27 February 2023, Nairobi. – UN-Habitat’s Sister Neighborhoods program is an initiative aimed at fostering youth empowerment and capacity building in impoverished communities worldwide. The program seeks to achieve these objectives through knowledge exchange programs which promote job training and arts and culture. Core programmes are the in global exchange in knowledge between marginalized communities, the creative economy. One key programme has been Youth 2030 Cities, which advances the localization of the SDGs by building youth capacity to engage in local governance. Each of these programmes advance the programme goals but also supports the overarching objectives of the World Urban Pavilion. Sister Neighborhoods is funded through the Pavilion with support from the Government of Canada, Fondation Botnar (Youth 2030 Cities), local governments, and youth-led organizations.
Creative Economy
Established during the Year of Creative Economy in 2021, two neighborhoods became sisters – the Mathare informal settlements and the Regent Park community. Mathare slums, located in the outskirts of the Nairobi city, is home to more than 200,000 people in which children and youth aged 25 years and below constitute 41% of the total population. With the high population density of the area, inadequate basic amenities, unemployment and lack of access to quality education are some of the challenges faced by the Mathare community with youth being the most vulnerable.
Regent Park is a culturally diverse neighborhood located in downtown Toronto, Canada, that has historically faced economic challenges resulting in a high poverty rate. Originally built in the 1940s as public housing, the community has undergone significant revitalization efforts in recent years. Regent Park is home to a large number of immigrants, with a significant population from East and South Asia, and is also a hub for Toronto’s Indigenous community. According to the 2016 Canadian Census, the population of Regent Park was 10,463, with a median age of 36.4 years, a median household income of $43,912, and 45% of the population identified as a visible minority. While poverty rates are still relatively high, the community has made progress in recent years, with many residents able to access new opportunities for education, employment, and community engagement.
Sister Neighbourhoods has supported the virtual exchange of knowledge on the Creative Industries in the digital space. On World Creativity and Innovation Day 2021, UN-Habitat held a joint virtual concert in the Mathare informal settlement and Regent Park, Toronto linking the two communities globally. The concert provided a platform for music and visual artists to share their work virtually while as well learn from one another how to advance creative industries. Sister Neighbourhoods also supports livelihood programmes such as the Upcycling Centre (Mathare) which promotes recycling and repurposing of plastics and the sharing of knowledge between practitioners.
Stemming from this, youth in the informal settlements were recognized for their mural “Girls and Planes” mural, which won a special award in the #DigitalArt4Climatechange competition, announced during COP26. Murals were identified as a way to engage marginalized communities, create awareness and raise concerns. A special focus was made on young women artists and addressing the challenges they face through art. The programme also supports the SDG Initiative’s Urban Monitoring Framework through data collection and mapping an activity that was facilitated in the Mombasa and Mathare respectively. This builds on the mapping work done by youth in Mathare during the pandemic, where a youth-led public health response was supported by the mapping of real time data on infrastructure and social systems.
Localization of the SDGs by and for Youth
The Youth 2030 Cities project was launched in 2001 by UN-Habitat in collaboration with the Healthy Cities for Adolescents programme, a Fondation Botnar initiative, and supported by the World Urban Pavilion. Its goal was to strengthen local youth capacity to map priority issues, share knowledge, and propose solutions that could inform city decision makers in advancing sustainable cities. Through support from the World Urban Pavilion and the Government of Canada, the initial seven cities was expanded to fourteen, fostering partnerships with youth and encouraging more cities to integrate their perspectives through DeclarACTIONs on Youth and Sustainable Urbanization. These are policy to action documents produced by local youth organisations, city stakeholders, and UN-Habitat. Through DeclarACTIONs, youth act as evidence-builders, collecting data, documenting knowledge, and engaging decision makers in both formal and informal spaces. This allows them to present perspectives, negotiate their position, and contribute to meaningful and sustainable urban change. Each