Special Political and Decolonization Committee (SPECPOL) Director: Marian Figueroa Moderator: Diego Luna Secretary: Maria José Batarse Topic B: Improving the Lives of Slum-Dwellers in Urban Regions Description of the Committee The Special Political and Decolonization Committee (SPECPOL) was created in 1961 by the General Assembly of the United Nations, and it is the fourth committee of six within the General Assembly. When SPECPOL was founded, it only had 17 members but in March 2014 it was expanded to 24 countries and 14 observers. It was created to deal with issues that originally involved trusteeship and non-selfgoverning. When the trusteeship system came to an end, and trust territory gained independence the committee was left with very few responsibilities because of the lack of non-self territories. SPECPOL then took on other responsibilities, dealing in several topics such as decolonization issues, human rights, peacekeeping, mine action, space exploration, public information, atomic radiation, and the University for Peace. SPECPOL is constantly working with the United Nations Security Council to recommend actions that would suit current global situations. The voting process for important matters needs to be a two-thirds majority of the member that are present and voting. SPECPOL cannot pass resolutions or mandates, and it cannot authorize any use of force just like the General Assembly. Introduction to the Topic What are Slum-Dwellers? Slum-Dwellers are people who live in the slum, or heavily populated urban settlements characterized by poor housing or extreme filth. Most lack reliable sanitation services, the supply of clean water, reliable electricity, timely law enforcement and other basic services. In 2008, more than 50% of
the world s population lived in urban areas. About 863 million people lived in slums. By 2030, about 3 billion people, or about 40 % of the world s population, will need proper housing and access to basic infrastructure and services such as water and sanitation systems. One in every three people in the world will live in slums within 30 years unless governments control unprecedented urban growth, according to a UN report. [1](1) With the rapid urbanization and economic growth, people sometimes seek work and investment opportunities in urban areas. However, because of the poor urban infrastructure and insufficient housing, the local governments are unable to manage this transition therefore, slums are created. This incapacity can be due to insufficient funds, inexperience, poor infrastructure, economic decline, unemployment, lack of house planning and most importantly, poverty and overcrowding. Slum-Dwellers also suffer from diseases, violence, unemployment, poverty, malnutrition, crime and other discomforts. Most slum dwellers work for the upper class as maids, cleaning cars or other jobs that the rich people don't want to do. That is why most of time you can find slums near big urban cities or buildings. Often, people in the slums live in near-anonymity no address, no census, and no idea when their living conditions will improve. [2](4) Slums are a very big problem that millions of people have to face each day. If you grow up in a slum, it is more likely that you will stay in the slum. If we leave this topic unattended, millions of people will continue to suffer. This chart compares urban population and slum population in regions such as Europe, Northern Africa, Western Asia and Oceania.
This chart explains the portion of the urban population living in slums. It is a chart from 2000 to 2012. The places that this chart includes are Africa, Asia, Oceania, Latin America and the Caribbean. BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF THE TOPIC Slums existed in one form or the other in almost every city of the world. Well, known major cities that have slums include Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Cairo, Egypt, Nairobi, Kenya, Mexico City, Mexico, Jakarta, Indonesia, Cape Town, South Africa, Mumbai, India and Caracas, Venezuela. Today the world's largest slum city is in Mexico City, Neza-Chalco-Itza. [3](4) Some problems that slum-dwellers face are urban decay, high rates of poverty and unemployment, illiteracy, lack of opportunities, high crime rate, drug addiction, alcoholism, mental illness, suicide, disease due to unsanitary conditions, malnutrition, and lack of basic health care. [4] (2) It is horrible to live in slums. Four out of every ten slum children are malnourished. In some parts of sub-saharan Africa, as many as 70% of urban dwellers
live in slums and informal settlements. Some of the solutions that are currently coming out say that access to water, access to improved sanitation, security, and durability of housing is essential to stop slum-dwellers. [5](3) If we leave these people unassisted, slum dwelling families will never be able to break the cycle of poverty. It is very difficult to live in urban slums, as we mentioned before, most slum children don't even make it into adulthood. Some solutions that have been coming up during the last few years so that the slum dwellers can work to improve their quality of life are: Building low-cost residences for slum dwellers so that proper housing can ensure their safety and hygiene is one of this solutions, making clean water available, encouraging proper sanitation and waste management, controlling pollution levels, providing transport facilities. [6](3) CURRENT SITUATION OF THE TOPIC Nowadays improving the lives of Slum-Dwellers in urban regions has become a very attended topic in the UN. SPECPOL has been getting prepared to establish strong and effective solutions to solve this issue. Many organizations nowadays help prevent and support slum-dwellers. There is an organization named Slum Dwellers International (SDI). It is a global nongovernmental organization that manages slum dwellers and other poor urban citizens; it is funded by the World Bank, USAID, and the Gates Foundation. SDI argues that they work within the system in order to change it.
The United Nations Human Settlements Program ( UN HABITAT ) is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It is authorized to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all slums. This persons usually has very low education and have poor hygiene, this mostly happens because they live in dirty rural places. If these people had money, they wouldn't be in this situation. So we could say poverty is a main cause in this issue. For this people, it is very difficult to get out of this situation even though there is a way. If the local economy grows this person will be able to earn more and that way they can invest in a home and get a better education. UN-HABITAT states that the number of people living in slum conditions is now estimated at 863 million, in contrast to 760 million in 2000 and 650 million in 1990. [7] (1,2) In this graph, you can see how slum-dwellers have increased from the year 1990 to the year 2000. INTERNATIONAL ACTION ON THE TOPIC (UN PAST ACTIONS) The UN has dedicated some efforts and a lot of time has been spent trying to help slum-dwellers, but it is not enough. The UN has been trying to do so since the early 1973, it s the main goal is to break the poverty cycle which consists of poor people not finding opportunities and so on. The problem still persists even though the UN has been
implementing free education in many slums filled countries. In 1985, a completely free school was open on India on of the biggest places where slum-dwellers live. The UN created a Millennium Project (MDG) in September 2000. In this project, countries committed their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets, with a deadline of 2015. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the world's targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions-income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion while promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability or in other words, slums. This project's first goal was to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Poverty and hunger is one of the main characteristics that represents slums. [8] (1,2) Green: 0-30% Yellow: 30-60% Orange: 60-70% Light Red: 70-80% Dark Red: 80-90% (Slums) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CREATING A RESOLUTION Some recommendations to create solutions for this topic are: First, listen to the opinion of one country that has contributed and supported the problem. Second, how can your country join organizations that already exist? Third, considering the problem with slum-dwellers over the past years. Fourth, consider the laws in favor of slum dwellers. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER What is the rate of slums in your country?
What is your country currently doing? In what year did this problem start in your country? What has your country done to solve this?// Did it work? What have other countries done to solve this?// Did it work? How can you as a person do to change it? RESEARCH AID (websites used) Links for Research: http://reall.xyz/impact-of-slums/ http://unhabitat.org/urban-themes/housing-slum-upgrading/ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/oct/04/population.johnvidal http://unhabitat.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/whd-2014-background-paper.pdf http://www.slideshare.net/saiyangoku/8-slums-the-metropolis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/slum#/media/file:urban_population_living_in_slums.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/slum#/media/file:rocinha_favela_brazil_slums.jpg https://www.cordaid.org/en/news/un-habitat-number-slum-dwellers-grows-863-million/ https://mdgsaustralia.wordpress.com/improve-the-lives-of-100-millionslum%c2%a0dwellers/ http://www.preservearticles.com/201106097702/sample-essay-on-the-problems-ofslums-in-india.html TERMS AND CONCEPTS (VOCABULARY- If applies) Slum: A squalid and overcrowded urban street or district inhabited by very poor people. Dwellers: To live or stay as a permanent resident; reside. Infrastructure: The basic facilities, services, and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society, such as transportation and communications systems, water, and power lines, and public institutions including schools, post offices, and prisons. Sanitation: The process of keeping places free from dirt, infection, disease, etc., by removing waste, trash, and garbage, by cleaning streets, etc.
Attributed: regard something as being caused by Trust territory: a territory under the trusteeship of the United Nations or of a country designated by it. BIBLIOGRAPHY (APA STYLE) [1] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/oct/04/population.johnvidal Vidal, J. (n.d.). Every third person will be a slum dweller within 30 years, UN agency warns. Retrieved October 9, 2015, from [2] http://www.un.org/press/en/2014/sgsm16230.doc.htm 'Give Slum Dwellers a Voice', Secretary-General Says in Message for World Habitat Day Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2015. [3] http://www.ibtimes.com/5-biggest-slums-world-381338 5 Biggest Slums in the World. (2011, December 9). Retrieved October 9, 2015. [4] http://web.worldbank.org/wbsite/external/topics/exturbandevelopment/exturbanp OVERTY/0,,contentMDK:20227679~menuPK:473804~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:341325, 00.html Site Tools. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2015, from [5] http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/metadata.aspx?indicatorid=32 Unstated Millennium Indicators. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2015, from [6] http://blog.mapsofindia.com/india/poverty/the-problem-of-slums/ The Problem of Slums. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2015. [7] http://unhabitat.org/urban-themes/housing-slum-upgrading/ Housing & slum upgrading. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2015. [8] http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/ UN Millennium Project About the MDGs. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2015.