GCRF Accountability for Informal Urban Equity Hub

目前，超过一半的人类生活在城市地区，预计到2050年将有68%的人生活在城市地区。低收入和中等收入国家（LMICs）三分之一的城市居民和大约8.81亿人现在居住在非正式住区，俗称“贫民窟”，他们的住房不足、不安全，服务有限。这些定居点往往是在非正规部门工作的人的唯一选择，现有证据表明，居民在解决日常面临的问题方面往往具有高度的资源、弹性和创新能力。然而，他们也面临着似乎难以解决的挑战：与不健康的环境、不安全和社会边缘化有关的多种健康和福祉风险和脆弱性。非正式的城市住区正在迅速变化，迁入和迁出人口，社会规范发生变化，在经济和社会上也不平等。国家和地方政府未能提供服务、基础设施和补救机制，往往与多个行为者和组织（包括非政府组织、私人组织和犯罪组织）的存在有关。这些条件可能成为各种形式暴力（例如政治暴力和基于性别的暴力）的温床，威胁到福祉。我们的中心将与非正式城市住区中最边缘化的居民合作，包括通过与中心合作伙伴SDI联系的“贫民窟/棚屋居民”联合会。我们将支持他们确定其优先事项，向各部门（政府和非政府）卫生相关的主要服务提供者公开其条件，并与这些行为体中已确定的盟友合作，建立更好的问责机制和更具响应性的服务。我们将测试这种方法来应对这一棘手的挑战，并对制定的重点干预措施进行试点。许多传统的研究方法和常规的信息系统不适合这些复杂和迅速变化的情况，也没有充分地与行动联系起来。我们将采用创新的参与性方法，包括分析非正式城市居民自己收集的数据，以深入了解健康风险、脆弱性、优先事项和获得服务的障碍。我们将引入包括社会和政治科学以及流行病学在内的一系列学科的见解，以制定能够更好地反映这些现实的创新指标，并为政策和实践的制定和评估提供信息。从这些创新方法和方法中获得的经验和数据将汇集在一起，形成一套经过检验的方法，确定有希望的机制，以改善问责制和服务响应能力，促进最边缘化群体的健康和福祉。我们将通过我们的网络和伙伴关系向国家、区域和全球的政府和非政府组织传达新的概念、证据和方法，以最大限度地提高政策、战略和服务的潜力。我们的中心在实现我们的愿景方面具有独特的地位。我们将拥有长期合作关系的合作伙伴聚集在一起，并开发新的合作，在专业知识和网络方面增加价值。IDS和格拉斯哥大学在参与和城市治理方面具有核心优势；分别是流行病学和部门间行动。低收入和中等收入国家伙伴机构具有强大的国家、区域和全球影响力和影响力，包括与非正式城市居民（例如SDI和APHRC）、与国家和国际非政府组织（例如LVCT保健、BRAC）以及与国家政府（例如COMAHS、SLURC、乔治研究所）。LSTM在领导成功的多伙伴卫生影响合作方面有着出色的记录。我们将共同建立跨中心的跨学科能力，并利用这种学习来造福下一代研究人员。

More than half of humanity currently lives in urban areas and 68% are projected to do so by 2050. One in three urban dewllers, and an estimated 881 million people in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) now live in informal settlements, colloquially known as 'slums', where they have inadequate, insecure housing and limited services. These settlements are often the only option for people working in the informal sector, and existing evidence shows that residents are often highly resourceful, resilient and innovative in navigating the problems they face daily. However, they also face challenges that appear intractable: multiple health and well-being risks and vulnerabilities, related to an unhealthy environment, insecurity and social marginalisation. Informal urban settlements are rapidly changing, with in and out-migration and shifts in social norms, as well as being economically and socially unequal. Failures to provide services, infrastructure and mechanisms for redress by national and local governments are often linked to the presence of multiple actors and organisations including non-governmental, private and criminal organisations. These conditions can act as an incubator for various forms of violence (e.g. political and gender-based), which threaten well-being. Our Hub will work with the most marginalised dwellers in informal urban settlements, including through federations of 'Slum/ Shack Dwellers', linked to Hub partner SDI. We will support them in identifying their priorities, making their conditions visible to key service providers related to health (both governmental and non-governmental) across a range of sectors, and working with identified allies amongst these actors to develop better mechanisms for accountability and more responsive services. We will test this approach to addressing this intractable challenge, and pilot the priority interventions developed. Many conventional research methods and routine information systems are ill-suited to these complex and rapidly changing contexts and are not sufficiently linked to action. We will use innovative participatory methods, including analysis of data collected by informal urban dwellers themselves, to gain a deep understanding of health risks, vulnerabilities, and priorities and service access barriers. We will bring insights from a range of disciplines including social and political sciences and epidemiology to develop innovative metrics that can better reflect these realities and inform policy and practice development and evaluation. Learning and data from these innovative approaches and methodologies will be brought together to form a tested set of methodologies that identify promising mechanisms for improving accountability and service responsiveness to promote health and well-being for the most marginalised. We will communicate the new concepts, evidence and methodologies to national, regional and global governmental and non-governmental organisations through our networks and partnerships to maximise the potential for improved policies, strategies and services. Our Hub is uniquely placed to realise our vision. We bring together partners with long standing relationships, and develop new collaborations that add value in terms of expertise and networks. IDS and University of Glasgow bring core strengths in participation and urban governance; epidemiology and inter-sectoral action respectively. LMIC partner institutions have strong national, regional and global influence and reach, including with informal urban dwellers (e.g. SDI and APHRC), with national and international non-governmental organisations (e.g. LVCT Health, BRAC ) and with national governments (e.g. COMAHS, SLURC, The George Institute). LSTM has an outstanding track record in leading successful multi-partner collaboration for health impact. We will collectively build interdisciplinary capacities across the Hub and use this learning to benefit the next generation of researchers.