HLPF Side Event: From invisibility to impact: Are we failing children living in slums? | 17 July 2025
An official HLPF 2025 side event tackled one of the most urgent equity gaps of our time: the persistent exclusion of children living in slums and informal settlements from national development agendas and SDG frameworks.
About
On Thursday, 17 July 2025 (9:30–11:30 AM EDT), an official HLPF 2025 side event tackled one of the most urgent equity gaps of our time: the persistent exclusion of children living in slums and informal settlements from national development agendas and SDG frameworks.
This conversation is grounded in the Global Evaluation of UNICEF’s Work in Contributing to the Reduction of Multidimensional Poverty in Slums—an evaluation I’ve had the privilege to lead. The findings are clear: despite the scale of urban deprivation, most development efforts still overlook the specific needs of slum-dwelling children.
But the event is not just about what’s missing—it’s about what’s working, and how we can scale good practices:
✅ India’s Ward Health Action Plans—a promising model for local governance and integrated urban health.
✅ Kenya’s Muungano Alliance—putting community data in the driver’s seat of urban transformation.
✅ UNICEF and partners—testing new multisectoral, area-based strategies for complex urban realities.
Together, we’ll explore how to:
- Embed slum-responsive strategies into national SDG plans and VNRs
- Use local knowledge and community-driven data to inform decisions
- Strengthen partnerships between governments, civil society, and global actors
- Drive institutional change within the UN and development system to truly “leave no one behind”
📢 Speakers: Joe Muturi (SDI), Kamila Gojobe (SDI), Velegreat South Africa, Shekhar Singh (PCMC), Gonzalo Hernández Licona (MPPN), Paola Pereznieto, and Denis Jobin, Senior Evaluation Specialist and EvalSDG Co-chair, representing UNICEF’s Evaluation Office and EvalSDGs.
Let’s move from invisibility to impact—with purpose, equity, and evidence.
