Afghanistan’s neglected urban poor households

As Afghanistan’s urban population grows, poor households are denied basic services and forced to live in health-threatening environments. Government agencies must stop ignoring informal settlements, develop a pro-poor land policy and find ways to provide sustainable urban employment.

A report from the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) draws on evidence from interviews with poor urban households. It argues that urban planning systems will not work well until informal settlements are legalised and enough land is made available for officially recognised occupancy.

Many urban households have no access to clean water and have to spend their limited income on private water supply. Poor families often rely on polluted surface sources. Illnesses that could be prevented are made worse by the absence of nearby health facilities and the high cost of private healthcare. The physical wellbeing of male income earners has a significant impact on the families’ ability to secure food, and this affects the health of entire families.

Irregular, low-paying jobs are often the only available employment. Poor women and children are forced into exploitative and hazardous types of work for additional income. Many women depend on home-based work. Poor and vulnerable urban households are exposed to constant change. They may have to be highly mobile to adapt to changing labour demands across different locations and seasons.

The report shows that:

• Most households have to borrow money to afford to buy basic food and almost all are constantly in debt
• Most households rely on social relations to protect them from crisis and emergency situations but these relations are vulnerable to overuse.
• Community organisations are mostly dominated by male elders, who do not always represent their marginalised members.
• Much of the delay in service provision and many barriers to pro-poor urban development stem from the inability and unwillingness of government agencies to work together and to acknowledge informal settlements.
• Those who informally occupied public land to accommodate their immediate household are constantly under threat of eviction because the Afghan government does not recognise informal settlements.

Throughout decades of war and displacement the Afghan people have been resourceful. Civil servants cannot, however, continue to rely on the energy of vulnerable people. Accountability must replace the current culture of blame among those responsible for service delivery. Afghanistan needs strategies for economic growth that would create more urban jobs with regular income. Poverty reduction programmes should stop focusing on rural areas only. City governments must be given adequate powers, resources and staff to be able to deliver services.

Policymakers should:

• recognise that informal urban settlements will continue to grow as refugees return from Pakistan and Iran and rural residents are drawn to cities
• confront the legacy of top-down Soviet-style urban master plans and include residents in planning
• acknowledge and support women’s role in diversifying income sources and building household assets
• reduce the burden of household work by supporting community child care initiatives
• provide affordable healthcare facilities in poor urban neighbourhoods
• recognise the important role of vendors and street sellers.

Source(s):
‘Urban Livelihoods in Afghanistan’, Synthesis Paper Series, Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, by Jo Beall and Stefan Schütte, August 2006 Full document.

Funded by: European Commission

id21 Research Highlight: 9 March 2007

Further Information:
Jo Beall
Development Studies Institute (DESTIN)
London School of Economics and Political Science
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE, UK

Tel: +44 (0)207 9557563
Fax: +44 (0)207 9556844
Contact the contributor: j.beall@lse.ac.uk

Development Studies Institute, LSE, UK

Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit
Flower Street (corner of Street 2)
Shahr-i-Naw
Kabul
Afghanistan

Tel: +93 (0)799 608548
Contact the contributor: publications@areu.org.af

Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit

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