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Dissemination of the Informal Settlements Study findings

Brief About the Informal Settlements Study

The acute urban housing crisis in the major cities of Uganda like Kampala is one of the leading causes of health disparities. Many urban residents reside in “informal settlements” or squatter settlements that often consist of makeshift housing from salvaged or inexpensive materials and lack basic infrastructure such as sewage, potable water, garbage collection, and electricity. Health challenges faced by informal residents include exposure to water-borne and other infectious diseases, greater incidence of non-infectious diseases (particularly those caused by exposure to environmental contaminants), community violence, malnutrition, and poor access to health services. Very few studies have explored differences in LMIC informal settlements within different countries or cities, which may cause wide and as yet undiscovered disparities in health among them.

The qualitative research presented here is part of a larger effort to understand the forms informal settlements take in different world regions, countries, and within cities and the positive and negative consequences of different strategies to address informal settlements in terms of the protection of human rights, decreasing poverty and exposure to negative health risks, and improving access to health care and other social and civic services.

Jan 19, 2023 04:00 PM in Nairobi