1

DIVIDED CITY DIVIDED CITY DIVIDED CITY DIVIDED CITY

INFORMATION POVERTY IN NAIROBI’S SLUMS INFORMATION POVERTY IN NAIROBI’S SLUMS INFORMATION POVERTY IN NAIROBI’S SLUMS INFORMATION POVERTY IN NAIROBI’S SLUMS

bbbbyyyy

Rasna Warah Rasna Warah Rasna Warah Rasna Warah

Paper prepared forPaper prepared forPaper prepared forPaper prepared for the the the the Dialogue on “Communication and Cultural Diversity”,Dialogue on “Communication and Cultural Diversity”,Dialogue on “Communication and Cultural Diversity”,Dialogue on “Communication and Cultural Diversity”,

Forum Barcelona 2004Forum Barcelona 2004Forum Barcelona 2004Forum Barcelona 2004 Barcelona, Spain Barcelona, Spain Barcelona, Spain Barcelona, Spain

24242424----27 May 200427 May 200427 May 200427 May 2004

2

IntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroduction

IIIINFORMATION POVERTY IN THE INFORMATION AGENFORMATION POVERTY IN THE INFORMATION AGENFORMATION POVERTY IN THE INFORMATION AGENFORMATION POVERTY IN THE INFORMATION AGE

In the last few years, more and more development agencies are recognizing that knowledge and information can mitigate risk and improve the livelihoods of the poor. Not knowing about their rights, services they could access, plans for their areas, or what options there are for tackling certain problems puts the poor at a disadvantage and increases their vulnerability. One study in India, for instance, found a high correlation between access to newspapers in a region and its ability to avert floods or droughts (Besley and Burgess 2000). The Internet is prompting a sea-change in international development thinking and many governments, donors and multilateral organizations are radically re-shaping their policies in the new information age. (Panos London 1998a). This has led to the “informationalization” of development initiatives. ICTs are now seen as the key to economic development and tools of political empowerment that can transcend traditional North-South, rich-poor divisions. Nonetheless, there is also a growing debate among development practitioners whether the claims for ICTs, the Internet in particular, are exaggerated. The debate centres on prioritising needs: how important is the Internet is an area without safe water or telephone lines? Given a choice, will a rural hospital accept a free computer or free medicine? (Panos 1998a) Some organizations are sceptical about prioritising Internet access in an environment where access to basic infrastructure is a bigger problem. The real question, however, remains whether access to ICTs will itself be a weapon against poverty. This is debateable, but evidence shows that when ICTs are placed in an enabling environment and are adapted to the needs of those who use them, they can improve livelihoods. As Thomas Friedman (2000: 356) notes, how societies are governed remains the most important variable in combating poverty. When you put assets in the hands of the poor in a politically distorted environment, he argues, not much happens. But if you put these same assets in reasonably free and stable environments, a lot can happen. “Poor countries such as Kenya and Zambia have fallen behind in the globalization age,” he writes, “not because globalization has failed them, but because they failed to put in place even the minimum political, economic and legal infrastructure to take advantage of globalization.” However, as Castells (1995) reminds us, the capacity to operate in the new informational paradigm goes beyond installing and using computers. It depends, first of all, on the quality of labour. In this regard, education becomes the most strategic investment for countries, not just investment in engineers and computer scientists, but in the simplification of information-based machines. What really matters, he says, is the ability to generate knowledge and to process information, which is not a function of computer literacy, but of education at large. The last decade has offered enormous opportunities to shorten the information and communication gap between governments, development agencies and ordinary

3

citizens. ICTs have led to more egalitarian forms of governance. E-governance and e-mail pressure groups have been able to transform the way cities are run. The Internet, mobile phones and other new information technologies have offered more opportunities to those who have been able to harness and use the technology to improve their own livelihoods. In Bangladesh, for instance, GrameenPhone Ltd. has helped thousands of poor rural women to earn a living and improve mobile phone connectivity in the remotest parts of the country (Friedman: 2000:360). In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Viva Favela, a donor- and private sector-funded web site devoted exclusively to the interests of the city’s slum dwellers, has enabled hundreds of impoverished youth to find employment and get the latest health information (Warah 2003). Because of their ability to raze geographical, social, economic and cultural barriers, ICTs have the potential of overcoming inequalities in society and becoming a catalyst for development. Sam Pitroda (1993), India’s visionary technologist, referred to ICTs as “the most democratizing tool ever devised”. However, while new information technologies have the potential of breaking social, economic and political barriers, and creating more egalitarian societies, they have also had the net effect of increasing political, economic and social divisions in society. The “digital divide” (those who have access to information technology and those who do not) is getting wider, resulting in what Manuel Castells calls “the Fourth World”– large sections of the world’s population, concentrated mainly in Africa, Asia and Latin America, who remain untouched by the new information and communication technology revolution, and therefore, remain passive victims of global forces, rather than active participants or key players (Castells 1998, 2000:68). The social and economic cores and peripheries of the global information age and the global economy are not only continents apart but can also be found geographically adjacent to each other within individual cities. (UNCHS 2001:233) The costs and benefits of globalization are unevenly distributed not only between cities of the North and South, but also within cities. Enclaves of “super-connected” people, firms and institutions, with their increasing broadband connections to the world via the Internet, mobile phones and satellite television, exist side-by-side with large numbers of people who have never made a phone call or used the Internet. In many cities, the urban poor now have to deal with another form of social exclusion. Language, education and infrastructure barriers continue to ensure that the poor in cities such as Nairobi remain untouched by the information revolution. Because connectivity and informational capacity will determine wealth and power in our time, the urban poor risk being even more marginalized and impoverished. Their poverty will not just be measured by their income or their assets, but also be their ability to generate, process, receive and disseminate information, or what I refer to as their “information poverty”.

4

BackgroundBackgroundBackgroundBackground

NairobiNairobiNairobiNairobi:::: City of Slums City of Slums City of Slums City of Slums

“Cities’ strategies for development in the new global system must emphasize three major issues: their connectivity, their informational capacity, and their ability to manage social integration. Since the dominant functions of our economic systems operate increasingly on a global scale (even if the majority of economic activity does not) cities that are switched-off from the system of global exchanges will be increasingly marginalized, and ultimately impoverished.” -- Manuel Castells (1995) This study sought to determine the nature and extent of “information poverty” among Nairobi’s slum dwellers. However, in order to fully understand the level of information poverty in the city’s slums, it is important to place this poverty in the context of global, regional and national trends. These include the growing urbanization of poverty and Africa’s digital exclusion. Both these phenomena pose enormous political, financial, infrastructure challenges and impact the ability of slum dwellers to participate effectively in the information age. The Urbanization of PovertyThe Urbanization of PovertyThe Urbanization of PovertyThe Urbanization of Poverty At the end of the 20th century, a series of inter-governmental meetings convened by the United Nations identified a range of global urban issues that needed to be addressed, including: a) increased homelessness and overcrowding in urban areas; b) huge backlogs of delivery of basic services to urban residents; and c) increasing inequality in cities, manifested by stark residential segregation and urban violence (Mehta 2000). The world is becoming increasing urban, which means that more poor people live in urban areas than ever before. In 1900 only 14% of the world’s population lived in cities. By 2001, an estimated 47.7% of the world’s population was urban (United Nations Population Division 2002). Almost a third of this population lives in life and health-threatening conditions, with little access to basic services or adequate housing i.e. in slum conditions. It is estimated that in 2001, 924 million people, or 31.6% of the world’s total urban population, lived in slums. In the next 30 years, this figure is projected to double to almost 2 billion – unless drastic policy changes are put in place to alter this projection (UN-HABITAT 2003a:xxv). This suggests that the spatial landscape of poverty is increasingly urban in nature. At 71.9%, sub-Saharan Africa has the largest proportion of the urban population resident in slums. Although in terms of sheer numbers, Asia hosts the largest number of slum dwellers (554 million or 60% of the world’s total in 2001), Africa is rapidly becoming a continent of slums; 166 million out of a total of 231 million urban

5

residents in sub-Saharan Africa are classified as slum dwellers (UN-HABITAT 2003a:14)). (UN-HABITAT defines a slum household as a group of individuals living under the same roof that lack one or more of the following conditions: access to safe water; sanitation; secure tenure; durability of housing; and sufficient living area (UN-HABITAT 2003b:8)). Slums represent the “invisible” or informal part of the city, denied services and resources that are available to the “visible” or formal part, even though in many developing countries, slum residents represent over 50% of the city’s population. Slums are an expression of urban poverty, yet most governments do not recognize slums, or informal settlements, in their urban plans, which make the situation of slums even more precarious. In addition, there is generally an absence of data on slums in official statistics, which shows that slums represent “zones of silence” in terms of public knowledge. (UN-HABITAT 2003b:54). Much of this data is also scattered in various government, NGO and donor databases, which considerably limits their accessibility, utilisation, sharing and lesson-learning (Taylor and Gitau 2003b) Africa’s Digital ExclusionAfrica’s Digital ExclusionAfrica’s Digital ExclusionAfrica’s Digital Exclusion With the exception of South Africa (which has a high level of industrialization and a more diversified economy), most countries in sub-Saharan Africa have been bypassed by the information and communication technology revolution altogether. Africa lags behind every other continent in the use of media tools and technologies. In 2000, out of a total of 800 million people, only 1 in 4 had a radio, 1 in 13 a television set, 1 in 40 a telephone and 1 in 130 a computer (Mutume 2003). Internet users (as percentage of population) in the year 2000Internet users (as percentage of population) in the year 2000Internet users (as percentage of population) in the year 2000Internet users (as percentage of population) in the year 2000 United States 54.3 High-income OECD (excl. US) 28.2 Latin America and the Caribbean 3.2 East Asia and the Pacific 2.3 Eastern Europe and CIS 3.9 Arab States 0.6 Sub-Saharan Africa 0.4 South Asia 0.4 World 6.7 Source: UNDP Human Development Report Office calculations based on data supplied by Nua Publish 2001 and United Nations Population Division Database 2001, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, New York. In 2000, only 0.4% of Sub-Saharan Africans had used the Internet, compared to 54.3% Americans (UNDP 2001:40). If one excludes South Africa, this percentage drops drastically to 0.04% or less than 3 million people (Mutume 2003). Not only is Africa the least computerised region in the world, it does not have the skills and

6

knowledge required to make use of computers, including systems analysis, programming, maintenance and consulting. In addition, most countries lack the educational and training facilities needed to help people acquire the proper computer skills. Only a handful of countries offer university-level education in computer science. (Odedra 1993). Africa’s digital exclusion is intimately linked to its lack of infrastructure to support technological innovations. Access to electricity and telephones, which are necessary pre-conditions for access to the Internet, remains dismally low in most parts of the continent. In 1994, Africa accounted for only 2% of the world’s telephone lines and rural electrification remains a dream yet to be realised in most parts of the region (Hall, 1995). Poverty and a poor telecommunications infrastructure mean that Internet access is largely restricted to the urban elite. The cost of personal computers also remains out of the reach of most Africans. Telecentres and cyber cafés may have made Internet access more affordable, but the cost is still only affordable to the middle and upper classes. Cheap computers with non-propriety software, designed to be shared at public libraries, cyber cafés and telecentres, could bring Internet access to more people in Africa, but these options have not yet been fully explored or implemented (Worldwatch Institute 2003:60).

However, while Internet access is costly and heavily dependant on the existence of infrastructure such as electricity and land telephone lines, other ICTs, such as the mobile phone, appear to be becoming a more powerful force of change on the continent. The number of mobile subscribers on the continent has grown dramatically to 34.3 million (www.cellular.co.za.), mainly due to the fact that mobile phone operations are cheaper to build than fixed line systems and also because the costs of handsets are dropping everyday. In 1999, Uganda became the first African country to have more mobile than fixed-line customers; today mobile phones outnumber fixed lines in Africa at a higher ratio than on any other continent (International Telecommunications Union 2002). Once a status symbol, the mobile phone has over the years become a democratising influence in Africa’s rural and urban areas, and also an important investment for entrepreneurs in the informal sector. The typical mobile user on the continent is more likely to be a taxi driver, a farmer, a cow herdsman, a market trader, a plumber or street hawker rather than a corporate executive (Ashurst 2004). The mobile phone has extended telephone services to those who survived outside the formal economy, and has enabled many to improve and extend the services they provide. However, radio still remains the most accessible medium in most African countries. Radio reaches an estimated 60% of Africa’s population (Chetty 2003), making it the most powerful medium of communication on the continent.

7

The State of Nairobi’s SlumsThe State of Nairobi’s SlumsThe State of Nairobi’s SlumsThe State of Nairobi’s Slums Note: The United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) was elevated to a Programme of the United Nations in December 2001, and is now known as the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). References reflect the name of the organization at the time when the reports/documents cited below were published. The population of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, has grown more than ten-fold since 1960, from approximately 219,000 people to an estimated 2.31 million people in 2000, or 7.7% of Kenya’s total population (DFID 2000). An estimated 60% of the city’s population lives in slums and informal settlements (Government of Kenya/UNCHS 2001:1). The roots of the formation of Nairobi’s slums can be traced back to the pre-independence period when urban planning was based on government-sanctioned population segregation where African, Asian and European populations were separated physically through separate residential areas, with each area being allocated different public resources (UN-HABITAT 2003a:219). (In the urban colonial hierarchy, Europeans got the best residential areas with the best infrastructure, Asians lived in slightly worse off but denser parts of the city, while Africans were squeezed into the worst and densest parts of city, with the least access to public services and infrastructure.) At independence in 1963, the Government of Kenya tried to fulfill expectations of emancipation for land and shelter with a policy of desegregation and allocation of land to the dispossessed. Although any resident of Nairobi could live in any part of the city, if he/she chose to do so, few Africans could afford to move out of the poorer sections of the city, which ensured that de facto segregation persisted even after independence. In the 1960s, slums were already a feature of urban life in Kenya and the new government tried to institute slum clearance and containment policies which were prevalent in other parts of the world at that time. However, this policy did not work because slum clearance only led to the proliferation of new slums in other parts of the city. In the 1970s, the Government tried sites and service schemes, but even these failed to improve the life of slum dwellers, as they tended to exclude the poorest sections of the population and were prone to corruption in the allocation procedures (Government of Kenya/UNCHS:1). In 1986, the Government ushered in the implementation of the World Bank/IMF Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs), which were expected to lead to economic growth. SAPSs required that the state withdraw from service provision and government subsidies. However, these policies adversely affected the poor, and led to the proliferation of more slums in the city (Government of Kenya/UNCHS: 123). Between 1971 and 1995, the number of informal settlements and slums within Nairobi rose from 50 to 134, while the estimated total population of these settlements increased from 167,000 to some 1,886,000 individuals (UN-HABITAT 2003a: 219). The size and densities of these settlements vary from a few hundred people to

8

hundreds of thousands of people. Kibera, the largest of these settlements – which is estimated to have a population of between 700,000 and 1,000,000 – is considered to be the largest slum in Africa, if not the world. (Accurate estimates of population levels in these settlements are notoriously difficult to obtain, given the inadequacy of the official census counts and the different methodologies applied in the various baseline surveys that have been undertaken (Taylor and Gitau 2003b)). Today, both natural growth and rural-to-urban migration continue to contribute to the growth of Nairobi’s slums and informal settlements. These slums provide a large proportion of the formal and informal labour force in the city and, it has been argued, play a useful role in providing cheap housing for those who cannot, or, as likely, will not, want to spend any more on housing than they possibly can (Mumtaz 2001). Life in Nairobi’s slums is not easy by any standard. As many as 1200 people live on one square hectare, most in shacks as small as 10X10 feet. Tenure for many who live and work in the settlements is insecure. Slums occupy only 5% of the residential land in the city, half of which belongs to the state. However, individuals have over time negotiated informal arrangements with the authorities to erect structures and collect rents. Most slum dwellers do not own the structures in which they live. (Government of Kenya/UNCHS 2001: 1) The majority of slum dwellers in Nairobi are tenants, paying between Kshs. 200 ($3) to KShs. 3000 (US$45) for a room. The average monthly salary of a slum dweller in Nairobi is Kshs. 3000 (US $40), slightly above the official poverty line of Kshs.2,648 (US$ 39) per adult person per month (Central Bureau of Statistics 2000). Meanwhile, the gap between the rich and poor grows even wider. Most slums in the city border affluent residential estates, where the price of a house can range from KShs. 4 million ($60,000) to KShs. 30 million ($ 450,000). This is a city where it is not uncommon to find palatial houses situated only a few metres away from shacks. Provision of basic services in slums is extremely scant or non-existent. As many as 400 people can end up sharing one toilet, with the result that slum dwellers have dug up pit latrines in slums, which pose additional health and environmental hazards, besides eroding the dignity and self-respect of residents. Water, electricity, cooking fuel, schools and other services are in short supply. (Government of Kenya/UNCHS 2001: 1). The Nairobi City Council, which is the main authority charged with the provision and management of services within the city, cannot cope with the problem due to a combination of factors: the poor economic situation in the country; rapid urban growth; limited resources; inefficient revenue collection; corruption; and strict control by the Ministry of Local Government. Although the new government elected in 2002 is committed to decentralising power by empowering local authorities, these policies are still not in place, and the situation of service delivery to the urban poor is not about to change drastically in the short-term. Moreover, most of the services provided through government channels are not targeted at the urban poor. Most basic services, such as roads and electricity, barely extend to the informal settlements as these do not fall under the official “planned areas” of the city, and are generally regarded as “illegal”. Therefore, the authorities

9

have no statutory obligation to provide services to these areas (Taylor and Gitau 2003a: 12) Slum dwellers who reside in these settlements have no choice but to make their own arrangements to gain access to these services, such as through water kiosks and by “stealing” electricity from the mains. Some church and non-governmental organizations have tried to fill in the shortfall in services, but clearly demand outstrips supply. The Sights and Smells ofThe Sights and Smells ofThe Sights and Smells ofThe Sights and Smells of Kibera Kibera Kibera Kibera In September 2002, Bill Bryson, the celebrated travel writer, arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, on a CARE International-funded tour of the country. His first stop was Kibera, Africa’s largest slum. In his subsequent book African Diary, Bryson (2002:17) was to say of Kibera: “Whatever is the most awful place you have experienced, Kibera is worse.” CARE International had also invited me to come along on the tour. Here are excerpts of an article I wrote for The East African, in which I give my own impressions of the slum. We knew our tour of Kibera has begun when the first whiff of raw sewage entered our nostrils. We entered the slum through a dirt road by literally jumping over what looked like a ‘natural’ drain hosting a variety of greyish-brown matter laced with soap suds. Four toilets, with freshly painted – and padlocked – green doors stood proudly on raised ground overlooking the slum. These, we were told, were toilets built by landlords to service the 4000 residents who lived in the area, each of whom paid KShs.500 ($6) per year for the privilege. An average of 1000 people per toilet. A recent enumeration exercise showed that the average toilet to person ratio in Nairobi’s slums is 1:500. This was far worse than I expected. I wondered how long the queues would be outside the toilets at six in the morning before the slum dwellers began their trek to work. Or how many ‘flying toilets’ were hurled during peak hours. The sights and smells of Kibera had now become progressively more intense. I wished then that we had eased the writer into Nairobi life by taking him to a museum or an upmarket pub. He had never been to a slum before, and I could sense his discomfort, not at being there, but at the realization that such places existed. (Later, he told one of our companions that before he came to Kibera, he thought poverty meant ‘not being able to afford a second TV’. He is, of course, a satirical writer.) As we approached the ‘main street’ in the area, children in their Sunday best chanted ‘Mzungu, mzungu’ (white man) upon seeing us. They had just been to church, faces scrubbed, shoes polished. The bars, restaurants, butcheries and hair salons (one appropriately christened ‘Curl Up and Dye’) had opened for business. A young couple, clearly in love, shared a Fanta in a restaurant. Smells of chips, mandazi (doughnuts), roast meat and urine mingled to create an intoxicating odour. A preacher’s sermon, amplified by a loudspeaker, competed with hip hop music from a nearby radio. A Salvation Army band marched past a stray dog basking in the sun. I thought of Patrick Obwaya, a night guard living in Kibera’s notorious Laini Saba area, the densest and poorest section of the slum, which hosts at least 35,000 people. Obwaya, who came to Laini Saba 19 years ago, lives in an 8X8 foot mud-walled room covered with corrugated iron sheets. His landlady, a city doctor, to whom he pays KShs. 420 ($5) every month, owns 20 such structures in Laini Saba. The shack itself is dark and cramped, but there are cheerful images plastered on each wall: a photo of him and his wife at their wedding; posters of smiling children from a toothpaste advertisement; a seductive image of a Bollywood actress cut out of a calendar; a calming picture of Mother Theresa and a fading newspaper photo of Kenya first president, Jomo Kenyatta. Happy, positive images, flickers of hope in a sea of misery.” Source: Warah (2002/2003) GGGGrowing Polarizationrowing Polarizationrowing Polarizationrowing Polarization and Conflict and Conflict and Conflict and Conflict

10

A decade ago, Robert D. Kaplan (1994) predicted a future where wars will be urban-based, undeclared, and between marginalized and privileged communities within the same city. Indeed, the growth of slums in an era of unprecedented economic prosperity can, and does, contribute to tensions that can threaten local, national and even global security (Sheehan 2002). Evidence suggests that cities that are unable to bridge income inequalities and manage social integration are likely to be more violent and insecure than those that are less polarized and more integrated. Growing polarization between the rich and the poor has contributed to the growth of “gated communities” in cities, a new type of social apartheid in which the rich and the poor appear to belong to different worlds and inhabit separate spaces. Pro-poor, participatory policies and approaches can go a long way in alleviating violence and social exclusion in cities. However, although on paper, “participation” has been the new buzz word in the development world in the last decade, participatory approaches end up being merely “symbolic consultations”, whereby the poor, or their representatives, are invited to meetings and allowed to say a few words, but the decision- and policy-making is left to those in power. Government officials seem reluctant to give real power to those they intend to benefit, perhaps because it justifies their own position, but also because they believe that the poor do not possess the knowledge to make informed decisions. This attitude is self-defeating because if the poor are to participate effectively in policy formulation, they need timely, relevant and clear information and analysis on political and economic issues and the agendas of the various agencies and organizations working with them. Moreover, evidence has shown that when beneficiaries have an opportunity to deliberate on issues that affect them, when they can weigh the pros and cons of different choices, they ultimately accept responsibility for them, and arrive at mature judgements, rather than superficial, volatile opinions. This lack of dialogue and communication between development agencies, governments and citizens has been the source of innumerable conflicts in Kenya’s capital city Nairobi, where violent clashes between the authorities, private developers and slum dwellers has been a feature of urban life for many years. In June 2003, for instance, thirteen members of a hired eviction squad were battered to death by residents of a low-income settlement in Nairobi when the squad forcibly tried to evict tenants who had not paid rent for two months (Muiruri 2003). In December 2001, violence broke out in Kibera, Nairobi’s largest and densest slum, when tenants demanded that landlords reduce rents by 50%. (Muriuki 2001). Slum residents have also been targets of extreme violence by the state and greedy landlords. According to Odindo Opiata (2003), the Coordinator of Legal Services and Community Partnerships at Kituo cha Sheria, a legal aid NGO in Nairobi, lack of information flow between the authorities and slum dwellers threatens to polarize residents even further and result in more disputes in Kenya’s major cities. If information and communication can avert conflict and promote development, then it is important to know how the poor obtain information and what channels of communication are available to them.

METHODOLOGY

11

The Scope of the StudyThe Scope of the StudyThe Scope of the StudyThe Scope of the Study This study focused exclusively on the issue of access to traditional media and ICTs, while trying not to make judgements on the knowledge and capacity of those who do or do not have access to media and ICTs. Information poverty is thus defined as “deprivation in access to traditional media and information and communication technologies”. The questions posed were: a) if access to traditional media and new information and communication technologies (ICTs) is a prerequisite to development in the information age, then what is the level of “information poverty” (which I define as “deprivation in access to traditional media and ICTs”) among Nairobi’s slum dwellers; and b) assuming that there is limited use of traditional media and ICTs in Nairobi’s slums, what other mechanisms exist or have been developed to overcome “information poverty” and to reduce the information chasm between the “connected” and “unconnected” sections of the city’s population? (For the purposes of this study, traditional media comprises newspapers, radio and television and ICTs comprise wireless and computer-based technologies, including mobile phones and the Internet.) However, by focusing on the issue of access only, the study runs the risk of making erroneous conclusions on the level of information poverty in slums. Nonetheless, it tries to balance these conclusions by trying to distinguish information poverty from other forms of poverty (such as lack of social assets), recognizing that poverty in one dimension can mean wealth in another. However, there is implicit endorsement of the view that those who are left out of the information revolution are condemned to marginalization and exclusion, a view that is generally accepted within the informational paradigm. Due to the small size of the sample, and lack of resources to conduct a wider survey, this study does not pretend to be scientific in its findings. However, it is presumed that the findings are a somewhat accurate reflection of the state of information poverty in Nairobi’s slums. The findings apply to the sample surveyed, but could apply to slum populations within the city as a whole, as the sample was representative of the total population from which it was drawn. A combination of methods was used to determine the level of information poverty in Nairobi’s slums:

• Literature survey: An extensive literature review was conducted to determine major trends in the field of communication for development with a view to assessing the nature and scale of information poverty in Nairobi’s slums. Of particular interest was an international research project, implemented by ITDG and funded by DFID, which explored the knowledge and information systems

12

of the urban poor in three countries – Peru, Sri Lanka (Schilderman 2003). This report informed and confirmed many of the findings of my own research.

• Questionnaire: A questionnaire was prepared and distributed to 30 slum

dwellers attending a meeting held on 25 September 2003 and organised by Kituo Cha Sheria to engage slum dwellers and government and other stakeholders in discussing a draft housing policy for Kenya. The reason for selecting this meeting for the distribution of questionnaires was because it brought together participants came from various slums in the city, and therefore, offered a representative sample of the slum population of the city. Moreover, as the slum dwellers were there to voice their concerns and present their views on Kenya’s housing policy, they were more likely to answer the questions accurately, without shame or suspicion. Only those participants who resided in Nairobi’s slums were asked to fill the questionnaire. A total of 30 participants responded. Although the size of the sample for this survey was small (only 30 people), they were representative of the population from which they were drawn. Slum communities, from the biggest to the smallest, were represented. Respondents’ occupations ranged from casual labourers to civic educators and their incomes ranged from Shs. 2000 to 15000 ($30 to $220) a month . 22 of the respondents were male; 8 were female. This imbalance, unfortunately, did not allow for accurate gender analysis of the responses.

The questionnaire, which was in two languages – English and Kiswahili – asked the respondents to answer three main questions:

Question 1) To identify main sources of news by ticking no more than three of the following:

a. TV b. Radio c. Telephone d. Newspaper e. Neighbour f. Employer g. Community Member h. Church i. Government official

Question 2) To identify the main source of information on where and how to find housing in slums and informal settlements. In this case, no choice was provided. Respondents had to write down the answers. Question 3) To answer Yes/No to the following question: Do you have access to the Internet in your neighbourhood or place of work? Question 1 sought to determine how slum dwellers obtain general information on news and current events in the country or in the city. Out of a total of 9 choices, respondents were asked to tick only 3 to determine those that were most important and accessible to them.

13

By then focusing on a livelihood issue (housing), Question 2 sought to determine whether the sources of information on livelihood issues were the same as sources of news and current events information. Question 3 sought to determine the level and nature of information poverty, in terms of ICT access -- in slums.

b) Semi-structured interviews: Semi-structured interviews, or “friendly conversations”, were conducted with some of the respondents in order to clarify or elaborate on some of the responses they had given in the questionnaire. These interviews provided additional insight into the information sources of slum dwellers in Nairobi.

ResultsResultsResultsResults and Analysis and Analysis and Analysis and Analysis 30 respondents from various slums around the city filled out the questionnaire. 22 were male, 8 were female. Their work/professions ranged from skilled to semi-skilled jobs. Of the 30, 1 was a nurse’s aide, 1 was a human rights activist, 7 were self-employed entrepreneurs, 1 was a community health worker, 4 were hawkers, 3 were civic educators, 1 was a trainer (did not specify in what), 1 was a casual labourer, 1 was a retrenched civil servant, 1 was a cobbler, 1 was a laundress, 1 was a gardener, 2 were carpenters, 1 was a security guard and 4 were unemployed. The sample was drawn from a cross-section of Nairobi’s slums, including Kibera, Kangemi, Mtumba Wilson, Mathare 3 B, Kiambiu, Kayaba, K.C.C. Village (Kariobangi South), Waruku Village, Korogocho, Deep Sea and Toi Market. The questionnaire results showed that traditional media (radio, newspapers and TV) are the most important sources of news on current events among slum dwellers. 29 out of 30 (96%) said they got their news from radio; 23 (76%) said they read it in newspapers; and 15 (50%) said they saw it on television. 9 (30%) respondents said they got the news from community members, 4 (13%) said they heard it in church. 4 (13%) said they got the news over the telephone. Only one respondent each citied a government official or their employer as sources of news. (Note: percentages do not add up to 100 as respondents were asked to tick 3 sources, not one, so there was significant overlap.) However, when it came to a livelihood issue (housing), the role of traditional mainstream media (radio, TV and newspapers) became less important, although over a third of respondents still relied on these sources for information. In this case, social networks (friends, family, neighbours, community and church members) became more important. Of the 26 people who responded to Question 2, 10 (39%) said they learned about where to find a house from the media (newspapers and radio). 5 (19%) said they asked Kituo cha Sheria, the NGO that had organized the meeting that they were attending; 2 (7%) said they got the information from the government or local

14

authority, the rest (9 out of 26 or 35%) cited friends, relatives, neighbours, community members and the church as the main sources of information on housing. If NGOs are included in the social network of slum dwellers (along with friends, relatives, neighbours, community members and religious organizations), then social networks became more significant as sources of information on livelihood issues, with over half of the respondents (54%) citing these networks as the main source of information on housing. One respondent explained to me how he got to live in his one-room house in Kangemi (translated from Kiswahili): “The first thing you have to do when you come to Nairobi is to move in with relatives from the village who already live in the city. Then you begin to look for jobs. Once you have found a job, you ask people in the neighbourhood if there are other houses in the area that you can rent. This is how I got to find a house near my brother in Kangemi.” When asked why he chose to live in that particular house in Kangemi, the respondent said that not only was it near his brother, but it was large enough to accommodate his wife and children from his village in Western Kenya, who visit him in Nairobi once a year. The findings show that government institutions are not the main source of information on housing, which means that the poor often have to rely on non-governmental organizations (who take on the role of infomediaries or key informants) or their own social networks to obtain accurate information on housing issues. Clearly, central and local governments have played an insignificant role in directly providing news to slum dwellers, although slum dwellers do obtain news from state-owned radio and television stations. In fact, the government is often seen as a source of disinformation, and this can be the source of suspicion and conflict. Recent slum-upgrading initiatives in the city are a case in point. The authorities often failed to inform the residents of the plans for their areas, which led to violence and protests in slums, and even led to riots in which people were killed. On how NGOs such as Kituo cha Sheria go about improving the information/communication gap between slum dwellers and the authorities, Odindo Opiata (2004) of Kituo cha Sheria had this to say: “Our sessions with slum dwellers are aimed at ensuring real as opposed to symbolic participation. Before any session, we normally hold informal meetings with the leaders during which we share with them relevant information so that at the sessions they are able to make informed contributions and assist in guiding the discussions. We see our role as merely intervening to give some technical input and we deliberately ensure that the slum dwellers are the main speakers. Above all, we insist that all participants speak Kiswahili, including our NGO partners, for our experience shows that in most of the meetings where slum dwellers are invited, the language used ( English) alienates them.

15

“Besides these sessions, we have now also institutionalized the process of making available important information accessible to the slum dwellers. For instance, we are the ones who availed copies of the Government of Kenya/UN-HABITAT Memorandum of Understanding (on slum-upgrading in Nairobi) to them although we have yet to repackage and translate it into Kiswahili. We have also decided to have all our publications on housing done in Kiswahili. These initiatives may have in some way contributed to the slum dwellers’ ability to engage directly with the authorities.” Interestingly, for one respondent, the main source of information on any livelihood issue was the local village- or tribe-based welfare committee. The respondent, who hails from Busia in Western Kenya, is a member of the Lelekwe Partnership Group comprising people who left Busia to live and work in Nairobi, including the area Member of Parliament. The Group meets periodically to address issues affecting the community. Funerals, an extravagant, but significant aspect of social life in Africa, are top of the Group’s priorities, and members often meet to raise funds for funeral expenses of members and their families, which includes transporting the bodies back to Busia for burial. Surprisingly, a total of 6 (20%) respondents said they had access to the Internet. Of these, 4 were civic and human rights educators and trainers, who had access to the Internet through their affiliation with NGO networks, and as part of their job. The 2 others had access in their neighbourhood or at their place of work. Three respondents admitted that they had never heard of the Internet and did not know how to respond to Question 3. Said one respondent: “I don’t know what this Internet thing is. I have never come across it.” Another respondent (a carpenter) said: “We don’t have it, but we need to use it quite a lot.” The results of the questionnaire show that radio is the most important medium of information on current events among the urban poor. This finding confirms many other surveys which show that in Africa, radio is still the most important medium, and will remain so for many years to come. The surprising finding was that a large proportion of the sample relied on newspapers and television for news. Subsequent interviews revealed that while few slum dwellers purchase newspapers, they do have access to them at their places of work. Similarly, while few own their own television sets, they do have access to television in their neighbourhoods, either at bars, community centres or police stations (which serve as community centres in some areas) or via TV and video halls within slums where residents pay a small fee per hour (an average of $0.25) to watch television or films. One respondent, who lives near a hospital, watches television in the hospital’s visitors’ lounge in the casualty ward, which is accessible 24 hours a day, and open to all.

16

Also, while fixed land lines are virtually non-existent in slums, the majority (3 out of 4 or 75%) of the respondents that did cite the telephone as a source of information were self-employed. This suggests that their telephone access was via mobile phones or telephone booths, as none of them worked in an office or in the formal sector, where land telephone lines would be more accessible. Mobile phones have also contributed to sustaining rural-urban linkages alive. For instance, one slum dweller has distributed his employer’s mobile phone number to all his relatives in the village from where he comes. This way, when there is a tragedy in the family (a death or crisis) the employer gets a text message, which he conveys to the slum dweller. In this case, having personal access to a mobile phone is not important. In the slum dweller’s village there a few, if any, fixed telephone lines, so the mobile phone has offered a valuable opportunity to those who previously relied mainly on postal services to keep in touch with their families in urban areas. Internet access, as expected, remains low in slums, but those that do have access gain access through their work, mostly with NGOs and civic education bodies. This shows that NGOs and other organizations working in poor communities can be the catalysts for promoting ICT access within these communities. An analysis of language and imagery among slum dwellers provides some clues as to how they view themselves. Slum dwellers in Nairobi use the Kiswahili word “kijiji”, which means village, when referring to the place where they live. This was also reflected in the questionnaire, where when asked where they lived, not one said “Nairobi”. All mentioned the slum in which they lived, even if the slum was located within a officially-recognized constituency of the city. (For instance, even though residents of Kibera are located within the Langata constituency of Nairobi, none of the Kibera residents said they lived in Langata.) This can mean one of two things: slum dwellers view the living conditions of slums as being similar to village life, therefore do not make a distinction between their degraded urban lifestyle and the impoverished rural one they left behind. Or it could mean that they do not view themselves as citizens of the city, as they are excluded from those basic urban services that characterise urban life. Hence, they see themselves as living “outside” the city i.e. in a village. By calling themselves villagers, they are reminding themselves what they are not (city dwellers).

17

KKKKEY FINDINGSEY FINDINGSEY FINDINGSEY FINDINGS Social cSocial cSocial cSocial capital can make the difference between apital can make the difference between apital can make the difference between apital can make the difference between relative relative relative relative informationinformationinformationinformation poverty and absolute poverty and absolute poverty and absolute poverty and absolute inforinforinforinformationmationmationmation povertypovertypovertypoverty in slums in slums in slums in slums, and can be the , and can be the , and can be the , and can be the basis of personal, relational and collective empowerment. basis of personal, relational and collective empowerment. basis of personal, relational and collective empowerment. basis of personal, relational and collective empowerment. Slums with Slums with Slums with Slums with the highest social capital are also the most effective users of media and the highest social capital are also the most effective users of media and the highest social capital are also the most effective users of media and the highest social capital are also the most effective users of media and ICTs.ICTs.ICTs.ICTs. In essence, social capital refers to the presence of multiple networks of civic engagement that, through upholding norms and generating trust, facilitate cooperation for mutual benefit. In societies where there is a strong civic tradition, expressed, for example, by a vibrant associational life, high newspaper readership, and forms of political participation, those in power will be more responsive and accountable to citizens, and more ready to seek pragmatic compromise with political opponents (Putnam 1993). Links to family-based networks, occupation-based groups of mutual help, rotating savings and credit groups, and other groups and associations to which a household belongs – all part of the household’s social capital – can be the source of transfers in cash or kind in the event of a calamity or job loss. They can also help develop individual consciousness and confidence, increase one’s ability to negotiate with the authorities and influence political processes. However, many factors inhibit the development of social capital, including: crime within the community (which may prevent people from going out and meeting other people in their social networks); political affiliation (where people supporting a particular party are more privileged in terms of accessing resources and information than those who are not); lack of trust within the community (when networks break down due to disputes or conflicts over resources e.g inheritance claims, politically-instigated ethnic strife etc.) (Ruskulis 2001:12-14) This study has clearly demonstrated that social capital plays a key role in determining who is informed and who is uninformed in slum settlements, particularly on livelihood issues. Although the reliability of the information obtained through these sources can be questioned, there is no doubt that this form of capital plays a significant role in the lives and livelihoods of the poor. Slum dwellers who work with and are linked to various non-governmental organizations are also more likely to have access to ICTs and use them for their own and their community’s betterment. SocSocSocSocial networks are an importantial networks are an importantial networks are an importantial networks are an important source of information among the source of information among the source of information among the source of information among the urban poor.urban poor.urban poor.urban poor. It is evident from these studies that in most informal settlements, or slums, there are a multitude of local associations and networks on which the urban poor rely to obtain information, and which can be mobilised in order for the communities to gain access to land, resist eviction, provide themselves with water, manage savings and credit, or to raise funds for a particular project. The associations can be formal, informal, religious or ethnicity-based. They can manifest themselves through kinship ties, religious organizations, city-based federations, NGOs and even political parties.

18

These networks serve to fill the communication and information gap between slum dwellers and the authorities and are often an indicator of the level of poverty and deprivation in a community. Communities with strong social networks tend to be better informed than those where such networks are non-existent or have broken down. Modern information and coModern information and coModern information and coModern information and communication technologies (ICTs) have not mmunication technologies (ICTs) have not mmunication technologies (ICTs) have not mmunication technologies (ICTs) have not played a major roleplayed a major roleplayed a major roleplayed a major role in the lives of the urban poor, but have the potential in the lives of the urban poor, but have the potential in the lives of the urban poor, but have the potential in the lives of the urban poor, but have the potential to impact the urto impact the urto impact the urto impact the urban poor in positive waysban poor in positive waysban poor in positive waysban poor in positive ways.... Mobile phones, in particular, Mobile phones, in particular, Mobile phones, in particular, Mobile phones, in particular, have resulted in tangible benefits that have improved the livelihoohave resulted in tangible benefits that have improved the livelihoohave resulted in tangible benefits that have improved the livelihoohave resulted in tangible benefits that have improved the livelihoods of ds of ds of ds of slum dwellers.slum dwellers.slum dwellers.slum dwellers. Although this study had no way of verifying the numbers of mobile users in Nairobi’s slums, it is evident that the mobile phone is the only telephone service available to the urban poor in the city, as most slums, where the urban poor reside, lack the telecommunications infrastructure to support land lines. Regional trends and indicators show that mobile phone use on the continent has surpassed land telephone lines. This has improved connectivity in rural and urban areas and also given the poor in both rural and urban areas an opportunity to improve their livelihoods e.g. by gaining access to more timely information on markets and gaining direct access to customers. The mobile phone is predicted to become the most significant interactive medium available to Africans. However, while mobile phone use is set to increase among the urban and rural poor in Africa, the Internet still has a long way to go, and is not likely to impact the lives of the poor in the immediate future. Radio is stilRadio is stilRadio is stilRadio is still the main source of news and information among the urban l the main source of news and information among the urban l the main source of news and information among the urban l the main source of news and information among the urban poor.poor.poor.poor. Before we dismiss traditional media as out-dated and irrelevant in a globalizing world, it is important to note that radio is still the main source of news and information in Africa. It is the only medium which is transmitted to the remotest corners of the continent, and is often the only source of news among some rural and nomadic communities. Almost all the slum dwellers surveyed cited radio as a source of news. In fact radio was the most important medium of information in slums, and will continue to be so in the near future. Development interventions, particularly government campaigns, have recognized this fact, and do indeed use radio as a key channel for transmitting information on national development issues and priorities.

19

THE WAY FORWARDTHE WAY FORWARDTHE WAY FORWARDTHE WAY FORWARD Sam Pitroda, the visionary technologist who spearheaded India’s telecommunications revolution, referred to information and communication technology as “a great social leveller…second only to death”. Because of its ability to raze cultural barriers, overcome economic and social inequalities, this technology has the potential of being “the most democratizing tool ever devised” (Pitroda 1993). Indeed, mounting empirical evidence does lend support to the argument that ICTs are a powerful tool of development. The strong correlation between ICT access and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is undeniable, even for African countries (Chetty 2003). Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, ICTs have created new inequalities and new forms of social apartheid. “Connected” and “unconnected” segments of the population live in worlds separated by access to these technologies. Large proportions of the world remain untouched by the information revolution, and are doomed to further marginalization. Cities that do not make use of these technologies risk being relegated to “fourth world” status, unable to reap the benefits of global trade and real-time information flows. With the largest proportion of slum settlements in the world, Africa’s cities are the sites of extreme deprivation and poverty. Yet, in the right environment, these cities can overcome further exclusion by consciously seeking to improve ICT access, particularly among the urban poor. The recommendations below are not meant as prescriptions for urban poverty alleviation; they will not solve the problem of poverty in Nairobi, which has multiple causes and is complex and multidimensional. But they can go a long way in raising the standards of living and the informational capacity of those currently leading sub-human lives in the city’s various slums. African countries need to improve their informational capacity. Not African countries need to improve their informational capacity. Not African countries need to improve their informational capacity. Not African countries need to improve their informational capacity. Not doing so will lead to further impoverishment and marginalization of the doing so will lead to further impoverishment and marginalization of the doing so will lead to further impoverishment and marginalization of the doing so will lead to further impoverishment and marginalization of the contcontcontcontinent.inent.inent.inent. At the regional and national level, countries need to improve their informational capacity i.e. their ability to operate in the new informational paradigm, which is technology-driven and infrastructure-dependant. Countries that are left out of new information technology-driven developments and the global economy run the risk of being marginalized even further and doomed to what Castells (1995) calls “a dark urban age”. Lack of investment in the ICT sector in Africa is likely to relegate Africans to always being consumers of technology, rather than producers. Moreover, importation of ICT technology and expertise from abroad is likely to increase the socio-economic disparities on the continent (Chetty 2003):

20

Countries such as Kenya must not only be able to operate efficiently in the new system with other countries in other parts of the world, but between and within its cities and between “connected” and “unconnected” sections of the urban population. Apart from making public investments in education and training in ICT research and development, the government must dismantle barriers to promoting the telecommunications sector. This requires investment in more efficient telecommunication systems and opening up of the telecommunications sector to more Internet Service Providers (ISPs) with a view to breaking the monopoly of the state in this sector. IIIICTs must be integrated into development plans, including sCTs must be integrated into development plans, including sCTs must be integrated into development plans, including sCTs must be integrated into development plans, including slumlumlumlum----upgrading initiatupgrading initiatupgrading initiatupgrading initiatives.ives.ives.ives. Slums – the most obvious manifestation of urban poverty – can be the sites of digital inclusion or digital exclusion. The sheer concentration of people in slums and their proximity to infrastructure such as electricity and telephone lines, make them an ideal target for ICT development initiatives. Any intervention in a slum area is not only likely to affect large numbers of people, but is also likely to have a multiplying effect. ICTs can be a powerful tool when implemented as part of larger development plans, as opposed to in isolation. Slum-upgrading initiatives offer a unique entry point into improving the overall development of slum communities, including ICT access. Improving ICT access in slum areas may seem like a luxury in an environment where access to basic water, sanitation and electricity is a still a major obstacle. For this reason, most slum upgrading initiatives tend to focus more on improving the physical condition of housing, and at improving water and sanitation facilities, rather than improving telecommunications systems within slums. However, this approach is short-sighted and risks further marginalizing slum communities. Provision of telecommunications infrastructure in slum settlements must, therefore, be part and parcel of slum upgrading projects. At the national and local government levels and within civil society, a lot more advocacy is needed to encourage institutions and organisations to incorporate and prioritise ICT into development plans, in line with NEPAD’s development agenda. Non-governmental and civil society organizations often provide a vital link between the urban poor and people who have power, influence, authority or resources. Their catalytic role as infomediaries makes them ideal advocates and implementers of ICT initiatives in slum communities. Organizations working with slum communities should be empowered and encouraged to fill the information gap between the urban poor and the authorities and to introduce ICTs in their own development projects, with a view to making them self-sustaining.

********

21

BIBLIOGRAPHYBIBLIOGRAPHYBIBLIOGRAPHYBIBLIOGRAPHY Ashurst, Mark (2004) “Mobile Revolution”, BBC Focus on Africa magazine, January-March. Besley, Timothy and Burgess, Robin (2000) “Does Media Make Government More Responsive? Theory and Evidence from Indian Famine Relief Policy”, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD), London School of Economics and Political Science. Bryson, Bill (2002) African Diary, London: Doubleday. Castells, Manuel (1995) “Information Technology, Cities and Development”, in the Urban Age, Vol. 3 No. 1, February, p.15 -- (1998/2000) End of the Millennium, Oxford and Malden: Blackwell Publishers. Central Bureau of Statistics (2000) Economic Survey 2000, Nairobi: Government Printers. Chetty, Matthew (2003) Paper prepared for the NEPAD Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology, 6 November (www.touchtech.biz.nepad) DFID (2000) East Africa Regional Study draft report, U.K. Department for International Development, London. Friedman, Thomas (2000) The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Anchor Books. Government of Kenya/UNCHS (2001), Nairobi Situation Analysis Consultative Report: Collaborative Nairobi Slum Upgrading Initiative, Nairobi, June. Hall, Tony (1995) “Let’s get Africa’s act together…”, Report on the UNESCO/ITU/UNECA Africa regional Symposium on Telematics for Development, Addis Ababa, May. International Telecommunications Union (ITU) (2002) World Telecommunications Development Report, Geneva. Kaplan, Robert D. (1994) “The Coming Anarchy”, The Atlantic Monthly, February. Mehta, Dinesh (2000) “Urbanization of Poverty”, in Habitat Debate Vol. 6 No. 4, December. Muiruri, Stephen (2003) “13 Killed in Rent Battle”, Daily Nation, 4 June. Mumtaz, Babar (2001) “Why Cities Need Slums”, in Habitat Debate Vol. 7 No. 3, September. Muriuki, Muriithi (2001) “Tenants Demand 50 per cent cut in Rents for Calm to be Restored”, Daily Nation, 7 December. Mutume, Gumisai (2003) “Africa Takes on the Digital Divide”, in Africa Recovery (www.africarecovery.org), Vol. 17 No. 3, October.

22

Odedra, Mayuri (1993) “Sub-Saharan Africa: A Technological Desert”, Communications of the ACM. Opiata, Odindo (2003), E-mail correspondence with the author, 9 October. --- (2004) E-mail correspondence with the author, followed by face-to-face interview at Kituo cha Sheria, Nairobi, January.

Panos London (1998a) “The Internet and Poverty: Real Help or Real Hype?”, Panos Media Briefing No. 28, April. -- (1998b) “Information, Knowledge and Development”, Panos Perspective papers, October. Pitroda, Sam (1993), “Development, Democracy and the Village Telephone”, in Harvard Business Review, Vol. 71 No. 6. Putnam, R. (1993) Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, Princeton: Princeton University Press. Ruskulis, O. (2001) “Literature Review on Strengthening Poor People’s Knowledge and Information Systems”, ITDG, Rugby. Schilderman, Theo (2002) “Strengthening the Knowledge and Information Systems of the Urban Poor”, DFID/ITDG, March. Sheehan, Molly O’Meara (2002), “Where the Sidewalks End”, World Watch, November/December. Taylor, Wendy and Gitau, Sarah (2003a) Communication for Sustainable Urban Livelihoods Nairobi City Report, Development Planning Unit, University College London, October. --- (2003b) A Communication Strategy for Sustainable Urban Livelihoods, Nairobi, Communication for Sustainable Urban Livelihoods Knowledge and Research Project (R7879), Development Planning Unit, University College London, May. UNCHS (2001) Cities in a Globalizing World: Global Report on Human Settlements, London and Sterling: Earthscan. UNDP (2001) Human Development Report: Making New Technologies Work for Human Development, New York: Oxford University Press.

UN-HABITAT (2003a) The Challenge of Slums: Global Report on Human Settlements, London and Sterling: Earthscan. -- (2003b) Slums of the World: A Face of Urban Poverty in the New Millennium?, Working Paper United Nations Population Division (2002) World Urbanization Prospects: The 2001 Revision, United Nations, New York. Warah, Rasna (2002/2003) “Bill Bryson Tour: I Let Kibera Speak for Itself”, The East African, 30 Dec.-5 Jan. -- (2003) “Slum Creates it Own Web Site”, in www.peopleandplanet.net, 7 November.

23

World Summit on the Information Society (2003) Press Release, “Global Information Society Summit Spurs Solidarity, Alliances But Hard Work, Action Ahead”, Geneva, 12 December (www.itu.int/wsis/geneva/newsroom/press_releases/) Worldwatch Institute (2003) Vital Signs, New York and London: W.W. Norton and Company Inc. www.cellular.co.za www.vivafavela.com.br/english/asp