By Jacob Omondi

Mathare Valley is one of the second-largest informal settlements and faces many challenges when it comes to infrastructure, housing, economic development, among others. Urban planning is a major issue in the informal settlements across Kenya and should be given priority by state and non-state actors. Slum upgrading will help in achieving the global sustainable goals.

In the year 2021, Muungano wa Wanavijiji, with the support of Slum Dwellers International Kenya, conducted a settlement profiling in 12 villages in Mathare Valley. The objective of the settlement profiling was to provide evidence-based information on the existing state of Mathare Valley and why it will benefit community members when it is declared as a special planning area by both the county government and the national government.

According to Nancy Njoki, Muungano wa Wanavijiji leader stated, “The settlement profiling process involved a series of community engagement forums. These aimed at making community members and the local leadership aware of the process. Muungano wa Wanavijijiji, through the support of Slum Dwellers International, saw the need to train the community on how to carry out data collection, household mapping, and enumeration. The community members were given this training to ensure that data collection was participatory and all-inclusive. We believe that community involvement in all slum upgrading processes will help them feel recognized, and they will easily champion the initiative that they took part in.”

Shiko, a data collector from Kiamutisia village in Mlango Kubwa Ward, shared her experience on settlement profiling: “I gained a lot of skills from the settlement profiling, from filling the household tallying sheet, map interpretation, and household numbering. I also gained basic interpersonal skills when interacting with my fellow community members. I learned a lot about my community and its terrain as we were walking on a door-to-door basis. Last but not least is that I also got an opportunity for employment during that period of settlement profiling.”

Muungano wa Wanavijiji believes in women's empowerment and saw the need to empower young girls from Mathare and other informal settlements in Nairobi through partnering with Buildher organization, constructing physical address systems that was mounted in every household profiled during the settlement profiling in 2021. Buildher seeks to equip women in Kenya with accredited construction and manufacturing skills leading to greater financial prosperity, changing male attitudes, and promoting gender equality within the construction industry.

According to Esther Waikuru, an official from Buildher, told us their experience working with young girls in the informal settlement: “Buildher has reached out to three hundred and ninety-four students who have already graduated, as the majority of them are working in different construction sectors. The partnership between Slum Dwellers International was of great impact not only to us but also to the young girls that we train, as it provided them with employment opportunities when making household physical address plates for Kiamutisya village.”

According to Nancy Njoki, Muungano wa Wanavijiji federation leader stated that, “It was evident that the aspect of community-led process was felt from the community engagement meetings, data collection, mapping and enumeration, construction of the physical addressing system by young girls drawn from Mathare Valley. Hence, it was easier for them to interpret the number given to each physical address since the names of these settlements are familiar to them as they come across them daily on their doors.”

Kiamutisya was the first village in Mathare Valley to fully adopt the physical addressing system. The process was entirely community-led, setting a precedent for other villages along Mathare Valley. The installation of the physical addressing system in Kiamutisya was a success due to continuous community engagement during the settlement profiling. Consequently, there are plans to adopt a physical addressing system in Mathare 4B as well. This step will bring about better health service delivery in Mathare 4B and serve as a game-changer for the Community Health Promoters (CHPs), making their work easier when responding to health issues, among other benefits.

Lastly I would like to give thanks to Accountability and Responsiveness in Informal Settlements for Equity for their generous contributions towards making settlement profile a successs as the results speak volumes by supporting community members around access to healthcare, service delivery, community empowerment by offering skills such  data collection, mapping, household enumeration and empowering young girls from the informal settlement in the filed of construction through build. The settlement profiling process increased community engagement on socio-economic issues, your support has directly contributed to the well-being and development of our community.