EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
settlements are part of urban landscape, there is a long tradition of local communities playing a role in basic service provision, often with support from NGOs and community organizations. Infrastructure for basic services takes a long time to reach these areas, and many inhabitants will continue to depend on community provision for the foreseeable future. In India, Civic Exnora started in 1989 as a community-based movement to manage solid waste. It has grown into an organization of around 5,000 groups whose activities include clean and green programmes, often in collaboration with local governments and municipal services. The Latin America and Africa chapters provide numerous examples of government support for community initiatives to maintain roads, collect waste and improve water infrastructure.
Satterthwaite and Mitlin (2014). 96
The acceptance by local governments of the necessity for upgrading programmes in informal settlements is a significant step to improved basic service provision and increased coverage for urban populations. Even where upgrading is community-led, partnerships with local governments are necessary to regularize tenures and provide essential trunk infrastructure. The chapter on Asia Pacific includes examples of community-led upgrading programmes that have provided basic services to hundreds of thousands of low-income people in Thailand and India, with strong support from local governments in connecting upgraded settlements to infrastructure networks. Hundreds of local governments in Africa and Asia have established formal partnerships with local federations of slum-dwellers and many cities have set up local funds (with contributions from local governments and slum-dweller associations) to improve housing and services. 96 UCLG Africa has such a partnership with the African branch of Slum Dwellers International. In many cities, however, these initiatives are still not the norm.
They are other more problematic examples of local communities, supported by international organizations and NGOs, creating parallel mechanisms to support the delivery of local services, and bypassing local decision-making processes and institutions. While such efforts can improve service delivery, they ultimately undermine the legitimacy and effectiveness of local government if their systems are not integrated into local governance frameworks. Local government policy for basic service provision must address the realities of poor residents and informal settlements. This means supporting communities and NGOs and encouraging their essential role in the oversight of health and environmental issues. For example, the “Know Your City Campaign”, a joint initiative launched by UCLG-Africa and Slum Dwellers International, with the financial support of Cities Alliance, mobilizes local communities to collect data in Epworth, near Harare, in Zimbabwe, and in Lusaka, Zambia. Informal settlements are then organized and involved in innovative mapping and city planning projects.
CURRENT AND EMERGING CHALLENGES IN MEETING DEMANDS FOR BASIC SERVICES Reaching the unserved Despite progress in the last decade, over 780 million people still lack access to improved drinking water, 2.5 billion lack improved sanitation and almost 1 billion people still live in slums with limited access to basic services. The percentage with population with access to quality basic services is declining rather than improving in many urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.