UN urges collective effort to reduce urban poverty
UNITED NATIONS. October 4. KAZINFORM Governments, the private sector and civil society have to work much more closely together if the world is to build and sustain better cities, which are now home to more than half the global population, United Nations officials said today.
Marking World Habitat Day, whose theme this year is "Better City, Better Life," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a message spotlighting the effect that smart policies and actions can have on the well-being of the estimated 1 billion people worldwide who live in slums or other forms of sub-standard housing.
"The urban poor are too often condemned to a life without basic rights, hope of an education or decent work," said Mr. Ban, noting that they typically live in developing countries and are both disenfranchised and under the age of 25.
"Lacking adequate provision of freshwater, electricity, sanitation or health care, they suffer privations that all too often provide the tinder for the fires of social unrest. Vulnerable to exploitation and corruption, they need and deserve better cities and a better life."
Mr. Ban stressed that the challenges of urban poverty, stretching from pollution to criminal gang culture, can be overcome, Kazinform refers to the UN News Centre.
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