, there are few, if any, institutional mechanisms in place to ensure the participatory process. The CEPT working group suggests that the community must be involved from data collection to the design of the scheme — be it tenure rights or otherwise — to monitoring of the intervention once it’s in place.

RAY is set to launch now and will be in the implementation phase from 2013-2022. The coming decade will be one to watch in India. RAY’s success, in the end, can only be measured by whether India’s cities have become more inclusive and equitable — not simply if they are slum-free.

Photo credit: University of Salford Press Office

Carlin Carr, Mumbai Community Manager

One of Mumbai’s best-known architects, PK Das, has used his profession as an instrument for social change. Arriving in the city in 1972 to study architecture, he soon thereafter got involved in movements for slum dwellers and against corruption. Forty years later, Das continues to experiment with the intersection of his craft and his conscience. Mumbai, he says, is his workshop for it all. “It’s where I shape and reshape ideas. This city allows that kind of exchange,” says Das. “What I argue is that planning and architecture are fabulous democratic instruments for social change.”

Although he has tackled a range of issues, Das has focused on the need to improve open spaces and affordable housing in the city. These areas, he says, have the potential, if worked through collaboratively, to positively influence the social, environmental and physical aspects of the city. While the issues he has taken up are some of the most complex and controversial, Das speaks with a great sense of optimism and hope, which he credits to collective achievements, even if on a small scale. “We are grabbing space and trying things, bringing about alternative models, working with slum movements. This is the democratic process that has opened up. If you are engaged in the democratic process, then hope is inevitable,” says Das, speaking of the experiences with implementing two widely praised promenades along the seaface of Mumbai’s suburb, Bandra.

The process of bringing these public spaces to life was one that turned normal development procedures upside down. “We said that the citizen’s association had to be at the helm with the support of the BMC and financiers,” explains Das, noting that as government has become enwrapped in privatizing interests in the city, public interests have been pushed aside. The citizen-led processes that brought the promenades to life are “all very positive urban governance developments in the city.”

The success of this collaborate framework helped Das prove not only that these small neighborhood projects are possible, but that more wide-scale recapturing of open spaces in Mumbai is as well. Last year, Das launched the Open Mumbai exhibit, attended by politicians at all levels — right up to the Chief Minister. The exhibit showed — to the surprise of congested Mumbaikers — that 55 percent of the city’s landmass is covered in natural assets and open spaces. “What you have,” says Das, “is a very interesting geographic situation in which there is no shortage of open space — creeks, mangroves, wetlands, rivers, ponds, lakes, hills, and an enormous forest unrivaled in most cities. It is about recognition and inclusion of the natural assets and open spaces reserved in the Development Plan as playgrounds and recreation grounds. We argue in Open Mumbai that a comprehensive open spaces plan ought to be the basis of city planning.”

Open Mumbai’s proposals have been taken up by the Chief Minister and are en route to becoming officially part of the Development Plan (DP), which lays out the city’s land use development for the next 20 years. Adopting his ideas into the DP, notes Das, is the “ultimate victory.” For more on PK Das’ Open Mumbai plans as well as his ideas on affordable housing in Mumbai, visit his website.

Rendy A. Diningrat

Menjamurnya permukiman kumuh merupakan salah satu permasalahan serius yang masih melanda ibu kota Jakarta. Tahun 2011 lalu, setidaknya tercatat 416 RW kumuh yang menjadi tempat tinggal lebih dari 3 juta penduduk ibu kota. Mereka yang hidup di kawasan kumuh menghadapi masalah-masalah pembangunan fisik seperti ketidaklayakan sanitasi, infrastruktur jalan, rumah, dan sarana sosial. Kondisi yang serba minim membuat mereka kesulitan untuk meningkatkan kualitas hidupnya kecuali menunggu bantuan pemerintah.

Dari tahun ke tahun, upaya perbaikan kampung kumuh memang telah dilakukan pemerintah provinsi DKI Jakarta. Salah satu program yang paling terkenal ialah Kampung Improvement Program (KIP) atau Proyek MHT yang telah dimulai sejak 1969. Proyek ini berfokus pada pembangunan fisik lingkungan seperti perbaikan infrastruktur jalan, rumah tidak layak huni, saluran drainase, sanitasi, sarana kesehatan, dan sarana-sarana sosial lainnya.

Hingga saat ini, KIP masih terus dilaksanakan dengan berbagai modifikasi kinerja. Setelah terpilih akhir tahun 2012 lalu, Gubernur DKI Jakarta Joko Widodo mengajak pelaku usaha untuk berpartisipasi dalam program tersebut. Kerjasama ini dilakukan oleh dunia usaha, baik badan usaha milik negara maupun swasta, melalui dana Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Inisiasi awal ini mendapat apresiasi yang begitu besar dari perusahaan, hingga awal tahun 2013, Jokowi berhasil menggandeng tujuh perusahaan milik negara atau pun swasta. Adapu tujuh perusahaan tersebut antara lain PT Jasindo, PT Don Media Indonesia, PT Bank DKI, PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, PT Jakarta Propetindo, PD Pembangunan Sarana Jaya, serta PT Jakarta Industrial Estate Pulogadung.

Semua peduli Jakarta

Partisipasi di dalam program KIP menjadi sebuah langkah strategis untuk membuktikan bahwa semua pihak yang ada di Jakarta, juga peduli terhadap permasalahan yang berkelit di dalamnya. Terkumpulnya dana CSR terpadu dari berbagai perusahaan dapat mempercepat langkah perbaikan kampung kumuh ditengah anggaran pemerintah yang serba terbatas. Pemerintah Provinsi DKI pun akan memberikan insentif bagi perusahaan-perusahaan yang bersedia membantu terlaksananya program ini, seperti kemudahan mengurus izin, pengawasan, dan lain sebagainya.

Ajakan Gubernur untuk memperbaiki kampung-kampung kumuh di Jakarta, berangkat dari sebuah fakta mengenai kesenjangan ekonomi yang sudah begitu besar di ibu kota. Potret perusahaan nasional dan internasional yang mampu berdiri kokoh di Jakarta, seolah hanya bisa duduk terdiam melihat kondisi permukiman kumuh yang ada di sekitarnya. Melihat fenomena ini, Gubernur menginisiasi adanya kerjasama untuk mewujudkan tata kota Jakarta yang bebas permukiman kumuh.

Carlin Carr, Bangalore Community Manager

Concerns for women’s safety in India have dominated headlines this year. Since the horrific gang rape in Delhi last year, stories about mothers, teenagers, and even young girls being subjected to violent attacks, rapes, and other physically and sexually gruesome incidents have been reported on nearly every week, if not every day. While the Delhi rape case was committed by men who were strangers to the victim, all too often women know the perpetrators of such crimes. A 2012 Indian Journal of Public Health article paints a grim picture of domestic violence statistics. The violence, in its many forms, cuts across social and economic strata; however, poor women face violence at significantly higher rates, and their position in society leaves them with few avenues for redress.

Community and family support were commonly missing among victims in the study. One of the recommendations was that women in slums need “more social support, awareness and income generation.” In Bangalore, an organization called Global Concerns India has been targeting its efforts in the slums to increasing social support to women, particularly those affected by domestic violence. “The many women’s ‘self-help’ groups in the slums are primarily economic, premised on capitalistic microcredit loans, rather than social empowerment,” says an article on GCI’s site.

One area of focus is a street court that, until GCI moved into the Bangalore slum of Lakshman Rau Nagar in 2009, literally took place outside in the narrow bylanes on straw mats. GCI says that a woman named Anu, 23, was the first person to bring her grievances to the Naari Adalit, or “Women’s Court.” Anu, who was more educated than her husband and had a good job, used to be beaten by her jealous husband. With the help of GCI Director Brinda Adige, a social activist, the community of Lakshman Rau Nagar gathered to discuss the issue and take collective responsibility.

In an interview on Radio Open Source, Adige chronicles her experience developing a system to help women in Lakshman Rau Nagar and her tough approach that grew the street court into a local institution: “They call the Office the place where, if you have a problem, it will get sorted out. There will be a solution that we can find for it… but you have to be responsible for it… It’s only when the women come here that they realize that the question, the answer, the problem, the solution lies within them… If you put up with nonsense, you get nonsense all the time.”

In addition to the Naari Adalit, CGI has worked with local self-help groups to expand their efforts to empower women. Most important, however, has been the role of the community in seeing that these programs, as well as the court, continue to make a positive impact. “Young men in the slum have also been keen to get involved,” says CGI, “and the Women’s Court is transforming into a ‘People’s Court.’”

The Women’s Court is a promising model that shows the power of community-led solutions to inspire change. That’s not to say that the state doesn’t play a key role. More stringent laws need to be enacted to protect women and more institutionalized education programs for men need to be integrated into schools. No matter the mechanism, one thing is clear: progress can only be made in a cooperative environment, and Naari Adalit shows that communities will take responsibility if clear avenues are created for bringing justice to the situation.

Photo credit: Meena Kadri

Data has emerged showcasing the latest trends of our demographic shift – the global population now articulates a ‘youth bulge’. The UN-Population Demographic Profile (2010) show children, and ‘youths’, comprise 1.6bn, and 1.0bn, of the population in less-developed regions. The population is younger; and Sub-Saharan Africa is no exception. Attention is now turning to youths: what young people do, what opportunities they initiate for their families and nations, and what it means to be ‘young’ in the developing world. However, an important caveat requires recognition: the focus has been particularly male-focused. Our understanding of girls, within both public and private spaces, remains limited. Such is the debate in this blog post – if we are now looking at ‘kids’ in the city and development, what are the experiences of girls? What can we learn about the city through an engendered perspective? Fundamentally, who is responsible to grant equal rights? Two models of intervention are discussed be, each using alternative methods to provide rights for girls. However, each acts to reinforce the need to improve our understandings on ‘being’ a girl. Read more.

Submitted by Gemma Todd — Mon, 01/20/2014 – 10:08

বাংলাদেশের আর্থসামাজিক উন্নতির জন্য মহিলাদের অর্থনীতিতে অংশগ্রহণ প্রধান চাবিকাঠি। শহরাঞ্চলের মহিলারা বিশেষত যারা ঢাকায় বাস করেন, তারা প্রতিনিয়ত বিভিন্ন জটিল সমস্যার মুখোমুখি হন যেমন নারী সহিংসতা, অপুষ্টি এবং গর্ভকালীন শারীরিক জতিলতা; এসকল সমস্যার অন্যতম কারণ নারীদের অনেকসময়ই পরিবারের অর্থনৈতিক সিদ্ধান্ত নেয়া থেকে বঞ্চিত করা হয়। মহিলারা ঘরের সকল কাজ করে এবং ঘরের বাইরেও তাদের কাজের সুযোগ ও চাহিদা বেড়ে যাচ্ছে; কিন্তু এসকল কাজের বিনিময়ে তাদের উপযুক্ত মজুরি দেয়া হচ্ছে না। সুতরাং, বাংলাদেশ এবং অন্যান্য উন্নয়নশীল দেশের অর্থনৈতিক বৃদ্ধি নিশ্চিত করার জন্য অর্থনীতিতে মহিলাদের অংশগ্রহন অত্যন্ত প্রয়োজনীয় এবং তাদের অংশগ্রহণের জন্য যথাশীঘ্র প্রয়োজনীয় আইন তৈরি করা উচিত। Read more or discuss.

Finding ways to financially include women is one of the major keys to socio-economic development in Bangladesh. While women are usually responsible for household labor and increasingly for outside work and wages, they generally do not receive equal recognition or pay for their labor. In fact, according to a Food and Agricultural survey, only two percent of the women in Bangladesh own land, which is very low compared to other neighboring countries. Despite women’s notable representation in the workforce, their lack of access to land ownership is one of the fundamental barriers to financial stability. Financial inclusion is therefore a high-priority policy goal for Bangladesh in order to ensure stable and equitable economic growth. Read more or discuss.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 10/28/2013 – 00:00

The poor live in precarious circumstances on a daily basis. Unexpected illnesses or job losses that would put a strain on any family often leave the poor on the brink. With no access to the formal banking system, microloans have not only served to help in emergency situations, but have actually helped these families to build up savings and gain access to important, life-saving products. The loans, mainly to women, have expanded in purpose and scope since Grameen launched its rural banking system in the 1990s. Today, microfinance institutions such as Samasta in Bangalore have used the women’s groups that form the basis of lending to focus loans on other important intervention areas, including insurance, home gas connections and water purifiers. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Carlin Carr — Mon, 10/28/2013 – 00:00

In Kenyan communities that have little of the collateral needed to access credit, a common approach is to set up savings and investment associations known as “Chamas.” A Chama is an informal group, often composed of women, that follows a system by which everyone contributes money on a regular basis and in turn gets disbursed a fixed amount. The method evolved from the tradition of rural women grouping together and pooling their labor to work on each other’s farms. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Katy Fentress — Mon, 10/28/2013 – 00:00

En el 2013 el Banco Mundial realizó un estudio junto con Global Findex (el Índice Global de Inclusión Financiera) confirmando grandes brechas de género en el tema de inclusión financiera. De acuerdo al Banco Mundial, las mujeres son 15 por ciento menos propensas de tener una cuenta bancaria, (la cifra es mayor en mujeres en condiciones de pobreza), lo que hace que este grupo sea muy vulnerable ante el tema. Este estudio demuestra que la inclusión financiera va más allá de la apertura de cuentas bancarias, como el acceso a sistemas de préstamo y ahorro, o el pertenecer a sistemas financieros formales que abren las puertas al ingreso proveniente de otras fuentes. Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Directora de Investigación del Banco Mundial afirma que “[s]in una cuenta, a las mujeres les cuesta más ahorrar formalmente y recibir subsidios gubernamentales o remesas de familiares que viven en el extranjero.” Las mujeres son el sustento de los hogares, por lo que la falta de inclusión financiera refleja poca independencia económica y dificultad al obtener ingresos por cuenta propia. Leer más o discutir.

In 2013, the World Bank conducted a study along with Global Findex (the Global Financial Inclusion Database) confirming the existence of large gender gaps with regard to financial inclusion. According to the World Bank, women are 15 percent less likely to have a bank account (the figure is higher for women living in poverty), making women as a whole more vulnerable to financial exclusion. This study demonstrates that financial inclusion is far more than just opening a bank account. It includes having access to borrowing and lending systems, and being a member of formal financial systems, allowing access to other sources of income. Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Investigative Director at the World Bank, stated that “without a bank account, women have a difficult time saving and receiving government subsidies or remittances from family members living abroad.” Women are the foundation of the home, so the lack of financial inclusion leads to a lack of economic independence. Read more or discuss.

Submitted by Maria Fernanda Carvallo — Mon, 10/28/2013 – 00:00

Segundo a Confederação Nacional da Indústria, mais de um terço da população brasileira acima de 16 anos (mais de 50 milhões) não possui conta bancária nem acesso a serviços financeiros de empréstimo e poupança. A maioria daquela população afetada tem baixa renda e pouca escolaridade. Tereza Campello, a Ministra de Desenvolvimento Social tem explicado varias vezes que “ao contrário do que se pensava, os desafios da inclusão financeira não são de distância, de acesso a rede, ou de falta de correspondentes bancários. Na realidade, a população está desinformada com relação ao seus direitos”. Campello também explicou que “muitas pessoas acham que para abrir uma conta corrente é preciso um depósito mínimo, evidenciando seu desconhecimento sobre a rede bancaria”. Leia mais o discutir.

The Brazilian National Industry Federation estimates that more than a third of the country’s population over the age of 16 (around 50 million people) doesn’t have a bank account and has no access to credit and saving services. The most affected are low-income populations, who have low levels of literacy and education. Tereza Campello, the Social Development Minister, has explained on various occasions that “against all odds, financial inclusion challenges are less related to distance, access to banking services, and lack of bank branches in remote areas, and much more related to the lack of adequate information about people’s rights.” Campello also added that “many low-income populations don’t have adequate information, as they think that opening a bank account requires a complex bureaucratic process and a minimum deposit. They feel that they cannot meet minimum requirements.” Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Mon, 10/28/2013 – 00:00

Event: 3rd World Forum of the Metropolis Women International Network
24–27 September 2013 Abidjan, Ivory Coast

This Forum is being organised by the Metropolis Women International Network’s antenna in Abidjan, with the participation of locally elected women representatives and opinion leaders from 42 cities, Metropolis members from all over the world.

The 3rd World Forum will provide an opportunity to discuss a highly topical issue, i.e. the perpetration of violence against women. A review will be conducted of the current state of play as regards women’s situation in armed conflicts as well as the outlook in post-conflict situations. Moreover, an assessment will be made of the national and international instruments and mechanisms for the protection of women’s rights. The issue of political governance for safer cities for women will also be addressed. Learn more.

Os trabalhadores domésticos são um grupo bem importante no mercado laboral, especialmente para Ásia e América Latina. Este grupo de trabalhadores inclui governantas, cozinheiros, babás, faxineiros, motoristas particulares e jardineiros, entre outros. Vários países em desenvolvimento apresentam uma histórica ausência de reconhecimento formal a estes trabalhadores, contribuindo ao estabelecimento de horários de trabalho não regulamentados, carência de salários justos e de proteção social. Mais a partir de Março 2013 a situação vai a mudar com a aprovação e efetividade da emenda constitucional que assegura aos domésticos direitos iguais aos demais trabalhadores. Alguns dos direitos estabelecidos para os trabalhadores domésticos incluem: jornada de trabalho de 44 horas semanais, com limite de oito horas diárias, pagamento de horas extras e o reconhecimento dos acordos coletivos de trabalho. Leia mais ou discutir.

Domestic workers — maids, cooks, baby sitters, gardeners, drivers, and so on — are a very important group within the labor market, especially in Asia and Latin America. However, domestic workers traditionally lack formal recognition, meaning that they have non-regulated working hours and lack proper compensation and access to social protection. With the constitutional amendment of March 2013, this situation has begun to change: the law requires minimum working conditions for domestic workers, putting them on a par with other salaried workers. The new rights include a regulated workload with a maximum of 8 hours a day or 44 hours a week, paid overtime, and the recognition of labor unions to ensure collective rights. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Mon, 06/03/2013 – 00:00

Kawasan Rumah Pangan Lestari (KRPL) Kelurahan Tengah berlokasi tak jauh dari Pasar Induk Kramat Jati. Tepatnya di pemukiman padat penduduk, RT 06/RW 10 Kelurahan Tengah, Kecamatan Kramat Jati, Jakarta Timur. Di lahan yang tidak terlalu luas, tumbuh berbagai macam tanaman pangan maupun tanaman obat. Sebagian besar perempuan di wilayah itu bekerja sebagai pengupas bawang merah. Bawang merah yang sudah dikupas harganya lebih mahal, mereka kemudian menjualnya di Pasar Induk Kramat Jati. Baca lebih lanjut atau bergabung dalam diskusi.

Submitted by Yuyun Harmono — Mon, 06/03/2013 – 00:00

Concerns for women’s safety in India have dominated headlines this year. Since the horrific gang rape in Delhi last year, stories about mothers, teenagers, and even young girls being subjected to violent attacks, rapes, and other physically and sexually gruesome incidents have been reported on nearly every week, if not every day. While the Delhi rape case was committed by men who were strangers to the victim, all too often women know the perpetrators of such crimes. A 2012 Indian Journal of Public Health article paints a grim picture of domestic violence statistics. The violence, in its many forms, cuts across social and economic strata; however, poor women face violence at significantly higher rates, and their position in society leaves them with few avenues for redress. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Carlin Carr — Mon, 06/03/2013 – 00:00

Catalina Gomez, Coordenadora da Rede em Curitiba

URB.IM inicia suas reportagens sobre Curitiba, uma das novas cidades incluídas nesta plataforma. Curitiba é a capital do estado de Paraná no sul do Brasil. A cidade tem 1,7 milhões de moradores, a oitava cidade do país. A cidade é o epicentro da Região Metropolitana de Curitiba, um conjunto de 26 municípios de aproximadamente 3,2 milhões de residentes (IBGE, 2010).

Curitiba ocupa o décimo lugar no Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano do Brasil (0,82), destacando-se entre os 5565 municípios do país. Devido a sua alta qualidade de vida e indicadores sociais, URB.IM apresentará periodicamente alguns dos principais temas de desenvolvimento urbano e social da cidade para compreender melhor os fatores de seu bom desempenho.

Uma das ações principais da reputação de Curitiba como uma cidade modelo é sua cultura de planejamento. A cidade é conhecida pela incorporação de práticas de planejamento urbano a partir dos anos 60s com a criação do Instituto de Pesquisa e Planejamento Urbano de Curitiba (IPPUC) para planejar o desenvolvimento sustentável da cidade. O IPPUC é um órgão municipal mais tem um foco nos temas técnicos que guiam o planejamento, o desenho e a implantação dos principais programas de desenvolvimento da cidade. Ele participa na formulação do Plano Diretor e de outros planos setoriais para assegurar sua coordenação e complementariedade.

O IPPUC conjuntamente com outras instancias do governo local vem liderando o planejamento da cidade para que seja inclusiva e adequada para todos seus moradores. Para conseguir este objetivo, o IPPUC procura vincular às comunidades de baixa renda no planejamento formal da cidade evitando uma abordagem isolada baseada em intervenções separadas do resto da cidade. Um exemplo concreto de planejamento integrado tem sido o sistema de transporte da cidade, que foi projetado pelo IPPUC nos 70s e tem virado um pioneiro do transporte massivo que tem inspirado vários sistemas na América Latina como aqueles em Bogotá e a Cidade do México, entre outras. Um dos destaques do sistema é seu desenho concebido para atender até as áreas mais carentes e garantir sua integração física com o resto da cidade. O desenho inovador dos ônibus e suas estações, suas adaptações para responder a necessidades de adaptabilidade junto com seu foco integrador tem sido amplamente reconhecidos internacionalmente.

Além do sistema integrado de transporte, Curitiba também é conhecida pelos bons serviços urbanos que oferece a todos seus moradores incluindo a população de baixa renda. Merece destaque as Ruas da Cidadania que são escritórios públicos onde a população pode fazer pagamentos de serviços públicos, receber informação sobre programas sociais e expedir documentação básica. Todas as “Ruas” estão localizadas perto das estações de transporte para garantir o fácil aceso de toda a população. As Ruas de Cidadania tem virado um modelo importante que integra transporte e serviços contribuindo na redução de tempos e custos associados aos serviços públicos.

Crédito fotográfico: URBS Curitiba

Catalina Gomez, Curitiba Community Manager

URB.IM is pleased to introduce Curitiba as one of the new cities covered by the platform. Curitiba, located in Brazil’s southern region, is the capital of the state of Paraná. The city has 1.7 million residents, making it the eighth largest in the country. The city is also the epicenter of the Curitiba Metropolitan Region, which is a conglomerate of 26 municipalities of approximately 3.2 million residents (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estadística-IBGE).

Curitiba has the tenth highest Human Development Index ranking in Brazil (0.82), clearly standing out among the country’s 5565 municipalities. Given the excellent quality of life and the adequate social indicators, URB.IM will be periodically presenting some of Curitiba’s highlights on urban and social development to better understand some of the factors behind its successes.

One of the main reasons for Curitiba’s reputation as a model city is that it heavily relies on the culture of urban planning. The city is known to have adopted a planning culture since the ’60s, when it created Curitiba’s Research and Urban Planning Institute, known as the Instituto de Pesquisa e Planejamento Urbano de Curitiba (IPPUC), in an effort to adequately plan its sustainable development. The IPPUC is a government institution, but it is heavily technical and aims to support the planning, design, and further implementation of the city’s main infrastructure and development programs. It participates in the formulation of the city’s Master Plan as well as in other sectoral plans, ensuring they are properly interrelated and coordinated.

The IPPUC, along with other local government institutions, has been leading the planning of a city fit for all its residents. Its approach to urbanism in low-income neighborhoods is innovative in that it is highly focused on integrating these communities into the formal city through better infrastructure and services. This means that the urban, social, economic, and environmental needs of low-income areas are taken into account in the overall city planning, rather than in isolated initiatives separate from the formal planning process. An example of this integrated approach is the well-known bus-based rapid transit system, which was planned out by the IPPUC in the late 1970s, and which became one of the pioneering transportation systems of its kind. Indeed, it has been replicated successfully in various Latin American cities such as Bogotá and Mexico City, and in many others throughout the world. One of the main highlights of the system is that it was designed to be within the reach of even the poorest neighborhoods, enabling their physical integration with the city. The innovative design of the buses and stations, plus their adaptation for people with disabilities, and the system’s integrative function in serving most areas of the city has been recognized internationally.

Beyond the well-known urban transportation system, Curitiba is also known for its excellent urban services, which are accessible even to low-income residents. Worth highlighting are the Ruas da Cidadania (or “Citizen Streets”), a series of public offices spread around the city. They gather decentralized public administrative offices, where city residents can issue basic documentation, access government information on social programs, and pay for public services. The Ruas da Cidadania are meant to concentrate all services, saving time and costs. In addition, all the “Ruas” are located close to the main transportation system stations in an effort to facilitate access to social and urban services for all residents.

Photo credit: URBS Curitiba