The objective of the assignment was to make cities and towns more liveable and improve the quality of life for African urban dwellers through stimulating dialogues, advocacy and action. The consultancy aimed to produce a flagship UN-Habitat and UNICEF flagship report on the existing situations in secondary towns and cities in Sub-Saharan Africa, which were presented at the World Urban Forum in February 2020, and the findings would serve as a Call for Action for African leaders and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen programming and service provision in Sub-Saharan Africa’s secondary cities. The team undertook the following activities:

• Analysed urban demographics and trends in secondary towns and cities in Sub-Saharan Africa region
• Analysed multiple deprivations in secondary cities, along a number of indicators that include income, employment, health, nutrition, disability, education, barriers to housing, water and sanitation and crime and living environment
• Identified the key multiple deprivations
• Undertook key informants and stakeholder interviews and consultations in case study countries and developed case studies for secondary cities in Kenya, Ghana and Zambia
• Identified and analysed triggers for urbanization and growth of secondary towns, including migration, climate-change, natural disasters, conflicts etc.
• Identified challenges and opportunities for economic growth and sustainable development in prominent urban areas/towns, growth centres and corridors in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Developed a Call for Action document, which was adopted at the World Urban Forum 10 in Abu Dhabi in February 2020.

You can download both the Analysis Report and Call to Action document by clicking here.