Accountability in Urban Health
“More than half of the world’s people live in cities, with one in three of those living in low- and middle-income countries doing so in informal settlements, sometimes known colloquially as slums, with inadequate access to services and opportunities to shape decisions about their environment. Our research will support the people in our focal communities to claim their right to health.”
Professor Sally Theobald, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Principal Investigator, ARISE
Around the world, the number of people living in cities is growing rapidly. Transforming the lives of vulnerable people in informal urban settlements is vital to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This entails tackling complex, interrelated challenges of poor health, unequal access to services, insecurity and weak accountability. Rigorous research and evidence, combined with community engagement and ownership, must inform these efforts.
The ARISE Hub – Accountability and Responsiveness in Informal Settlements for Equity – is a new research consortium, set up to enhance accountability and improve the health and wellbeing of marginalised populations living in informal urban settlements in low- and middle-income countries.
Latest News

Content that was hot in 2020
1. Remote research methods to use during the COVID-19 pandemic
This blog by myself, Jessica Amegee and Rosie Steege provides a round up of guidance on remote methods – amalgamating knowledge from around the web. It was written when it was clear that ARISE was going to have to drastically shift its ways of working in relation to the pandemic. We’re pleased that it is a piece that has resonated with other researchers in the same boat. It’s also a good reminder that people are interested in the Community Based Participatory Research approach we use, and not just the findings.2. Shadowing Suvartha on her waste-picking route in Vijayawada

3. Understanding violence in the slums: Resilience or normalization?
The third most popular content was a blog by Joseph Kimani who works at SDI Kenya. He provided a rousing call to action. His aim – to tackle structural violence against poor and marginalized people. “Violence is a monster that is omnipresent in low-income areas. Slums have become synonymous with violence, crime, criminalization of youth and ‘illicit’ income activities. The feeling of oppression and deprivation makes the entire settlements a no-go-zone. As a result, innocent, poor, marginalized and vulnerable members of communities who cannot escape or leave the settlements are trapped hence affecting their health and wellbeing.”4. ARISE PhD programme
5. Our disability and COVID-19 Twitter Chat

6. Shadowing Kishore on his waste-picking route in Vijayawada
A companion piece to the photo essay by Shrutika Murthy, Shadowing Kishore explores the daily lives of waste pickers through the eyes of Prasanna Subramanya Saligram. “Until dawn I was in an ambiguous state – oscillating between comfort and discomfort with the shadowing experience. Once daylight broke and we were going through residential areas, I began to feel distinctly uncomfortable. I worried people might think I was the contractor overseeing Kishore.”7. Mapping community health services in Mukuru, Kenya

8. Recommendations from Guatemala to urban municipalities responding to COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries
This blog is unusual for the ARISE site as it is authored by a policy maker, Guillermo Hegel the former Municipal Director of Health (2014-2020) for Villa Nueva in Guatemala. It provides insights for the municipal level – which is key to tackling COVID-19 – and suggests longer term measures that can be the foundation for future pandemic responses.9. COVID-19: ARISE advice for people in informal settlements
This section of the site brings together all the research that we have published on COVID-19 this year. The content is an eclectic mix of audio, video, journal articles, blogs, webinars and photo stories. Keep checking back in. We regularly update the page.10. Rehabilitation and relocation in Mumbai and Ahmedabad
“Nearly half of Mumbai lives in slums, some on uninhabitable lands – within an arm’s length of speeding trains or on pavements with their living overflowing on to the adjacent street.” We end our round up with this blog by Vinodkumar Rao and Smruti Jukur. It explores how we will be studying aspects of relocation – the governance structures, political relationships, organisation of residents, etc. A process already underway in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. I hope you enjoyed this round up of the top website content of the year. We commit to keeping you informed in 2021 and beyond and are pleased to usher in the New Year with you.Youtube
Shadowing Suvartha on her waste-picking route in Vijayawada
A photo essay by Shrutika Murthy, The George Institute for Global Health India
Safeguarding
We have been involved in a number of processes to create guidelines on safeguarding in global health programmes. You can read more in our latest paper in BMJ Global Health.
Or you can read the findings of an international consultation on safeguarding by our colleagues Surekha Garimella and Bintu Mansaray.
We also have advice on safeguarding in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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