Kenya : the unseen majority : Nairobi's two-million slum-dwellers

More than half of Nairobi’s population live in slums and informal settlements with little access to clean water, toilets, health care, schools and other essential public services. They also live under the constant threat of water-borne diseases, violence and forced eviction from their homes and small businesses. The Kenyan government has for decades failed to take the minimum steps required to respect, protect and fulfil the right to adequate housing for the urban poor, including the provision of some level of security of tenure. Its recent commitment to upgrading slums is a positive step, but falls far short of the comprehensive measures needed to address
the needs of these communities now and in the future. The experience of Nairobi’s slum-dwellers starkly illustrates that people living in poverty not only face deprivation but are also trapped in that poverty because they are excluded from the rest of society, denied a say, and threatened with violence and insecurity. Issued as part of Amnesty International’s Demand Dignity Campaign, this report calls on the Kenyan authorities to act immediately to stop forced evictions, consult properly the communities affected by commercial,
infrastructure and upgrading projects that threaten their homes, and ensure that all those who have to be evicted are offered appropriate and affordable alternative accommodation and adequate compensation.

(authors abstract)