KENYA: Habitat warns of the "challenges of urbanisation"

The 17th UN Commission on Human Settlements, which opened in Nairobi on Wednesday, heard that one billion urban dwellers worldwide live in poverty. Addressing the opening session, the Acting Executive Director of the UN Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), Klaus Toepfer, warned that the international community was faced with the challenge of how to make the process of urbanisation an "instrument in fighting poverty and social exclusion". According to a news release from Habitat, he said the battle against urban poverty could not be won without proper structural, institutional, social and human foundations. He added that Habitat's location in Kenya and thus in Africa was an "asset not a barrier". Also addressing the opening session, Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi said the problem of insecurity had made it difficult for his government to address poverty "as the country's resources are being diverted to security issues". War and conflict in Africa were an impediment to solving housing and human settlements issues on the continent, he said. "No country is safe as there are many countries willing to supply guns to African countries," he added.