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The cost of Dhaka’s traffic congestion is US$3 billion a year, and over 8 million hours daily. And traffic is only one of Dhaka’s many issues: according to the 2013 Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Livability Survey, Dhaka is ranked the world’s second least livable city in terms of crime levels, threat of conflict, quality of medical care, levels of censorship, temperature, schools, and transportation. Read more.

El coste de la congestión del tráfico de Daca es de tres millones de dólares americanos anuales y de más de ocho millones de horas diarias. El tráfico es sólo uno de los muchos problemas que tiene Daca: según la Encuesta de Calidad de Vida Global de la Unidad de Inteligencia de The Economist en 2013, Daca es la segunda ciudad menos habitable del mundo en función al nivel de delincuencia, amenaza de un conflicto, calidad de la atención médica, nivel de censura, temperatura, escuelas y transporte. Leer más.

ঢাকার যানজটের জন্য বাৎসরিক ৩ বিলিয়ন ডলার এবং দৈনিক খরচ ৮ মিলিয়ন ডলার ক্ষতি হয়। যানজট ঢাকার অন্যান্য অনেক সমস্যার একটি সমস্যাঃ অপরাধের মাত্রা, সংধাতের হুমকি, চিকিৎসার মান, তাপমাত্রা, শিক্ষাপ্রতিষ্ঠান এবং যাতায়াত ব্যবস্থার মান বিবেচনা করে ২০১৩ সালে “ইকনমিস্ট ইন্টেলিজেন্স ইউনিট” এর “গ্লোবাল লিভাবিলিটি সার্ভে” ঢাকা শহরকে পৃথিবীর বাসযোগ্য শহরগুলোর মধ্যে শেষ থেকে দ্বিতীয় অবস্থান দিয়েছে। Read more.

Submitted by Saima — Tue, 03/25/2014 – 00:00

পৃথিবীর তিন চতুর্থাংশ জুড়ে বিস্তার করা পানি জীবনের মূল মাধ্যম। বছরে ২০০০ মিলি বৃষ্টিপাত এবং তিনটি প্রধান নদীর পাশে অবস্থিত হয়েও বিশাল নগর ঢাকা এখন পর্যন্ত নগরবাসীদের নিরাপদ পানির সরবরাহ দিতে পারে নাই। সমগ্র ঢাকায় প্রায় ১৬ কোটি মানুষের (যা প্রতি বছর ৫% হারে বাড়ছে) পানি সরবরাহ এবং নিকাশী সেবার দায়িত্ব একটি মাত্র সংস্থা “ঢাকা পানি সরবরাহ এবং পয়নিস্কাশন কর্তৃপক্ষ” (ডি.ডব্লিউ.এ.এস.এ) এর উপর নিয়োজিত, তাই তাদের জন্য সবসময় পানির গুণগত মান এবং পরিমান রক্ষা করা সম্ভব হয়ে ওঠে না। Read more or discuss.

Dhaka, a mega-city located near the three major rivers: the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna, and receiving 2000mm of rainfall annually, has always struggled to provide safe water for its population. The quality and quantity of water supply is a complex issue for Dhaka, since the entire city’s water supply and sewage services are allocated to one single authority, the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA), which must serve an immense population of 16 million that is growing at an annual rate of around five percent. Read more or discuss.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 02/10/2014 – 00:00

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

বিশ্ব ব্যাংক এক জরিপে বলেছে যে, বাংলাদেশে দরিদ্র (মাথাপিছু আয়২ ডলার) মানুষের সংখ্যা ২৬ শতাংশ কমে গিয়েছে অর্থাৎ যা ২০০০ সালে ছিল ৬,৩০,০০০০০ সেটি ২০১০ সালে কমে ৪,৭০,০০০০০ হয়েছে। যদিও বাংলাদেশের অর্থনৈতিক উন্নতি প্রতি বছর ১% করে বাড়ছে তারপরও গরীব ও মধ্যবিত্তের মধ্যে অর্থনৈতিক বৈষম্য এখনো আছে। এই অর্থনৈতিক বৈষম্যতা মধ্যবিত্ত ও গরীবদের মধ্যে সরকার প্রদানকৃত যানবাহন ব্যবস্থার উপর প্রভাব বিস্তার করে। জনাব মান্নান এর মতে, ঢাকার যানবাহন পরিস্থিতি উচ্চ আয়ের পরিবারের জন্য বেশী প্রযোজ্য এবং সুবিধাজনক। ঢাকায় যেসব পরিবারের নিজস্ব মোটরযান আছে তাদের ৬৬% মানুষেরই আয় ৩০,০০০ টাকার বেশী। অন্যদিকে, নিম্ন আয়ের জনগোষ্ঠীর মোটরবিহীন গণপরিবহন ব্যবহার করার প্রবনতা বেশী। এ কারণে এ সমস্ত যানবাহনে অতিরিক্ত ভীড় থাকে; বিশেষ করে মহিলা এবং শিশুদের জন্য এসব যানবাহন ব্যবহার করা অস্বস্তিকর করে পড়ে। সি.এন.জি, নিজস্ব গাড়ী এবং বাস অতিরিক্ত ব্যবহারের কারণে শহুরে জনগোষ্ঠী গণপরিবহনের মান কমিয়ে দিয়েছে; উপরন্তু, রিকশা এবং বাইসাইকেলেরও মান কমে গিয়েছে। Read more or join the discussion.

The World Bank has stated that the number of Bangladeshis living in poverty, with a per capita income of less than $2 a day, has declined from 63 million in 2000 to 47 million (26 percent of the overall Bangladeshi population) in 2010. Though Bangladesh has successfully upgraded its economic growth rate every decade by one percent, there is still a huge economic gap between the poor and the middle class. This economic gap causes inequality regarding the transportation facilities provided to the rich and to the poor. According to Md. Shafiqul Mannan, the Dhaka transportation system favors high-income households. 66 percent of the households with private motor vehicles belong to the income group higher than 30,000 BDT. In contrast, low-income groups have a higher tendency to choose non-motorized vehicles (rickshaws and bicycles). Public transportation is usually uncomfortable, crowded, overloaded, and difficult to access for poor women and children. The middle-class use of compressed natural gas-powered auto-rickshaws, private cars and buses has led to a decrease in service and quality of public transportation and non-motorized vehicles, such as rickshaws and bicycles. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 09/30/2013 – 00:00

In Bangladesh, where unemployment is rising and women’s participation in the labor force is low compared to other developing countries, it is clear that very basic literacy (the capacity to read and write only a few simple words) is not enough to empower Dhaka’s residents. The government of Bangladesh recognizes this and is therefore implementing the Post Literacy and Continuing Education for Human Development (PLCEHD) project, which includes educational programs and skills development trainings. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 09/02/2013 – 00:00

Bangladeshi garment factories have become synonymous with deathbeds, as evidenced by the frequent accidents, fires, and building collapses in recent years. The recent building collapse in Savar caused the deaths of thousands of workers. As a consequence, foreign investors are withdrawing their investments from the garments sector, which accounts for 80 percent of the country’s export earnings. It is surprising that despite the overwhelming importance of this sector, law enforcement in this sector is depressingly weak. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 07/15/2013 – 00:00

Banu, a mother of two, lives in a slum of Bagunbari, Dhaka. She is a single mother who works as a housemaid to earn her living. She says, “The pond water I was forced to get water from previously was very dirty with a bad smell. My daughters and I would suffer from diarrhea, jaundice, dysentery, and skin diseases. But after the installation of the deep tube well, we are able to get safe water much more quickly… [now] we don’t have these water-borne diseases anymore!” Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 06/17/2013 – 00:00

Shubbo, an eleven-year-old boy from Dhaka, welds car parts for a living. Too young and skinny to carry parts, Shubbo carries out one of the most risky and demanding tasks while his boss sips tea. He works from morning until late at night, and earns less than a dollar a day. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 06/10/2013 – 00:00

যদিও বাংলাদেশ গৃহস্থালি খাদ্য উৎপাদনে অসাধারণ লক্ষ্যমাত্রা অর্জন করছে, দেশটি দরিদ্র ও দুর্বল জনগষ্ঠির খাদ্য নিরাপত্তা নিশ্চিত করার যুগান্তকারী পদক্ষেপ নিতে সক্ষম হয়নি। বাংলাদেশে প্রতি চার গৃহের একটি খাদ্য অনিরাপত্তায় ভুগছে, বিশেষ করে শহুরেবাসীদের মধ্যে বস্তিবাসীদের খাদ্য নিরাপত্তা ও সুস্বাস্থ্য বজায় রাখা কঠিন হয়ে পড়ছে। বাংলাদেশি ১৭০ মিলিয়ন জনগণের কমপক্ষে শতকরা ৫ ভাগ বস্তিবাসীরা এই খাদ্য অনিরাপত্তার স্বীকার। জাতীয় পর্যায়ে বর্ধিত গৃহস্থালি খাদ্য উৎপাদন, খাদ্য আমদানিকরন, এবং খাদ্য ব্যবস্থাপনার যথেষ্ট পর্যাপ্তটা রয়েছে। যাইহোক, শুধুমাত্র খাদ্যের পর্যাপ্তটা সর্বদা খাদ্যের অনিরাপত্তার সমস্যার সমাধান দিতে পারেনা। এক্ষেত্রে স্থানীয় লোকদের ক্রয়ক্ষমতা ও খাদ্যের মূল্য অনেক বেশি তাৎপর্যপূর্ণ। খাদ্যের চড়ামূল্য ও নিম্ন ক্রয়ক্ষমতার কারণে প্রায়ই দরিদ্র লোকজন খাদ্যের অধিকার থেকে বঞ্ছিত হচ্ছে। ঢাকার বস্তীবাসীদের উপর করা একটি পরিসংখানে বলা হয়েছে, যদিও বস্তীবাসীরা খাদ্য অভ্যাসে সচেতন, স্বাস্থ্যকর খাবার ব্যয়বহুল হওয়ার কারণে তারা এসমস্ত খাবারগুলো ক্রয় করতে সক্ষম হচ্ছে না। স্বাস্থ্যকর খাবারগুলোর মূল্য সাধারণত বাজার খাদ্য মূল্যের উপর নির্ভর করে; যাইহোক, দরিদ্র মানুষদের ক্রয় করার ক্ষমতা বিবেচনা না করেই বাজারে খাবারগুলোর মূল্য হ্রাসবৃদ্ধি হতে থাকে। Read more or join the discussion.

Despite benefitting from an impressive increasing in its domestic food grain production, Bangladesh has yet to achieve comprehensive food security. One out of every four households in Bangladesh suffers from food insecurity, so the poorest struggle to find enough safe and healthy food to sustain themselves. Increases in domestic food production, food imports, and the management of food all contribute to the availability of food at the national level. However, the availability of food does not eliminate all food insecurity: the purchasing power of the poor and the high price of food also limit access to food. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 05/20/2013 – 00:00

Despite benefitting from an impressive increasing in its domestic food grain production, Bangladesh has yet to achieve comprehensive food security. One out of every four households in Bangladesh suffers from food insecurity, so the poorest struggle to find enough safe and healthy food to sustain themselves. Increases in domestic food production, food imports, and the management of food all contribute to the availability of food at the national level. However, the availability of food does not eliminate all food insecurity: the purchasing power of the poor and the high price of food also limit access to food. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 05/20/2013 – 00:00

Keputusan Jokowi dan Ahok selaku gubernur dan wakil gubernur Jakarta mengusung sebuah festival rakyat Jakarta di Taman Monas mencerminkan keprihatinan mereka untuk membawa kembali ruang publik kota untuk rakyat. Acara yang diberi nama Pekan Produk Kreatif Daerah (PPKD) diselenggarakan selama tiga hari (14-16 Juni 2013) telah menarik lebih dari 75 ribu pengunjung benar-benar sebuah festival rakyat yang sesungguhnya.

Acara ini menampung 125 stand yang menjual hasil kerajinan local yang berasal dari berbagai tempat di dalam negeri. Meskipun Orang Betawi secara resmi dianggap sebagai penduduk asli Jakarta namun karena Jakarta adalah ibukota Indonesia maka wajarlah kalau menjadi tempat bagi semua kelompok etnis di Indonesia. Jadi, kerjinan yang ditampilkan di festival ini datang dari semua tempat di Indonesia. Ini adalah sebuah perayaan keindonesiaan.

Acara ini, diselenggarakan sebagai bagian dari rangkaian perayaan hari ulang tahun kota Jakarta, hendaknya tidak dilihat sebagai sekedar pesta rakyat atau pasar kerajinan rakyat. Acara ini memiliki arti dan signifikansi yang lebih dalam sebagai kritik terhadap Pekan Raya Jakarta (PRJ) yang telah menjadi komersiil dalam kendali sebuah kelompok bisnis yang dekat dengan istana.

Jokowi dan ahok adalah pempimpin politik yang sedang naik daun yang bersama mereka politik datang dengan misi baru bahwa pemerintah sudah seharusnya melayani rakyat. Sejauh ini, kita telah menyaksikan kedua pemimpin ini memunjukkan perstensi mereka dalam mengadvokasi kebijakan-kebijakan yang akan meningkatkan kesejahteraan social dari kelas ekonomi lemah di Jakarta, seperti menyediakan pelayanan kesehatan gratis dan perumahan murah untuk penduduk miskin.

Pekan Raya Jakarta (PRJ) atau secara popular disebut Jakarta Fair (English) dimulai tahun 1968 oleh Ali Sadikin seorang gubernur Jakarta yang legendaris untuk meningkatkan ekonomi local dan sekaligus sebuah festival untuk rakyat. sampai tahun 1991 acara ini diadakan di Taman Monas. Acara yang berisi tontonan dan pertunjukan serta pameran produk industry kecil dan menengah ini diadakan setiap tahun sebulan penuh sekitar Juni-Juli. Pada tahun 1992 acara ini direlokasi ke Kemayoran di bekas Bandar udara Jakarta. Pada tahun 2004 pemerintah kota Jakarta menyerahkan pelaksanaan Jakarta Fair ke PT JIExpo, milik pengusaha wanita Sri Hartati Murdaya, patron politik Partai Demokrat yang didirikan oleh President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Karena kodrat Jakarta Fair yang pada awalnya adalah sebuah festival untuk rakyat tetapi kemudian bergeser menjadi berorientasi bisnis tidak dapat dibantah bahwa acara ini menjadi mahal bagi rakyat untuk menikmati, misalnya tiket masuk menjadi sebesar 25 ribu rupiah untuk hari biasa dan 30 ribu rupiah untuk akhir pekan. Keberatan juga disuarakan oleh kalangan pengusaha kecil dan menengah karena ketidakmampuan mereka untuk membayar uang sewa tempat berdagang. Mempertimbangkan bahwa acara ini menjadi jauh dari hati masyarakat Jokowi dan Ahok membatalkan perjanjian antara pemerintahnya dengan PT JIExpo dan memutuskan untuk mengembalikan Jakarta Fair ke Taman Monas pada 2014.

Pekan Kreatif Produk Daerah yang terselenggara dengan sukses selama tiha hari di Taman Monas jelas menunjukkan kerinduan panjang dari rakyat Jakarta akan sebuah ruang public kota yang bebas. Jakarta Fair yang semula memberikan ruang semacam ini sejak tahun 2014 telah dikontrol oleh sebuah kelompok bisnis yang dekat dengan istana. Membawa kembali ruang publik untuk rakyat adalah sebuah keputusan yang tepat dari pemerintah kota untuk mengembalikan politik kepada rakyatnya.

Katy Fentress, Nairobi Community Manager

On the 27th of May 2012, the Kenyan LGBT news agency Identity reported that two men were caught having sex in the night in Kayole, a north Nairobi slum. According to the article, the men were attacked and stoned. One of them got away, but the other succumbed to his injuries; his body was later found at a dumpsite near where he had been caught.

The incident highlights a difficult reality for Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) living in Nairobi slums. Sleeping in cramped quarters, with privacy a luxury that few can afford, and forced to conceal their sexual identity for fear of repercussions, MSM hide in the shadows and often lack access to the medical services the rest of the population enjoys.

Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya, and people caught in the act can face up to 14 years in jail. That said, Nairobi is one of the better places in the region for LGBT people to live their lives. There are few cases of people actually ending up in court, and a number of NGOs and community organisations work for gay rights, advocacy, and outreach.

In September 2011 the LGBT group Gay Kenya hosted the first Gay Film festival; an openly gay candidate almost ran in the recent elections, the country hosts LGBT awards and the media is open to some amount of debate on the issue – which is more that can be said about most of Kenya’s neighbouring countries. Nevertheless, there remains the challenge of how to get important health information and services to gay men who do not have the benefit of being educated and computer literate.

According to a report by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR): “MSM in low- and middle-income countries are on average 19 times more likely to be infected with HIV than the general population”. Ignorance as to how HIV is contracted is one of the main causes for such a high prevalence of infection.

In Kenya, the stigma attached to being open about one’s sexual orientation extends to talking about sex in general. So in what way does essential health-related information for MSM find its way to the heart of the slums? How do men, some of whom may have come straight from the rural areas and know little about STI and HIV transmission, become informed?

“It is definitely a challenge,” says Wyclif Abasi (not his real name), Health and Program Officer at Ishtar, an organisation that has been offering consultation and outreach to MSM in Kenya since 1997. “We cannot just walk into slums and distribute safe sex information, condoms and condom compatible lubricants to MSM… we would be putting ourselves at incredible risk; anyway, I doubt anyone would come forward for fear of being singled out.”

The solution, says Abasi, comes in the form of informal networks through which information can be passed along and which hopefully reaches the most vulnerable of MSM: sex workers.

“MSM in slums have meeting points and develop support networks,” Abasi tells us. “Through these and a combination of SMS messaging and peer education and other outreach activity, we aim to inform men about health-related issues.”

Abasi explains that nightclubs are the main places where MSM meet, and that it is here that peer educators share important health-related knowledge and advise people to visit VCT (voluntary counselling and testing) centres. Ishtar has free drop-in centres where, he tells us, they offer free medication sponsored by the Liverpool VCT, SASA centres run by Ishtar in partnership with other local organizations.

When it comes to medical services, Nairobi boasts a number of centres that treat MSM without questions or stigmatization. According to Abasi, Kenyatta hospital (one of the main hospitals in the city) is one of these, a significant step in a country in which same sex relationships are technically illegal.

“As long as the criminalization of MSM continues to be prevalent,” Abasi concludes, “it will remain an impediment towards successfully tackling the spread of HIV/AIDS in Nairobi and beyond. To get the message out, we need to be free to step up our advocacy and sensitization efforts and create more awareness amongst MSM and society at large.”

Gayatri Divecha, Mumbai Contributor

Perhaps the most shocking inequalities in growth and development between the elite and the marginalized play out in India’s biggest metropolis — Mumbai, the country’s economic and financial capital. In India’s megacity, the “urban advantage” of the city’s more developed socio-economic infrastructure eludes poor children, radically reducing their chances of pursuing healthy and economically productive futures. Nowhere are these disparities more apparent than in the difference in nutritional status between the poor and non-poor. In Mumbai, 36 percent of slum children are malnourished, posing a significant risk to their health and development.

Dasra, a Mumbai-based strategic philanthropic foundation, spent four months researching malnutrition amongst children aged 0-3 years in Mumbai’s worst slums, such as Govandi and Dharavi. The research report surveyed 50 nonprofits intervening to tackle this often overlooked development challenge. Almost counterintuitively, we found that malnutrition rates in urban India are often higher than in rural India and are, in fact, intricately linked with rapid urbanization, poverty, and illiteracy, requiring the urgent attention of policy makers, development practitioners, and philanthropists.

Nutrition is a fundamental building block of a healthy and successful childhood, adolescence, and adult life. Studies have shown that the ages from birth to three years old are when a child develops the most, both physically and cognitively. For these children, therefore, malnutrition means compromising growth and development at the most crucial stage of human development and compromising the future of millions of children.

A challenging environment

Mumbai poses unique challenges to those tackling malnutrition amongst the urban poor: little or no knowledge of nor access to sound childcare practices; rural-to-urban migration that creates floating populations and slum pockets; poor living conditions in congested slum areas; and complex public health care systems that lack reach to vulnerable populations.

An estimated 50 percent of Mumbai’s population lives in slums. This represents approximately 8 million people, of whom 33 percent earn an average monthly household income of US$60. Forthy percent of the slum population lives below the poverty line. The urban poor living in slums of all types in Mumbai consist mainly of migrants that have moved to cities in search of livelihoods. With skyrocketing real estate prices in cities, slums and shantytowns are de facto habitation for the urban poor.

Extremely harsh living conditions make the urban poor a highly vulnerable group in terms of economic and physical security. Mostly engaged in the informal sector, the incomes of slum dwellers are highly insecure. Serious illnesses and health-related expenses often lead to financial strains on households. Additionally, urban slums are characterized by their appalling lack of sanitation facilities and poor access to clean and safe drinking water, which increases the physical vulnerability of inhabitants to diseases. These living conditions are one of the main factors exacerbating susceptibility to diseases and placing young children at a much greater risk of being malnourished. In a physical environment where basic necessities and civic amenities are lacking, poverty cannot be fully captured by income alone. Other factors such as lack of access to health care facilities, inadequate water, and inadequate sanitation are major challenges in the lives of the urban poor.

Poverty and daily-wage earnings mean that the urban poor lack safety nets and are thus an extremely vulnerable group in dire need of a robust public health system, being unable to afford quality private health care. Unfortunately, slums in Mumbai are characterized by a shortage or total absence of health care infrastructure. In fact, due to complex issues of land ownership, some slums are not even officially recognized and are entirely excluded from the purview of municipal infrastructure. Moreover, the attitudes and behavior of the urban poor toward health care are shaped by the fact that the majority of the urban poor have had little or no exposure to any formal education. As a result, in many instances, they are simply unaware of correct and effective health care practices, such as the need for immunization or preventive steps against diseases such as diarrhea.

Child malnutrition is caused by an interplay of different factors in addition to poverty, such as inadequate public health systems and suboptimal child care practices. Mothers and caretakers (siblings and grandparents) are key influencers in the health and nutrition of children between 0-36 months. Malnutrition therefore is not only a public health issue but also depends in large part on the availability of the mother to breastfeed, the ability of the caretaker and household to provide nutritious meals, and overall community support.

Dasra’s interactions with pregnant women and mothers in Dharavi revealed that challenges to child health and nutrition in urban slums are twofold: for each challenge there are specific supply-side (community) issues as well as demand-side (public health system) issues that need to be addressed. The poor in urban areas are particularly vulnerable to health risks as a result of degraded environments, lack of access to health care, irregular employment, widespread illiteracy and lack of awareness about effective child care practices, and lack of negotiating power to demand better public services.

Given the particularities of urban slums, Dasra’s research revealed that critical interventions to overcome malnutrition must look beyond poverty and food availability but rather, as shown above, must address the lack of public health services and messages as well as inadequate child-care practices. Dasra found that training Community Link Workers and Public Healthcare Workers has the greatest impact on improving children’s nutritional status in urban slums and has the largest potential to influence mothers to breastfeed, which the most effective way to reduce malnutrition rates.

This series of posts will explore further intervention opportunities to improve child malnutrition in Mumbai’s slums, and will begin to weave together potential solutions to tackling this widespread and preventable problem.

Dasra is India’s leading strategic philanthropy foundation working with philanthropists and social entrepreneurs to create large-scale social change.

Na competição por água no Rio de Janeiro as zonas Norte e Oeste — mais carentes que a famosa Zona Sul — estão claramente perdendo. A cidade enfrenta um dos verões mais quentes dos últimos tempos e alguns bairros tiveram seu fornecimento de água intermitente por semanas nesse Janeiro, devido em parte à falta de reservatórios em larga escala e à manutenção incipiente na rede de fornecimento. Leia mais o discutir.

In the competition for water, Rio’s North and West zones — poorer than the fancy Southern zone of the city — are clearly losing. The city is facing one of the hottest summer seasons in recent years, and some neighborhoods’ water supply has been intermittent for weeks in the past month, due to the lack of large-scale reservoirs and maintenance of the water supply system. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Eliana Barbosa — Mon, 02/10/2014 – 00:00

পৃথিবীর তিন চতুর্থাংশ জুড়ে বিস্তার করা পানি জীবনের মূল মাধ্যম। বছরে ২০০০ মিলি বৃষ্টিপাত এবং তিনটি প্রধান নদীর পাশে অবস্থিত হয়েও বিশাল নগর ঢাকা এখন পর্যন্ত নগরবাসীদের নিরাপদ পানির সরবরাহ দিতে পারে নাই। সমগ্র ঢাকায় প্রায় ১৬ কোটি মানুষের (যা প্রতি বছর ৫% হারে বাড়ছে) পানি সরবরাহ এবং নিকাশী সেবার দায়িত্ব একটি মাত্র সংস্থা “ঢাকা পানি সরবরাহ এবং পয়নিস্কাশন কর্তৃপক্ষ” (ডি.ডব্লিউ.এ.এস.এ) এর উপর নিয়োজিত, তাই তাদের জন্য সবসময় পানির গুণগত মান এবং পরিমান রক্ষা করা সম্ভব হয়ে ওঠে না। Read more or discuss.

Dhaka, a mega-city located near the three major rivers: the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna, and receiving 2000mm of rainfall annually, has always struggled to provide safe water for its population. The quality and quantity of water supply is a complex issue for Dhaka, since the entire city’s water supply and sewage services are allocated to one single authority, the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA), which must serve an immense population of 16 million that is growing at an annual rate of around five percent. Read more or discuss.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 02/10/2014 – 00:00

In Indic mythology, there once was a time when cowherds had shunned the water in the bend of the holy River Yamuna near Vrindaban. The water had become lethal due to the poison spat out each day by a dreaded, multi-hooded snake called Kaliyā. One day Krisha, an incarnation of divine god Vishnu, danced on the hood of Kaliyā. The dance subdued the serpent and it left for the ocean on the command of Krishna. Today, another “Kaliyā” treads the water of the River Yamuna. The lack of political will and concern on part of the civilian population has made the water lethal and shriveled the river’s ecosystem. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Priyanka Jain — Mon, 02/10/2014 – 00:00

El agua de Bogotá es potable y deliciosa, algo excepcional en las grandes ciudades de América latina. Esto se debe a su proximidad a abundantes fuentes de agua, especialmente los páramos de Chingaza y Sumapaz, y a una buena gestión del recurso. La mayor parte del agua consumida actualmente proviene de la represa de Chingaza, ubicada a unos 50 kilómetros de Bogotá. Sin embargo, la misma proximidad de la mega urbe supone un riesgo para los frágiles ecosistemas de los páramos: Sumapaz comienza en el mismo término municipal de la capital. Aunque la capacidad de suministro actual se estima suficiente a medio plazo, a largo plazo será necesario construir nuevas represas y canalizaciones, proyectos técnicamente complejos y que probablemente generarán fuertes controversias por su impacto ambiental. Leer más o discutir.

Tap water in Bogota is safe to drink, something that is unusual in most large Latin American cities. This is due to the proximity of vast water sources, in particular the Chingaza and Sumapaz paramos (a particular ecosystem that exists in the Andean highlands), and to good management of the water supply. Most of the water comes from the Chingaza reservoir, located less than 50km from Bogotá. However, this proximity, although beneficial to the mega-city, implies serious threats to the fragile paramo ecosystems. Sumapaz, for example, starts within Bogotá’s city limits and can be reached by urban buses. Although the current infrastructure brings enough capacity for the medium term, long-term demands will require the building of new dams and pipelines. These projects are technically complex and their environmental impact makes them politically difficult. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Jorge Bela — Mon, 02/10/2014 – 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: International Water Summit
20–22 January 2014 Abu Dhabi, UAE

The International Water Summit (IWS) is a unique global platform for promoting water sustainability in arid regions. IWS brings together world leaders, field experts, academia luminaries and business innovators to accelerate the development of new sustainable strategies and technologies. Learn more.

Some of the fastest-growing cities in the world are in Africa. According to the United Nations, there will be over a billion people living in slums in Africa by 2050. This concentration of humanity with little clean water and no sanitation yet with a surplus of refuse presents growing public health hazards. What signals are there of new solutions to meeting these urgent issues? Read more.

Submitted by Tracey Grose — Mon, 07/29/2013 – 13:10

Banu, a mother of two, lives in a slum of Bagunbari, Dhaka. She is a single mother who works as a housemaid to earn her living. She says, “The pond water I was forced to get water from previously was very dirty with a bad smell. My daughters and I would suffer from diarrhea, jaundice, dysentery, and skin diseases. But after the installation of the deep tube well, we are able to get safe water much more quickly… [now] we don’t have these water-borne diseases anymore!” Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 06/17/2013 – 00:00

La Delegación Iztapalapa es una de las demarcaciones del Distrito Federal que no tiene garantizado el derecho al acceso de agua limpia y de calidad para sus habitantes. El déficit de suministro de agua de Iztapalapa se debe a que recibe diariamente 238 litros para un millón 815 mil 786 personas que viven en la demarcación. La falda de la Sierra Santa Catarina, es una de las zonas que presenta mayor escasez del líquido vital para que las personas puedan satisfacer sus necesidades. Familias de esta colonia tienen que pedir pipas a empresas privadas para que puedan obtener agua para la higiene personal y para el uso doméstico. Ante la demanda, la delegación también proporciona a la colonia tanques de agua de acuerdo a una larga lista de espera de los solicitantes, no obstante la necesidad por el agua rebasa la capacidad de entrega y distribución por parte de la delegación. Leer más o discutir.

Submitted by Maria Fernanda Carvallo — Mon, 03/18/2013 – 01:00

إذا قارنا موارد المياه العذبة المتوفرة بمصر بموارد مياه الدول الاخرى في الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا, نجد أن مصر لديها أكثر كميات من المياه العذبة، و ذلك بفضل نهر النيل العظيم. تشير احصاءات الحكومة أن ٩٩ في المئة من سكان البلد يحصلوا على المياه بطريقة ما, بسبب تواجد معظمهم بجوار نهر النيل. اظهرت الاحصاءات أيضا أن المياه العذبة متوفرة لجميع سكان المناطق الحضرية, ولكن تجاهل هذه الاحصاءات العديد من القضايا السياسية والاجتماعية والاقتصادية التي تظهر في قطاع المياه بمصر.

Submitted by Howaida Kamel — Mon, 03/18/2013 – 01:00

Na competição por água no Rio de Janeiro as zonas Norte e Oeste — mais carentes que a famosa Zona Sul — estão claramente perdendo. A cidade enfrenta um dos verões mais quentes dos últimos tempos e alguns bairros tiveram seu fornecimento de água intermitente por semanas nesse Janeiro, devido em parte à falta de reservatórios em larga escala e à manutenção incipiente na rede de fornecimento. Leia mais o discutir.

In the competition for water, Rio’s North and West zones — poorer than the fancy Southern zone of the city — are clearly losing. The city is facing one of the hottest summer seasons in recent years, and some neighborhoods’ water supply has been intermittent for weeks in the past month, due to the lack of large-scale reservoirs and maintenance of the water supply system. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Eliana Barbosa — Mon, 02/10/2014 – 00:00

পৃথিবীর তিন চতুর্থাংশ জুড়ে বিস্তার করা পানি জীবনের মূল মাধ্যম। বছরে ২০০০ মিলি বৃষ্টিপাত এবং তিনটি প্রধান নদীর পাশে অবস্থিত হয়েও বিশাল নগর ঢাকা এখন পর্যন্ত নগরবাসীদের নিরাপদ পানির সরবরাহ দিতে পারে নাই। সমগ্র ঢাকায় প্রায় ১৬ কোটি মানুষের (যা প্রতি বছর ৫% হারে বাড়ছে) পানি সরবরাহ এবং নিকাশী সেবার দায়িত্ব একটি মাত্র সংস্থা “ঢাকা পানি সরবরাহ এবং পয়নিস্কাশন কর্তৃপক্ষ” (ডি.ডব্লিউ.এ.এস.এ) এর উপর নিয়োজিত, তাই তাদের জন্য সবসময় পানির গুণগত মান এবং পরিমান রক্ষা করা সম্ভব হয়ে ওঠে না। Read more or discuss.

Dhaka, a mega-city located near the three major rivers: the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna, and receiving 2000mm of rainfall annually, has always struggled to provide safe water for its population. The quality and quantity of water supply is a complex issue for Dhaka, since the entire city’s water supply and sewage services are allocated to one single authority, the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA), which must serve an immense population of 16 million that is growing at an annual rate of around five percent. Read more or discuss.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 02/10/2014 – 00:00

In Indic mythology, there once was a time when cowherds had shunned the water in the bend of the holy River Yamuna near Vrindaban. The water had become lethal due to the poison spat out each day by a dreaded, multi-hooded snake called Kaliyā. One day Krisha, an incarnation of divine god Vishnu, danced on the hood of Kaliyā. The dance subdued the serpent and it left for the ocean on the command of Krishna. Today, another “Kaliyā” treads the water of the River Yamuna. The lack of political will and concern on part of the civilian population has made the water lethal and shriveled the river’s ecosystem. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Priyanka Jain — Mon, 02/10/2014 – 00:00

El agua de Bogotá es potable y deliciosa, algo excepcional en las grandes ciudades de América latina. Esto se debe a su proximidad a abundantes fuentes de agua, especialmente los páramos de Chingaza y Sumapaz, y a una buena gestión del recurso. La mayor parte del agua consumida actualmente proviene de la represa de Chingaza, ubicada a unos 50 kilómetros de Bogotá. Sin embargo, la misma proximidad de la mega urbe supone un riesgo para los frágiles ecosistemas de los páramos: Sumapaz comienza en el mismo término municipal de la capital. Aunque la capacidad de suministro actual se estima suficiente a medio plazo, a largo plazo será necesario construir nuevas represas y canalizaciones, proyectos técnicamente complejos y que probablemente generarán fuertes controversias por su impacto ambiental. Leer más o discutir.

Tap water in Bogota is safe to drink, something that is unusual in most large Latin American cities. This is due to the proximity of vast water sources, in particular the Chingaza and Sumapaz paramos (a particular ecosystem that exists in the Andean highlands), and to good management of the water supply. Most of the water comes from the Chingaza reservoir, located less than 50km from Bogotá. However, this proximity, although beneficial to the mega-city, implies serious threats to the fragile paramo ecosystems. Sumapaz, for example, starts within Bogotá’s city limits and can be reached by urban buses. Although the current infrastructure brings enough capacity for the medium term, long-term demands will require the building of new dams and pipelines. These projects are technically complex and their environmental impact makes them politically difficult. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Jorge Bela — Mon, 02/10/2014 – 00:00

At a recent sanitation roundtable discussion at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a public policy think tank in Mumbai, Chairman Sudheendra Kulkarni said that Mahatma Gandhi believed sanitation was more important than political independence. In 2010, the UN declared access to sanitation a human right. Despite the increased emphasis, says Dhaval Desai, a senior researcher at ORF, the two are rarely linked. “If one agrees that there is a connect between lack of access to clean and hygienic sanitation and global statistics on poverty, malnutrition, infant mortality, maternal health, diseases, education, and gender, then it is impossible to deny sanitation as an intrinsic human rights issue.” Desai, who specializes in water and sanitation issues, discussed with us the importance of this human rights issue and some promising ways forward. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Carlin Carr — Mon, 12/09/2013 – 00:00

Some of the fastest-growing cities in the world are in Africa. According to the United Nations, there will be over a billion people living in slums in Africa by 2050. This concentration of humanity with little clean water and no sanitation yet with a surplus of refuse presents growing public health hazards. What signals are there of new solutions to meeting these urgent issues? Read more.

Submitted by Tracey Grose — Mon, 07/29/2013 – 13:10

কল্পনা ভাট্টারি এবং প্রিয়াঙ্কা শ্রেষ্ঠা, অনুবাদকঃ ফারজানা নওশিন এবং নুসরাত ইয়াসমিন

পৃথিবীর তিন চতুর্থাংশ জুড়ে বিস্তার করা পানি জীবনের মূল মাধ্যম। বছরে ২০০০ মিলি বৃষ্টিপাত এবং তিনটি প্রধান নদীর পাশে অবস্থিত হয়েও বিশাল নগর ঢাকা এখন পর্যন্ত নগরবাসীদের নিরাপদ পানির সরবরাহ দিতে পারে নাই। সমগ্র ঢাকায় প্রায় ১৬ কোটি মানুষের (যা প্রতি বছর ৫% হারে বাড়ছে) পানি সরবরাহ এবং নিকাশী সেবার দায়িত্ব একটি মাত্র সংস্থা “ঢাকা পানি সরবরাহ এবং পয়নিস্কাশন কর্তৃপক্ষ” (ডি.ডব্লিউ.এ.এস.এ) এর উপর নিয়োজিত, তাই তাদের জন্য সবসময় পানির গুণগত মান এবং পরিমান রক্ষা করা সম্ভব হয়ে ওঠে না।

তীব্র ঘাটতি এবং প্রতিযোগিতার মুখে সামঞ্জস্যহীন ভাবে পানি সমস্যার শিকার হয় শহরের দরিদ্র জনসংখ্যা। উদাহরণ সরূপ, ডব্লিউ এইচ ও এর মতে পানিতে আর্সেনিকের সর্বচ্চ মাত্রা ০.০১ মিলি গ্রাম/ লিটার, কিন্তু বাংলাদেশে আর্সেনিকের সর্বচ্চ মাত্রা ০.০৫ মিলি গ্রাম/ লিটার, যা ডব্লিউ.এইচ.ও এর তুলনায় অনেক বেশী। বাংলাদেশের ৭৭-৯৫ মিলিয়ন মানুষ অনুমোদিত সীমার বেশী আর্সেনিক সমৃদ্ধ পানি পান করে। আর্সেনিক সমস্যা মূলত দেখা যায় বস্তি, বন্যা প্রবণ, অপরিকল্পিত নিষ্কাশন ব্যবস্থা এবং আবর্জনা সমৃদ্ধ এলাকা সমূহে, তাই শহরের দরিদ্র মানুষেরা আর্সেনিক সমস্যায় বেশী আক্রান্ত হয়।

শহরের দরিদ্র মানুষদের মৌলিক সুবিধা প্রদানের প্রতি ঢাকা কর্তৃপক্ষের উদাসীনতাই শহুরে দরিদ্রদের সমস্যার মূল কারণ। বস্তিতে সরকারি সেবার অভাব রয়েছে এবং বস্তির মানুষেরা সরকারি কোম্পানি ছাড়া অন্যান্য প্রাইভেট সংস্থা থেকে পানি ক্রয় করে থাকে। ফলস্বরূপ, ঢাকার এই গরীব জনসংখ্যা তাদের আয়ের ৫০% শতাংশই পানিবাহিত রোগের পিছনে খরচ করে।

শহরের দরিদ্র মানুষদের পানির এই দুর্দশা দূর করতে অনেক সংস্থা পানি সরবরাহ বৃদ্ধি করার জন্য কাজ করছে যেমন ওয়াটারএইড এবং “ঢাকা পানি সরবরাহ এবং পয়নিস্কাশন কর্তৃপক্ষ” (ডি.ডব্লিউ.এ.এস.এ)।

ওয়াটারএইড বাংলাদেশ হচ্ছে একটি আন্তর্জাতিক বেসরকারি সংস্থা যেটি শহুরে দরিদ্র অঞ্চলে বিশুদ্ধ পানি ও স্যানিটেশন সহজলভ্যতার জন্য কাজ করে। বর্তমানে, ওয়াটারএইড বিভিন্ন জেলার ৪২৬৮ টিরও বেশি গ্রাম জুড়ে, এবং ঢাকা, চট্টগ্রাম, ও খুলনা শহরগুলোর মধ্যে ৭০২টি বস্তিতে সহযোগিতা প্রদান করেছে। DWASA’র সঙ্গে একত্রিত হয়ে ওয়াটারএইড বস্তি ও দরিদ্র এলাকাগুলোতে স্যানিটেশন ও নিরাপদ পানীয় জল সরবরাহের উদ্দেশ্যে স্যানিটারি পায়খানা ও পানি উত্তোলন পয়েন্ট নির্মাণ করেছে। DWASA’র সাথে মিলিত হয়ে পানি সেবা প্রদানের কার্যকরী পন্থা অবলম্বনের মাধ্যমে প্রতিষ্ঠানটি শহুরে দরিদ্র জীবনে ভিন্নতা এনেছে।

DWASA, একটি সেবা ভিত্তিক বাণিজ্যিক প্রতিষ্ঠান, যেটি শহুরে বস্তিতে পানি সার্ভিস কর্মসূচি বাস্তবায়নে নিয়োজিত এনজিওগুলোকে সহযোগীতা প্রদানের মাধ্যমে ঢাকার ক্রমবর্ধমান অবৈধ জনবসতির চ্যালেঞ্জ মোকাবেলার কাজ করে। এটি শহরে জল লগিং সমস্যা প্রশমনের উদ্দেশ্যে পাম্পিং স্টেশন নির্মাণ এবং নিরাপদ নিষ্কাশন ব্যবস্থার জন্য উচ্চ ক্ষমতাসম্পন্ন পানি পাম্প স্থাপন করেছে। তাছাড়া, এটি পানির পাইপলাইনে নজর রাখার মাধ্যমে বিভিন্ন ফুটো এবং অবৈধ কারণে পানি অপচয় কমাতে কাজ করে।

তারপরও, উভয় ওয়াটারএইড এবং DWASA তাদের সেবা প্রদানের সময় কিছু চ্যালেঞ্জের সম্মুখীন হয়। অননুমোদিত জল নেটওয়ার্ক সিস্টেমের সাথে জড়িত বিশাল অবৈধ জনগোষ্ঠী নিষ্পত্তিই হচ্ছে DWASA’র প্রধান চ্যালেঞ্জ। শহুরে দরিদ্রদের মধ্যে নিরাপদ পানীয় জল সরবরাহ এই উদ্দেশ্য পূরণের জন্য, ওয়াটারএইডকে স্বায়ত্তশাসন ও সিটি কর্পোরেশনের সাথে সমন্বয়ের অভাবে আইনি অনুমতি নেয়ার সময় সমস্যার সম্মুখীন হতে হয় । তাছাড়া, অক্ষম হওয়া সত্ত্বেও পানি ব্যবহারের কারণে গরীবদের ধনীর সমানই শুল্ক প্রদান করতে হয়, যেহেতু সরকার এ ব্যাপারে কোনো প্রকার খরচ-ভাগ কৌশল তৈরী করে নি। প্রকৃতপক্ষে, তবে, ঢাকা শহরের বস্তিতে ওয়াটারএইড এবং DWASA দ্বারা প্রদানকৃত সেবা শুধুমাত্র নিরাপদ পানি সরবরাহের ক্ষেত্রেই কার্যকর হয়ে উঠেনি, পাশাপাশি তাদের সামাজিক, অর্থনৈতিক ও রাজনৈতিক অবস্থারও উন্নতি সাধন করেছে।

Photo credit: Development Planning Unit University College London

Kalpana Bhattarai & Priyanka Shrestha, Dhaka Community Managers

Dhaka, a mega-city located near the three major rivers: the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna, and receiving 2000mm of rainfall annually, has always struggled to provide safe water for its population. The quality and quantity of water supply is a complex issue for Dhaka, since the entire city’s water supply and sewage services are allocated to one single authority, the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA), which must serve an immense population of 16 million that is growing at an annual rate of around five percent.

In the face of increased scarcity and competitiveness, the people who suffer disproportionately from the myriad problems of water contamination in Dhaka are the urban poor. For instance, the maximum permissible limit of arsenic for Bangladesh is 0.05 mg/l, significantly higher than the WHO’s safe limit of 0.01 mg/l. It is found that 77-95 million people in Bangladesh drink water contaminated with more arsenic than the permissible limit. Since problems of arsenic are found in areas of slum settlements, flood-prone, poor-drainage, and limited formal garbage disposal areas, the urban poor are most affected by the high spread of diseases.

The negligence of the Dhaka authority to provide basic water facilities to the urban poor is the primary reason for this vulnerability. Slum residents lack public services and therefore must purchase their water supply from the private sector. The poor community in Dhaka consequently spends almost 50 percent of their monthly income on health costs related to water-borne diseases.

Organizations such as WaterAid Bangladesh and the DWASA are working to facilitate the urban poor’s access to safe water. WaterAid Bangladesh is an international non-governmental organization that works for the accessibility of safe water and sanitation in poor urban areas. WaterAid has served over 4,268 villages across different districts, and 702 different slum communities in the cities of Dhaka, Chittagong, and Khulna. Collaborating with the DWASA, WaterAid has built sanitary latrines and water points in slums and poor neighborhoods to provide sanitation and safe drinking water. The organization is effective in delivering water services largely by partnering with DWASA in framing water supply guidelines.

DWASA, the government water provider, must work to overcome the challenge of growing informal settlements in Dhaka by cooperating with NGOs in implementing water-service programs. It has built pumping stations to mitigate the water logging problem in the city and has set up high-power water pumps to arrange safe drainage systems. DWASA further plans to set up a new pipeline model system throughout the city. Moreover, it works to reduce the non-revenue water and other water loses due to leakage and illegal matters by scrutinizing the water pipelines in the city.

Naturally, both WaterAid and DWASA experience ongoing challenges. The presence of informal settlements with unauthorized water systems is a main challenge for DWASA. WaterAid faces problems due to legal permission and the lack of autonomy and coordination with city corporations. Moreover, the poor must pay the same tariff as the rich for water consumption as the government has not developed any comprehensive cost-sharing strategy. However, WaterAid and DWASA are improving their work for the slums of Dhaka by bolstering the depth of their services, coordinating with one another, and recognizing the important link between access to safe water and residents’ quality of life.

Photo credit: Development Planning Unit University College London

Bogotá’s location is in many ways privileged, with mild temperatures and 12 hours of daylight year-round. This location, however, also entails risks: it is a seismic area, and torrential rains can result in serious flooding. The “Niña” weather pattern creates especially dangerous conditions, like the 2010-2011 period when much of the city was left under water – especially, although not only – in the poorer neighborhoods. Read more.

La ubicación geográfica de Bogotá es en muchos aspectos privilegiada. El clima es suave, con temperaturas medias agradables que hacen innecesario el uso de la calefacción o el aire acondicionado. Sin embargo, también encierra amenazas: es una zona sísmica, y las lluvias pueden ser torrenciales, generando inundaciones. Durante el fenómeno de “La Niña” la pluviosidad se dispara, y en el periodo 2010-2011 se desbordó el río Bogotá dejando grandes zonas de la ciudad bajo el agua. Leer más.

Submitted by Jorge Bela — Tue, 03/25/2014 – 00:00

Medellin has undergone a profound transformation. While two decades ago it was a city known for violence, lack of social services and inequality, now it has become a model for all Latin American cities on how to tackle these problems. Urbanism, although not the only factor, has played a crucial role in this process. In Medellin, urban reforms became closely associated with the search for solutions for social problems. They also had a strong pedagogical ambition. Read more.

Medellín ha experimentado una profunda transformación: en a penas dos décadas ha pasado de ser una ciudad castigada por la violencia, la escasez de servicios sociales y la desigualdad, a convertirse en un modelo para toda América Latina de cómo combatir éstos graves problemas. Leer más.

Submitted by Jorge Bela — Sat, 03/01/2014 – 10:22

El agua de Bogotá es potable y deliciosa, algo excepcional en las grandes ciudades de América latina. Esto se debe a su proximidad a abundantes fuentes de agua, especialmente los páramos de Chingaza y Sumapaz, y a una buena gestión del recurso. La mayor parte del agua consumida actualmente proviene de la represa de Chingaza, ubicada a unos 50 kilómetros de Bogotá. Sin embargo, la misma proximidad de la mega urbe supone un riesgo para los frágiles ecosistemas de los páramos: Sumapaz comienza en el mismo término municipal de la capital. Aunque la capacidad de suministro actual se estima suficiente a medio plazo, a largo plazo será necesario construir nuevas represas y canalizaciones, proyectos técnicamente complejos y que probablemente generarán fuertes controversias por su impacto ambiental. Leer más o discutir.

Tap water in Bogota is safe to drink, something that is unusual in most large Latin American cities. This is due to the proximity of vast water sources, in particular the Chingaza and Sumapaz paramos (a particular ecosystem that exists in the Andean highlands), and to good management of the water supply. Most of the water comes from the Chingaza reservoir, located less than 50km from Bogotá. However, this proximity, although beneficial to the mega-city, implies serious threats to the fragile paramo ecosystems. Sumapaz, for example, starts within Bogotá’s city limits and can be reached by urban buses. Although the current infrastructure brings enough capacity for the medium term, long-term demands will require the building of new dams and pipelines. These projects are technically complex and their environmental impact makes them politically difficult. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Jorge Bela — Mon, 02/10/2014 – 00:00

Hay muchas cosas positivas que esperar para el año 2014 en Colombia. Se prevé que el crecimiento económico siga siendo vigoroso, al tiempo que las conversaciones de paz pueden acabar con un conflicto armado que ha durado ya varias décadas. Estas circunstancias presentan un escenario sin precedente para aliviar los problemas de pobreza y desigualdad que sufre el país. Bogotá y Cali, las dos ciudades que seguimos en este blog, tienen iniciativas en marcha que pueden ofrecer soluciones concretas a estos dos problemas. Sin embargo, la incertidumbre es también elevada, tanto a nivel nacional como local. Por un lado, los resultados de las conversaciones son inciertos. Por otro, las elecciones presidenciales que se celebrarán en su primera vuelta en mayo también resultarán en una ralentización de la administración central. Aunque se espera que Juan Manuel Santos ganes la reelección, cualquier cosa puede suceder en la política colombiana, y un cambio en la presidencia puede decelerar aún más el ritmo de las reformas. Leer más o discutir.

There is much to look forward in 2014 in Colombia. Economic growth is expected to remain strong, and the decades-old armed conflict could be close to its end if the peace conversations now underway are ultimately successful. These circumstances bring an unprecedented opportunity for the country to tackle poverty and rampant inequality. Bogotá and Cali, the two Colombian cities covered on this platform, are working on major initiatives that could have a significant impact on these fronts. However, uncertainty is also quite high, both at the national and local levels. For one, the results of the peace conversations are far from certain. Furthermore, Presidential elections, to be held in mid-year, imply a slowdown of central government activity for most of the year. Although Juan Manuel Santos is expected to win re-election handily, anything can happen in Colombian politics, and a change at the top would also bring the processes of reform to a temporary halt. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Jorge Bela — Mon, 01/06/2014 – 00:00

Colombia no ha escapado del castigo del HIV. Según datos del Sistema de Vigilancia Epidemiológica (SIVIGILA), al que deben ser reportados todos los casos identificados, desde el año 1983 hasta el 2011, último del que se disponen datos completos, se conocen 86.990 casos de HIV/Sida, de los cuales 10.676 han fallecido. En Bogotá se han detectado hasta septiembre del 2013 23.330 casos, un 40 por ciento del total a nivel nacional. Sin embargo, es importante destacar que esto se debe a su elevada población, como lo ilustra que en el 2011 se reportaron 8,7 casos por 100.000 habitantes, mientras 8 departamentos superaban 20 casos por 100.000 habitantes, y los dos en cabeza, Barranquilla y Quindío superaban 30. Leer más o discutir.

Colombia has not escaped the devastating consequences of the AIDS epidemic. According to the Sistema de Vigilancia Epidemiológica (Epidemiology Watch Service, SIVIGILA), there have been 86,990 cases of diagnosed HIV/AIDS from 1983 and 2011, and 10,676 fatalities (reporting HIV/AIDS diagnosis to the SIVIGILA is mandatory). Bogotá registered 23,300 cases from 1983 to September 2013, which is 40 percent of the national total. However, this is due more to the large population of the Colombian capital rather than high rates of infection, as the region recorded only 8.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while eight other departments recorded over 20 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and two of them, Barranquilla and Quindío, reported over 30 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Jorge Bela — Mon, 12/02/2013 – 00:00

Uno de los principales frenos al desarrollo de los asentamientos irregulares es la falta de títulos de propiedad por parte de sus ocupantes. En Colombia, donde los conflictos armados que se prolongan desde hace décadas han sumado un número significativo de desplazados por la violencia a los flujos migratorios observados en toda Latinoamérica, este problema tiene una especial gravedad. Para atajar este problema en el año 2005 se aprobó una ley que permitía la transferencia gratuita de predios fiscales, o de titularidad pública, que hubieran sido ocupados antes de 2001. El alcance de esta ley deja fuera del proyecto de titulación a los asentamientos edificados sobre predios de propiedad privada. Leer más o discutir.

Lack of property titles is one of the most significant barriers to development and poverty reduction in informal settlements. This problem is particularly serious in Colombia, where people displaced by several decades of armed conflict have joined the large number of immigrants for economic reasons in creating the largest number of informal settlements in Latin America. A law enacted in 2005 sought to tackle, at least partially, this problem by allowing for free transfer of property to informal residents. The scope of the law was limited to settlements established on public land before 2001, thus excluding all settlements on private land. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Jorge Bela — Mon, 10/21/2013 – 00:00

La situación de los habitantes de la calle se considera como uno de los problemas más complicados de resolver en las grandes ciudades latinoamericanas. Según un censo elaborado en 2011 por la Secretaría de Integración Social (SIS), en Bogotá se identificaron 8.385 habitantes de calle, un 86.9 por ciento de los cuales son hombres, y el 8.4 por ciento son menores de 18 años. El 17.9 por ciento son jóvenes entre 19 y 25 años, y el 38.9 por ciento son adultos entre 26 y 40 , quedando un 32 por ciento, de adultos mayores. Otro dato interesante de este sondeo es que el 58 por ciento se dedica a la recolección de objetos de reciclaje, el 34 por ciento a mendigar, el 28 por ciento a servicios no cualificados y el 10.7 por ciento a delinquir. Aunque es posible que estas cifras no recojan el número total de habitantes de la calle, quizá en una proporción considerable, sí que son reveladores en su estructura demográfica y en sus ocupaciones. Leer más o discutir.

Homelessness is one of the most complex and difficult to address problems in all large Latin American cities. A census led in 2011 by the Secretaría de Integración Social (SIS), found 8,385 homeless people in Bogotá. Of those, 86 percent were male. 8.4 percent were under 18 years old, 17.9 percent between 19 and 25, 38 percent between 26 and 40, and 32 percent were older than 40. As for their occupation, 58 percent were garbage recyclers, 34 percent begged, and 10.7 percent stole and robbed as a form of living. Although it is almost certain that this survey did not register much of the homeless population, it is still quite revealing regarding the population’s demographics and occupation. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Jorge Bela — Mon, 10/07/2013 – 00:00

Bogotá ha ganado el premio a liderazgo urbano en su categoría de transporte. Los premios, de los cuales este año se celebra su primera edición, son otorgados por el grupo C40 y por Siemens, a través de su fundación Crystal. El premio de liderazgo en transporte busca identificar proyectos o iniciativas que mejoren la situación medioambiental, medidos en términos de fomento de cambio en los modos de transporte y de la reducción de la emisión de gases causantes del efecto invernadero. Leer más o discutir.

Bogotá just won the City Climate Leadership Award for transportation. The award, still on its first edition, is sponsored by the C40 group and Siemens, through its Crystal Initiative. The leadership award in transportation seeks to identify projects or initiatives aimed at improving the environmental quality of the cities for which they are intended. The methodology used to measure such improvement is based on modal shift or the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG). Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Jorge Bela — Mon, 09/30/2013 – 00:00

La concesión de subsidios a las poblaciones más desfavorecidas, sobre todo en el ámbito de los servicios públicos, es un mecanismo ampliamente utilizado en América latina para combatir la fuerte desigualdad social. En Colombia se ha utilizado un mecanismo singular: la división de las ciudades en estratos. Esta idea, que se empezó a considerar en los años 80, se comenzó a aplicar en las grandes ciudades a partir de la aprobación en 1994 de la ley de Servicios Públicos. Aunque el marco legal es estatal, las ciudades tienen un amplio margen a la hora de escoger los criterios concretos para determinar la estratificación dentro de sus perímetros urbanos. Bogotá se dividió en 6 estratos, el máximo permitido por la ley. El estrato 6 refleja un mayor poder adquisitivo, y el 1 el menor poder adquisitivo de la ciudad. Los residentes de los estratos 5 y 6 pagan una sobretasa en los servicios públicos, que se utiliza para subsidiar, de forma decreciente, los costes de los servicios para los residentes en estratos 1 a 3. En el estrato 4 los residentes pagan el precio real de los servicios. También se aplica una sobretasa si se supera un volumen máximo establecido. Leer más o discutir.

Subsidies are one of the most widely used tools in the fight against social inequality in Latin America. Utilities are often subsidized in one way or another. Colombia adopted a unique formula for the distribution of subsidies: the official stratification of housing. Under this system cities are legally divided in different layers or estratos (strata, in a literal translation). This idea originated in the 1980s, and was implemented with the enactment of the 1994 Ley de Servicios Publicos (a law regulating the utilities in Colombia). Under this law cities have considerable say in determining the specific criteria by which stratification is implemented. Bogotá was divided into six different layers, the maximum number allowed by law. Layer 6 represents the wealthiest areas in the city, while layer 1 represents the poorest sectors. Under the system, residents in layers 5 and 6 pay a surcharge in their utilities bill. This surcharge is used directly to subsidize the utilities to residents of layers 1, 2 and 3. Residents in layer 4 areas pay the real cost of the services. There is also a surcharge for heavy users of resources, to be paid once they reach their monthly maximum allowance. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Jorge Bela — Mon, 09/23/2013 – 00:00

Bogota’s historic center is spectacular. Beautiful and surprisingly well-preserved colonial buildings flank the narrow, cobbled streets. At the end of the steep ascent one can see the Cerros Orientales, the imposing mountains that rise abruptly 600 meters above the city. This sight is unusual in a city that, despite being located in the Andean range, tends to focus its attention on the flat savanna where most of its urban sprawl is located. Unfortunately, the historic district has suffered from gradual but steady decay during the last few decades. The main colonial and republican landmark buildings are generally well maintained, but most of the area suffers from problems such as severe lack of economic development, crime, near total lack of green spaces, degradation of low-income homes, and strong social inequality. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Jorge Bela — Mon, 09/09/2013 – 00:00

According to UNICEF, roughly 15 million children under the age of 14 were employed in Nigeria’s semi-formal and informal sectors in 2006. The most common forms of employment include street vendors, beggars, shoe shiners, mechanics, bus conductors, and domestic servants. This high incidence of child labor follows Nigeria’s high poverty rate: these children’s labour sometimes serves as the only source of income not only for themselves, but also for their families. Child labour has become an avenue for impoverished families in Lagos to provide basic needs for themselves, at the expense of the child. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Wura — Mon, 06/10/2013 – 00:00

The importance of empowering women goes beyond giving them a means to sustenance and income. It is fundamental to building the fabric of society. A successful woman who is a productive member of society is more likely to create a strong community both in her home and her society. According to CARE, women and girls suffer disproportionately from the burden of extreme poverty, and make up 70 percent of the 1 billion people living on less than a dollar a day. Read more or join the discussion.

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

Makoko is a slum settlement on the Lagos Lagoon. There are no reliable population figures, but estimates for the number of inhabitants range from 100,000 to 300,000. According to the NGO Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC), Makoko supplies forty percent of the dried fish sold in Lagos. The settlement is not a face of Lagos that the state government is proud of, and there have been attempts to pull it down and evict the inhabitants, as has been done elsewhere. The first time I visited Makoko, in November 2011, residents showed me (I was visiting with two foreign journalists) evidence of what the demolitioners had accomplished on a previous mission. Read more.

Submitted by Tolu Ogunlesi — Fri, 05/10/2013 – 09:37

The lack of access to health care information, such as treatment options and preventative measures, as well as the dearth of affordable treatment relevant to the urban poor have been the focal points of the Lagos State Government’s awareness programs. It has been ascertained that some of the health information issues arise due to insufficient communication channels, or the use of inappropriate channels for target audiences. For example, television commercials tend to be ineffective, as most urban poor do not have access to such devices, and general illiteracy levels are high. With information materials usually in English, the message is lost on the majority of the populace that need it. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 04/08/2013 – 00:00

It just doesn’t add up. Nigeria is one of the world’s fastest growing economies (we’ve been in that exclusive club for years); Foreign Direct Investment ($8.9bn in 2011, a four-fold increase from a decade before) and Diaspora remittances ($21 billion in 2012) are growing impressively; crude oil prices are at record-high levels — but none of these is managing to make an impact on poverty rates. Read more.

Submitted by Tolu Ogunlesi — Thu, 04/04/2013 – 11:08

Event: African Perspectives 2013
14–17 November 2013 Lagos, Nigeria

African Perspectives is a series of conferences on Urbanism and Architecture in Africa, initiated by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Kumasi, Ghana), University of Pretoria (South Africa), Ecole Supérieure d’Architecture de Casablanca (Morocco), Ecole Africaine des Métiers de l’Architecture et de l’Urbanisme (Lomé, Togo), ARDHI University (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania), Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) and ArchiAfrika.

The objectives of the African Perspectives conferences are:

• to bring together major stakeholders to map out a common agenda for African Architecture and create a forum for its sustainable development

• to provide the opportunity for African experts in Architecture to share locally developed knowledge and expertise with each other and the broader international community

• to establish a network of African experts on sustainable building and built environments for future cooperation on research and development initiatives on the continent.

Learn more.

It made international news headlines. An estimated forty thousand persons, rendered homeless in no time, when a demolition squad rolled into Ijora Badia community. It’s the way of Lagos, it seems. The poor — who make up the ‘informal economy’ that reportedly constitutes about 70 percent of the city’s population — are perpetually on the run, hounded by government policies that seem to exist for the purpose of making more land available for the minority well-off to play with. (Apparently the bulldozers’ metal fist has been dangling above Ijora Badia since 1996/97.) Read more.

Submitted by Tolu Ogunlesi — Mon, 03/11/2013 – 13:28

In the area of sanitation, access to improved facilities, expanding women’s management and planning opportunities, and improving women’s safety and security are inextricably linked. For example, for women working in the market, commuting between destinations, or even for young girls in school, gender concerns limit their access to finding and accessing private spaces to go to the toilet. An October 2012 poll of 500 female residents on their sanitation and safety concerns in the slum communities of Ajegunle, Ijora Badia, Oko Agbon and Otto-Oyingbo sets the scene: two out of every five women said they lack access to sanitation facilities. They develop their own, informal solutions, relieving themselves outside, and in the open, such as behind buildings, in open drains, or off roadways. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Victoria Okoye — Mon, 03/04/2013 – 00:00

“How can we use technology to help share information?” asks Peter Ihesie, who developed iPolice Nigeria, a mobile app that crowdsources information on neighborhood-level crime. With the app, users can search and locate the nearest police station, report a crime in the area, and obtain local security and crime news, as well as emergency phone numbers. With this app, Peter is hopeful that people will not only share information, but share it strategically, using his app as a central depot. Read more.

Submitted by Victoria Okoye — Thu, 02/28/2013 – 11:45

In March 1998, 500 three-wheeled keke vehicles first appeared on the streets of Lagos. Bright yellow in color, powered by a motorcycle engine, balanced on three thick wheels and covered by a metal half-shell replete with plastic windows, the city’s most innovative transport mode was introduced by then Governor Mohammed Buba Marwa. The vehicle came to be known colloquially as keke marwa: Keke being the Hausa word for “tricycle,” (Marwa’s native tongue); and Marwa being the surname of the governor himself. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Victoria Okoye — Mon, 02/04/2013 – 23:00

Bencana banjir yang melanda Jakarta beberapa waktu lalu disebabkan tingginya curah air hujan dan kurangnya daerah serapan air, menyebabkan volume run-off water sangat tinggi dan tidak tertampung oleh sungai atau kanal sehingga air menggenangi jalanan dan permukiman penduduk. Ketika banjir datang, air bersih menjadi sulit untuk didapatkan padahal kebutuhan air bersih di saat banjir justru meningkat. Pada keadaan normal setiap orang membutuhkan air bersih 10 liter per harinya, namun dalam kondisi bencana kebutuhan air bersih masyarakat Jakarta mencapai 60 liter per orang per hari. Keadaan ini diperparah dengan harga air bersih di Jakarta yang memang tinggi dan diklaim sebagai salah satu harga air yang termahal di dunia.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 03/18/2013 – 01:00

Daerah kumuh atau permukiman miskin merupakan fenomena umum di kota besar dunia terutama di Negara-negara miskin dan sedang berkembang. Akibat tingginya urbanisasi dan terbatasnya lapangan perkerjaan menyebabkan tingginya tingkat kemiskinan di kota. Mereka yang tidak mampu mencari tempat tinggal layak hidup sebagai tunawisma yang berpindah-pindah dan menempati bantaran sungai, pinggiran rel kereta api, bawah jembatan tol, tanah-tanah kosong baik disekitar pabrik maupun di pusat kota dan membangun gubuk liar yang kerap menggangu ketertiban umum dan pemandangan. Minimnya pengawasan dari pemerintah di masa lalu menyebabkan kian merebaknya jumlah pemukiman liar dan membentuk perkampungan kumuh. Berdasar hasil Survey RW Kumuh 2011 oleh BPS DKI Jakarta terdapat 392 RW yang dinyatakan kumuh di wilayah DKI Jakarta. Baca lebih lanjut atau bergabung dalam diskusi.

Submitted by widya anggraini — Mon, 03/11/2013 – 13:00

Permasalahan kemiskinan merupakan salah satu pekerjaan rumah DKI Jakarta yang perlu segera diselesaikan. Setidaknya, sebanyak 360 ribu warga miskin di Jakarta menunggu perhatian pemerintah agar bisa “dipindahkan” ke dalam kelompok ekonomi yang lebih mapan. Apalagi bila angka ini juga dikaitkan dengan jumlah penduduk yang berada di kelompok ekonomi rentan (vulnerable). Meski secara grafik penduduk di kelompok ini berada di luar garis kemiskinan (red: sekitar garis kemiskinan); namun kenyataannya jumlah mereka jauh lebih banyak, dengan kondisi yang juga memprihatinkan. Baca lebih lanjut.

Submitted by Rendy A. Diningrat — Mon, 03/11/2013 – 11:04

Jakarta sebagai kota megapolitan dianggap belum ramah terhadap perempuan. Tingginya angka kekerasan terhadap perempuan yang cenderung meningkat tiap tahunnya merupakan salah satu indikasinya. Data Komnas Perempuan menyebutkan bahwa di tahun 2011 terdapat 11.289 kasus Kekerasan Terhadap Perempuan di wilayah DKI Jakarta. Dari data tersebut, bentuk kekerasan dalam rumah tangga (KDRT) mendominasi jenis kekerasan yang terjadi terhadap perempuan. Terdapat sekitar 10.307 kasus KDRT sepanjang tahun 2011 dimana mayoritas korban adalah istri. Hal ini menunjukkan betapa perempuan merupakan kelompok paling rentan terhadap kekerasan, terutama di rumah tangga. Baca lebih lanjut atau bergabung dalam diskusi.

Submitted by widya anggraini — Mon, 03/04/2013 – 00:00

Jakarta merupakan area perkotaaan terpadat di Indonesia dengan pertumbuhan penduduk yang cepat dan juga signifikan. Kota ini menjadi tempat temu jutaan manusia yang berasal dari penjuru tanah air untuk melakukan perpindahan. Mereka berbondong-bondong menjalani mobilitas spasial ke Jakarta semata-mata untuk memperoleh kemudahan. Di kota ini, hampir semua jenis kebutuhan bisa didapatkan, mulai dari pekerjaan, pendidikan, bisnis, layanan kesehatan, hiburan, dan lain sebagainya. Jakarta menjadi pusat segala aktivitas kehidupan disamping peran utamanya sebagai pusat pemerintahan Republik Indonesia. Baca lebih lanjut.

Submitted by Rendy A. Diningrat — Mon, 02/25/2013 – 12:54

Cilincing, Jakarta Utara adalah satu dari 392 perkampungan kumuh di Jakarta berdasarkan data Biro Pusat Statistik tahun 2011. Angka putus sekolah di Cilincing tergolong tinggi. Ada beberapa sebab, turut bekerja membantu keuangan keluarga menjadi alasan utama. Alasan lain, masih banyak iuran dari pihak sekolah yang harus dibayar, misalnya untuk buku, seragam dan kebutuhan penunjang belajar. Bagi mereka yang bersekolah jauh dari tempat tinggal, biaya transportasi menjadi kendala tersendiri.

Submitted by Yuyun Harmono — Mon, 02/25/2013 – 00:00

Since the 1970s, the successive governors of Jakarta have had mostly limited policies to improve the conditions of the poor. The number of urban poor people increased steadily, in parallel with the growing population, yet without any improvement in their ability to participate politically. They continued to face eviction and persecution by authorities. Every five years, they were used as voters by the Golkar ruling party to back up the Soeharto authoritarian government to win elections. With the weakness of civil society, the poor received little help and remained economically and politically marginalized. Only in the last year have the lives of the poor seemed to change. The triumph of Joko Widodo (Jokowi) immediately triggered a glimmer of hope for the poor. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 02/18/2013 – 11:39

Seperti yang kita tahu, olahraga tidak hanya melatih kemampuan fisik, namun juga membentuk kepribadian yang baik. Dengan semangat sportivititas dan kerjasama tim, olahraga menjadi sarana aktualisasi diri yang sangat tepat bagi jiwa muda. Karena rasa ingin tahu dan energi yang kadng berlebih, tidak jarang anak muda terjerumus kedalam kegiatan-kegiatan yang negatif seperti narkoba, pergaulan bebas dan tawuran. Daripada terjerumus ke dalam hal-hal negatif seperti itu, sebaiknya anak-anak muda ini sejak dini diarahkan untuk mengikuti kegiatan yang sesuai dengan minat dan bakatnya, contohnya kegiatan olahraga. Baca lebih lanjut atau bergabung dalam diskusi.

Submitted by Editor — Mon, 02/11/2013 – 00:00

Event: 2nd International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Society
13–14 July 2013 Jakarta, Indonesia

ICKCS 2013 aims to bring together researchers, scientists, engineers, and scholar students to exchange and share their experiences, new ideas, and research results about all aspects of Knowledge, Culture and Society, and discuss the practical challenges encountered and the solutions adopted. Learn more.

Perkampungan kumuh bukan tempat yang ideal untuk berkembang, utamanya bagi generasi termuda kita. Kemiskinan dan kurangnya akses terhadap fasilitas tumbuh kembang anak menghasilkan angka anak jalanan yang terus bertambah. Data terakhir menunjukkan sedikitnya delapan ribu anak berkeliaran di pemukiman informal Jakarta dan sekitarnya. Sekolah Master di Depok memastikan bahwa masih ada harapan bagi anak-anak ini. Baca lebih lanjut di sini.

Submitted by Julisa Tambunan — Tue, 11/06/2012 – 00:00