Putting Children First: Identifying solutions and taking action to tackle poverty and inequality in Africa. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 23-25 October 2017 This three-day international conference aimed to engage policy makers, practitioners and researchers in identifying solutions for fighting child poverty and inequality in Africa, and in inspiring action towards change. The conference offered a platform for bridging divides across sectors, disciplines and policy, practice and research.

1. Children and Adolescents
in Urban Settings:
Poverty and Inequality in Nigerian Cities
Delamonica, Enrique – UNICEF Nigeria and CROP
Minujin, Alberto – Equity for Children
Ugoagwu, Placid – University of Jos
Addis Ababa -October, 2017

2. Questions/Objectives
In Kano and Lagos:
1) How many children live in:
acceptable
inadequate
unacceptable housing conditions?
2) What is the situation of children in the different
conditions?
3) Regarding selected life cycle variables, what are
the disparities between children in
acceptable and
unacceptable housing conditions?

3. Background: Global Urbanization
trends
World
Africa

4. Urban inequities and children
• Africa will experience one of the strongest waves of
urbanization.
• Urban averages mask huge inequalities & inequities.
• Children living in slums and informal settlement
confront high socio-environmental risks.
• SDGs goals recognize the critical importance of
promoting urban equity.
• Achieving most of the goals depends on what will
happen in urban areas.

5. Methodology
Nigeria MICS 2016:
Kano and Lagos states oversampled
Metropolitan Kano and Lago data available
We used indicators and thresholds for:
1) Overcrowding;
2) Quality of housing construction; and
3) Characteristics of the household related to
available amenities, services, and environmental
conditions.

6. Methodology (II)
Combining the three dimensions households can be
classified according to their overall housing
conditions:
Acceptable
Inadequate
Unacceptable
Selected variables over the life cycle of children and
adolescents explored.
Relative gaps analyzed (acceptable vs unacceptable)

7. Percentage of children in overcrowded
households (persons per room)
Kano Lagos
Not Overcrowded 40.4 26.2
Moderately
Overcrowded (3-4)
36.8 37.3
Severely
Overcrowded (5+)
22.8 36.5
Total 100.00 100.0

8. Sample thresholds
Households were considered
not deprived if the floor was
primarily made of one of the
following materials:
The following floor
materials were used to
classify a household as
deprived:
Vinyl carpet Earth / Sand
Ceramic tiles Dung
Cement Wood planks
Rug (wall to wall) Palm / Bamboo
Vinyl tiles
Parquet or polished wood

9. Children in households deprived in terms
of housing construction quality (%)
Kano Lagos
Basic Indicators
Deprivation in terms of Roof 7.0 1.3
Floor 14.3 0.8
Wall 3.3 0.4
Aggregate Summary of Housing
Construction Quality
Not Deprived 78.4 97.9
Moderate 18.8 1.7
Severe 2.8 0.4

10. Distribution of children according to
overall housing conditions (%)
Overall Housing
Condition
Kano Lagos
Acceptable 18.2 17.2
Inadequate 26.6 55.3
Unacceptable 55.2 27.5
Total 100.0 100.0

11. Stunting
0
5
10
15
20
25
State -Wide Urban Areas (State)Metropolitan Areas
(State)
Acceptable Inadequate Unacceptable
(%)
Kano Lagos
National
Average

12. Children using insecticide treated
mosquito nets (ITN)
0
20
40
60
80
100
State –Wide Urban Areas (State)Metropolitan Areas
(State)
Acceptable Inadequate Unacceptable
(%)
Kano Lagos
National
Average

13. Children attending Pre-Primary School
Education/ECD
0
20
40
60
80
100
State –Wide Urban Areas (State)Metropolitan Areas
(State)
Acceptable Inadequate Unacceptable
(%)
Kano Lagos
National
Average

14. Children of primary school age
attending primary school
0
20
40
60
80
100
State –Wide Urban Areas (State)Metropolitan Areas
(State)
Acceptable Inadequate Unacceptable
(%)
Kano Lagos
National
Average

15. Children of secondary school age
attending secondary school
0
20
40
60
80
100
State –Wide Urban Areas (State)Metropolitan Areas
(State)
Acceptable Inadequate Unacceptable
(%)
Kano Lagos
National
Average

16. Summary of absolute and relative
rural-urban and intra-urban gaps
Kano Lagos
Absolute
Gap
Relative
Gap
Absolute
Gap
Relative
Gap
Birth Registration 27.0 1.5 16.7 1.2
Stunting -4.4 0.8 -2.5 0
Insecticide Treated
Nets
9.1 1.1 -1.4 0.8
ECD/Pre-primary
school NAR
29.2 2.6 13.7 1.2
NAR Primary 2.8 1.0 0.6 1.0
NAR Secondary - 1.0 14.5 1.2

17. Summary and Further Steps
• Large intra-urban disparities exist for many
indicators
• However, not as large as in other countries
• There are also some “surprises”
• Sensitivity Analysis of thresholds
– Different ones for each city?
• Confidence intervals

18. Thank you!