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HOMELESS: A GLOBAL PHENOMENON
source: www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/
habitat/units/un05pg01.asp
http://www.unhabitat.org/
downloads/docs/5636_
27492_SOWCR%2022.pdf
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Homelessness is a growing problem in cities all over the world. In addition, there is the problem of poor housing… - estimates of the world's homeless population plus those living in poor housing can reach a figure of 1 billion people;
- today, the world's cities are filled with up to 100 million street children and people living in sprawling slum settlements without water, sewage, garbage collection, heating/cooling or electricity;
- the number of homeless people in Western Europe is at its highest level in 50 years, with homelessness levels not seen since the end of World War II. An estimated 3 million West Europeans were believed to be homeless during the winter of 2003;
- in the United States, about 3.5 million people are homeless, including 0.9 to 1.4 million children. In Canada, the number of homeless people has steadily increased to a level now far beyond anything seen one generation ago. The total estimated homeless population of Western Europe and the US combined is equivalent to the entire population of Denmark!
- However, the real numbers of homeless people are very much higher than official statistics suggest; in Britain - for example - something like 2 million people are 'unofficially' homeless or 'hidden', sleeping on friends' floors or in overcrowded conditions;
- the growth of mass homelessness is greatest in Africa, Asia and Latin America, since this is where the global population rate is growing the fastest;
- data for homelessness in developing countries is extremely sparse and scattered. The most comprehensive is probably in India where the 1981 Homeless Census estimated that there were 2,342,000 homeless people. The 1991 Census of India showed a much lower figure of 1.2 million people. Yet, there are some 250,000 pavement dwellers in Mumbai alone;
- case studies of cities inAfrica, Asia and Latin America show that it is common for at least 30% of the population to live either in illegal settlements with little or no infrastructure or services, or in overcrowded and often deteriorating tenements and cheap boarding-houses.*
* Our Planet, Our Health, Report of the WHO Commission on Health and Environment, WHO Geneva, 1992.
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