South Africa is home to some of the world’s most violent cities, with homicide rates well above global and national averages. While the homicide rate is a strong indicator of urban violence, it does not capture non-lethal violence, which is often hidden from public view, in the home or in institutions. In order to create safer spaces in which women, men, girls, and boys can live, policy makers and practitioners need to know which sort of interventions work, and which don’t. This event brings together findings from two lines of work, the African Centre for Cities’ research and analysis on the impact of informal settlement upgrading on safety and overall quality of life and the Safe and Inclusive Cities initiative which seeks to understand the drivers of urban violence and how they relate to poverty and inequalities. Discussion will focus on identifying concrete options for improving safety in South Africa’s cities. This event is free, but space is limited. Please RSVP to mercy.brown-luthango@uct.ac.za AGENDA 4:00 Welcome and opening remarks by Prof. Gordon Pirie (ACC) and Ms. Cam Do (IDRC) 4:20 Conversation with: Dr. Mercy Brown-Luthango, ACC – Improving Safety for Informal Settlement Dwellers: Urban Upgrading Dr. Hugo van der Merwe, CSVR – Reducing violence while reducing poverty: The Community Work Program Dr. Juan Pablo Pérez Sáinz, FLACSO-Costa Rica – Lessons for South Africa from Central America 5:10 Questions and Answers 6:00 Close Light refreshments will be served. About the Presenters Dr. Mercy Brown-Luthango has a background in Sociology of Work and has an interest in the economics of land use planning and social mobilisation among poor communities. She has worked on a diverse range of research topics, including the “brain drain” in South Africa, labour practices on wine farms, gender relations in the workplace, and the effect of global restructuring in the wine industry on South African producers. Currently, Dr. Brown-Luthango is a Research Officer with the African Centre for Cities. Dr. Hugo van der Merwe is trained in Conflict Analysis and Resolution and specializes in issues of transitional justice in South Africa and the African continent. He has led several research projects evaluating the impact of local and national transitional justice processes. Currently, Dr. van der Merwe is the Head of Research at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in South Africa. Dr. Juan Pablo Pérez Sáinz is a Sociologist and expert in the labour market, poverty, and local economic development. He has published widely on these topics in addition to employment, globalization, social structures, and many others. Since 1981, Dr. Pérez Sáinz has worked as a researcher with FLACSO, the Faculdad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences). He is currently based at FLACSO-Costa Rica. The African Centre for Cities' work presented at this event is supported by the Inclusive Violence and Crime Prevention (VCP) programme which is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Safe and Inclusive Cities is a joint initiative of the UK’s Department for International Development and Canada’s International Development Research Centre.
