Workshop: eParticipation for Slum Upgrading in Mtwapa, Kenya

The proposed ePart2014 workshop focuses on an eParticipation tool being designed and piloted within an on-going slum upgrading programme in the coastal town of Mtwapa, Kenya. The Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme (PSUP), implemented by UN-Habitat in Kenya and in other 32 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, has partnered for the development of this tool with FUPOL Consortium (Future Policy Modelling). In Mtwapa, half of the 60,000 population live in informal settlements and slums. PSUP-Mtwapa aims to address the five main deprivations that characterise slum dwellers' life: lack of improved sanitation, lack of access to drinking water, lack of sufficient living area, lack of durable housing and lack of security of tenure. The PSUP approach promotes community participation by bringing together slum communities and authorities to engage in participatory decision-making, planning and implementation of activities to improve the quality of life within slums, in the understanding that such a process is crucial to provide sustainability to slum upgrading. In line with this, the PSUP eParticipation tool is intended to be used as a platform to gather public inputs, judge consensus, disseminate key information, offer two-way discussions between residents and authorities, and to develop and monitor slum upgrading projects. The programme's implementation is envisaged for 2014–2015. The ePart2014 workshop is a timely opportunity to get an expert review of this tool.