Too Pressed To Wait

Jane Weru in this lecture highlights the plight of women and girls living in informal settlements in Nairobi, with special regard to the poor sanitation conditions prevalent in informal settlements in the city.The lecture is based on the realization that the water and sanitation hygiene systems in informal settlements in Nairobi are greatly lacking or inadequate, and that this state of affairs is causing a strain on both the physical and psychological health of people who live and work in these settlements, in particular women and girls. This situation is compounded by other challenges facing informal settlements such as land tenure insecurity, poverty and gender-based violence.Analysis of the evidence presented yields a practical approach to urban planning in the face of rapid urbanization.The Too Pressed To Wait lecture uses information obtained from two major informal settlements in Nairobi, Mukuru Kwa Njenga and Mukuru Kwa Reuben, and is based on the fact that basic human rights to life, to health and to dignity are all obstructed by inadequate water and sanitation systems.