Identification of vulnerable people in urban environments: Assessment of sustainable livelihoods and urban vulnerabilities

This methodological guide is designed for use by field practitioners, and was conceived in response to several problems:

• proliferation of food crises in urban environments.
• difficulty targeting the most vulnerable population among all those affected by urban poverty.
• breakdown of social structures.
• and official betrayal or non recognition of disaffected neighborhoods.

Although it focuses on cities and urban agglomerations in developing countries where life is precarious and the population is divided between individualism and communitarianism, the guide is designed for urban settings in general. These guidelines combine information on methodology as well as several tools of analysis. These tools can be used at different times to organise second-hand documents, to create a vulnerability and/or livelihood mapping, or to complete a low-level analysis in one or several districts. However, this guide cannot comprehensively address the diversity of urban contexts and humanitarian situations. It is only a first version that will be tested and validated during field work. 

 ACF - February 2011