Ten Observations on the Challenges of Humanitarian Work in Urban Settings
- Author: Elizabeth Ferris
- Document source:
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Date:
30 June 2011
Urban areas exhibit visible and often extreme disparities in income and wealth. Wealth is concentrated in cities and, in particular, in capital cities. Big banks, major retail and service operations, entertainment and public services all tend to be concentrated in cities. Because they provide more services and economic opportunities, urban areas have long been magnets for rural-urban migration—particularly for migration of the young and mobile. But cities are also places of poverty, marginalization and inequality. Before the earthquake in Haiti, 49% of the population of Port-au-Prince was unemployed. [1] While in many countries, absolute poverty levels are higher in rural areas, rural poverty is often invisible to the nation's urban elite. In cities, the poor are rarely invisible. Rich and poor live side-by-side in some places, but they also live in polarized communities.
These characteristics challenge the way we think about protection and protection tools we have developed. For example, what does 'creating humanitarian space' mean when those challenging humanitarian space are urban gangs and business interests? What does supporting participation and diversity mainstreaming mean when people are moving in and out of camps and where the committee leadership may be linked with other interests? How can humanitarian actors provide physical protection when local police forces are either non-responsive or lack capacity or both? How can protection needs assessments be carried out among very mobile communities? It is a very positive sign that humanitarian organizations are aware of the need to use an urban 'lens' to re-examine their tools and to develop strategies and practices specifically for work in urban areas. [8] Future humanitarian work is likely to be increasingly carried out in cities.
[1] World Bank, 'Social Resilience and State Fragility in Haiti, A Country Social Analysis, Report No. 36069–HT', 2006. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/BOLIVIA/Resources/Haiti_CSA.pdf>.
[2] Daily Mail Online, "Dhaka fire death toll 100 and rising as rescue crews recover bodies and search for survivors," 4 June 2010, www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1283919/Dhaka-death-toll-rises-rescue-crews-recover-bodies-search-survivors.html
[3] United Nations Human Settlements Programme UN–HABITAT, State of the World's Cities 2004–05: Globalization and Urban Culture, 2004, p. 134.
[4] World Bank, op cit.
[5] Tom Hays, "Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, Alleged Jamaican Drug Lord, Pleads Not Guilty In New York," Associated Press, 25 June 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/25/christopher-dudus-coke-pleads_n_626281.html
[6] See IASC above, for example
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