The document outlines a research protocol for conducting a national report on slum conditions and shelter policy. It details 5 parts that will be covered in the report: 1) country overview including socioeconomic factors and urbanization trends, 2) governance, urban planning and policy structures, 3) characteristics of slums and current shelter policies, 4) roles of municipalities in slum management and responses, and 5) future directions and prospects. For each part, it lists numerous data points and policy aspects that will be analyzed, such as demographics, housing legislation, upgrading initiatives, and capacity needs of relevant authorities.

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Research Protocol
National Report on Slum Conditions and Shelter Policy
PART ONE: COUNTRY OVERVIEW
1.1 Introduction
 Brief history and recent events (especially as related to urbanization, poverty, economic
development, social programs, etc.)
1.2 Socioeconomic Development
 Level of development (including UNDP Human Development Index, current annual
GDP, GDP per capita, and annual growth rates)
 Relative sizes of the formal and informal sectors of the economy
 Percentage of people below the international poverty level (national and urban)
 Impact of current events on economy
1.3 Geography, Population, and Urbanization
 Area in square kilometers
 Topography and climate
 Total population, urban/rural composition, and ethnic/religious groupings
 Geographic urban distribution and rural/urban configuration
 Population growth rate (total, by gender, and rural/urban)
 Life expectancy (total, by gender, and rural/urban)
 Age composition (total, by gender, and rural/urban)
 Literacy levels (total, by gender, and rural/urban)
 Rural-urban migration
 Impact of current events on urbanization
PART TWO: GOVERNANCE, URBAN PLANNING AND POLICY
2.1 Governance Structure
 Form and structure of government (including number of ministries)
 Administrative structure and decentralization (relationship between national, municipal
and local)
 National planning structure
2.2 Urban Planning
 Urban plans, their scope and extent, and their relation to national plans
 Influence of central government in relation to municipal/local structures
 National development objectives and strategies (e.g. 5-10 year plans) in relation to
urbanization and shelter
 Different types of formal tenure set out in the constitution, national law or official
planning and building regulations (Do they adequately respond to the needs and local
conditions? What are the results of these difficulties).

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PART THREE: SLUM CONDITIONS AND SHELTER POLICY
(AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL)
3.1 Characteristics
 Slum typologies (theoretical and official)
 Informal tenure arrangements commonly found in the cities
 Statistics on slums (area, population, etc.)
 Estimates of homelessness for both males and females in the main cities
 Estimates for the proportion of people who live in precarious sites (flood plains, steep
slopes etc) in the main towns
 Proportion of slum residents who migrate directly from the rural areas
 Whether access to services in the city’s slums improved or declined in the last five years
 How change in access to urban services in slums affected men and women
 Estimate of the number of people evicted from slums by the municipal authorities over
the last 2 years
 Estimate of the number of people evicted from slums by private landlords
3.2 Legislation related to protection from eviction and security of tenure
 Existing legislation related to slums
 The effects of legislation in protecting the urban poor (men and women) in practice
 Legal and financial remedies available to those evicted from housing built by the poor on
public or private land in slum areas
 Provision for alternative areas of settlement or accommodation in advance of eviction
 Gender aspects of legislation
 Gender aspects of land and housing inheritance rights
 Conflicts between legislation with local regulations and practices in respect of land rights
for the poor (how are they resolved, with examples)
3.3 Land use and land ownership regulations
 Current national land use regulations and plan which, through zoning guidelines, as
related to access to land for the poor (for both men and women?)
 Main administrative and legal steps that must be followed to acquire secure rights to land
(If possible, illustrate these steps on a chart, indicating how long it takes for each step to
be accomplished)
 Constraints (e.g. administrative, legal, high prices for land, high planning standards) that
the poor face in securing land rights and how these constraints impact women (i.e are
there any additional constraints on women such as traditions, customs etc.).
3.4 Shelter legislation
 Legislation or policy that addresses basic provision of housing for the poor and the
homeless
 National housing policy, other related policy, or legislation which promotes access to
credit for the poor, both men and women (Is it being applied in a satisfactory manner?)

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3.5 Institutional setup
 Roles played by relevant national authority (ministry or ministries) in response to slum
and shelter issues (Policy, regulation, enablement, oversight of implementation by others,
direct implementation)
 Ways in which the relevant national authority collaborates with municipal governments
and other local stakeholders to secure land and housing rights for the poor
 Other government ministries that finance urban infrastructure, such as water and
sanitation, in low income housing areas
 Sources from which the relevant national authority mobilize financial and non-financial
support for urban development projects
 Main partners, public and private, that the relevant national authority works with in
promoting slum upgrading to improve access by the poor to secure land and urban
services
 Institutions, public and private, that assemble and disseminate information on slums (how
this information is disseminated --print and electronic media, newsletters, academic
publications)
 Coordination mechanism for efforts to upgrade slums and improve access to land and
urban services by the poor
 Examples of public/private partnerships which have responded to urban development
issues (not more than 3)
3.6 Access to credit
 List of main institutions (public, private, NGOs) which provide credit to the poor
 Whether or not national agencies (e.g. banks, micro-finance institutions, housing co-
operatives, NGO’s) provide equal access to credit for both women and men
 Constraints faced by micro-credit institutions in providing credit to the poor
 Constraints faced by the poor in accessing credit
 Sex disaggregated statistics on access to credit
 Use of credit (construction, home improvement, access to services, economic activities,
etc.)
3.7 Capacity building and training
 Capacity building and training priorities of the relevant national authority, with a focus
on policy development, support to slum upgrading, supporting equipment
 Ongoing capacity building and training activities within the ministry and whether or not
they respond to priorities (who provide the training?)
Capacity building support received from bilateral and multilateral agencies on slum
upgrading
 Main capacity gaps within the relevant national authority with a focus on the formulation
and implementation of slum upgrading policy, training, supporting equipment, etc.
3.8 Upgrading initiatives
 Specific initiatives undertaken by the relevant national authority on slum upgrading to
improve the living conditions of the poor (including examples)

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 Performance of the above initiatives as well as obstacles and problems
 Priority pilot upgrading projects with the potential for scaling-up (not more than 3
examples)
 Priority slum upgrading projects that need to be addressed in terms of: (a) legislation,
institutional development and support, funding mechanisms etc.; or, (b) upgrading of
actual slum areas that need specific capital investments (not more than 3).
PART FOUR: SLUMS AND UPGRADING AT MUNICIPAL LEVELS
4.1 Roles and setup
 Municipal authorities role in service provision in slums (e.g. water, sanitation, electricity,
solid waste management)
 Partners with which the municipalities collaborate in slum upgrading (e.g. central
government agencies, NGOs, CBO’s, donor agencies, private sector, media
organizations)
 Roles played by NGOs/ CBOs, the private sector and other local stakeholders in
developing responses to slums
 Examples of public /private partnerships which promote slum upgrading
 Ways through which local information on settlement issues are collected and
disseminated with a view to informing and bringing about policy change
 Means through which slum upgrading activities are coordinated
4.2 Responses to slums
 Whether municipal authorities evict slum residents (if so, describe the circumstances in
which it evicts them)
 Whether municipal authorities assess the development priorities (eg, urban services and
income generating activities etc) in slums and the process used to determine such
priorities
 Examples of past, ongoing or planned upgrading activities within the slums that have
been supported by the municipal authorities
 Performance of past upgrading initiatives undertaken by municipalities as well as
problems and obstacles
 Whether municipal land use policies encourage or discourage slum upgrading
 Whether municipal authorities promote equal rights to land for both men and women
4.3 Management of slums
 Main land management problems within slum areas (e.g. conflicting ownership of plots;
no clear physical demarcation of plot boundaries, lack of or a poorly maintained register
of land ownership; lack of maps and plans; insecurity of tenure)
 Sources through which municipal authorities mobilize resources for slum upgrading
 Whether municipalities give assistance (financial and technical) to women-headed
households and other vulnerable groups to upgrade their dwellings
 How municipal authorities cater for the needs of the disabled and vulnerable people in the
city (special types of housing, transport, etc.)

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 Revenues (e.g. business license fees), if any, municipal authorities collect from slum
communities and whether such revenues are used for the benefit of the poor
 How municipal regulations promote or hinder income-generating activities in slum areas
 Whether local credit institutions promote equal access to credit for both women and men
in slums (if not, what are the reasons)
4.4 Capacity needs
 Capacity building and training priorities of the municipal authorities, with a focus on
formulation and implementation of regulations, slum upgrading, training, and supporting
equipment
 Ongoing capacity building and training activities within municipalities (do they respond
to priorities?)
 Main capacity gaps within the in municipalities with a focus on the adequacy and ability
to formulate and implement slum upgrading interventions
PART FIVE: FUTURE DIRECTIONS AND PROSPECTS
 Expected outcome of current policy initiatives
 Future policy direction
 Future prospects