ChildFund Kenya, Cities4children, and Youth
Kenya Alliance signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly implement
interventions for children protection, safeguarding, and mainstreaming children
and youth concerns in urban governance.
The goal of this partnership agreement is
to firmly embed children in the urban agenda and promote children's rights.
Based on figures from Cities4Children,
around 350–500 million children live in informal settlements worldwide, out of
a population of over 1 billion people.
Consequently, a growing number of kids will
grow up in unofficial settlements where the majority of their rights are
violated.
Local governments have limited power to
plan urban settlements to meet housing and infrastructure demands because of
the rapid population expansion in urban areas.
Overcrowding, political conflict zones,
environmentally sensitive areas, and areas susceptible to extreme weather and
natural disasters are common characteristics of informal settlements.
Furthermore, because slum settlements lack
formal recognition, schools may decline to register children living in them.
The right to health can also be negatively impacted by inadequate housing.