Slum Dwellers Essay

Common approaches and Interventions to improve well-being of slum dwellers
Common characteristics of slums are high crime rate, gender based violence, poor health services, water quality, poor sanitation and severe poverty. These living conditions deteriorates people’s well-being. In addition, population in slums continue to grow due to urbanisation. Generally, most developing countries are not able to deal with the situation effectively because of constraint financial resources. However, numerous international organisations provide funds to improve slum conditions (Mutisya and Yarim, 2011). These international organisations includes Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that work with Community Based Organisations (CBOs), financial institutions, private sector, Multilateral and Bilateral agencies in collaboration with recipient governments and civil society to improve people’s livelihoods in slums (Cronin and Guthrie, 2011). Some of the interventions includes construction of schools, water kiosks, health centres and building pit latrines or toilets.
Interventions by Government and

According to Cronin and Guthrie (2011), government have control of upgrading programs in slums and in reforming policies on informal settlements to ensure that benefits reaches all vulnerable people in slums. For instance, In Kenya, the government allocated funds to upgrading slums in national budget. Furthermore, UN-Habitat together with developing governments spent US$11.05 billion on improved and sustainable urban living conditions. As part of this fund, the government has constructed houses in slums for people who are in most need of shelter. Governments work together with the community in identifying the vulnerable in the community to settle in the houses and pay rent for about US$40 per