A/HRC/22/61 I. Introduction 1. Half of the current global population live in cities, and one third of all urbandwellers are poor. The urban poor represent one quarter of the world‟s poor population, 1 a number that is expected to rise dramatically with continued urbanization, making poverty an increasingly urban phenomenon.2 The pace of urban poverty reduction has also been slower than rural poverty reduction, indicating an overall urbanization of poverty. The higher the level of urbanization, the larger the effect on the proportion of the poor living in urban areas.3 Thus, urban poverty poses particular challenges to the basic human rights of the population it affects. 2. In its resolution 16/27 of 25 March 2011, the Human Rights Council requested the Advisory Committee to undertake comprehensive studies on the urban poor and their enjoyment of the right to food, including strategies to improve their protection and best practices. At the eight session of the Advisory Committee, a preliminary study (A/HRC/AC/8/5) was prepared by the drafting group on the right to food, consisting of José Bengoa Cabello, Chinsung Chung, Latif Hüseynov, Jean Ziegler and Mona Zulficar.4 3. At its eighth session in February 2012, the Advisory Committee adopted recommendation 8/2 by consensus, welcoming the preliminary study on the theme “promotion of human rights of the urban poor: strategies and best practices” and assigned the completion of the above-mentioned study to the drafting group on the right to food, to be presented to the Advisory Committee at its ninth session. At its ninth session, the Advisory Committee discussed the final study by the drafting group (A/HRC/AC/9/3) and requested the drafting group to finalize it in light of these discussions, with a view to submitting it to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-second session. II. Causes of urban poverty A. Urbanization and poor infrastructure 4. A defining characteristic of contemporary urban poverty is that low- and middleincome countries bear the brunt of both the current and projected population of poor city dwellers: 80 per cent of the world‟s urban poor live in developing countries, 5 and the developing world will continue to see the highest rate of urban growth. By 2030, 93 per cent of the world‟s urban population will live in the developing world, 80 per cent in Africa and Asia alone.6 The ability of cities to provide basic infrastructure and services has not, 1 2 3 4 5 6 Judy L. Baker, “Urban poverty: a global view”, Urban Papers, UP-5 (Washington, D.C., The World Bank, 2008), p. 1. By 2025, two thirds of the world‟s people will live in urban areas. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2009. Martin Ravallion, “On the Urbanization of Poverty”, Policy Research Working Paper, No. 2586 (Washington, D.C., World Bank, 2001), p. 8. The drafting group on the right to food would like to thank Chanmi Kim and Sunkyo Im for their important contribution during the drafting of the present study, as well as Mouvement Mondial des Mères International/Make Mothers Matter International for its valuable comments. Baker, “Urban poverty”, p. 2. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), State of World Population 2007: Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth (2007), p. 8. 3