2b to live in slums by 2030: UN

Currently, a sixth of the world's population lives in slums, according to the report titled "The Challenge of Slums," released to mark World Habitat Day.

"The locus of poverty is moving from the countryside to cities, a progress now recognised as the urbanisation of poverty," United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan wrote in his foreword to the report.

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"If no serious action is taken, the number of slum dwellers worldwide is projected to rise over the next 30 years to about two billion," he added.

The report calls for a more comprehensive approach to addressing the problem of employment for slum dwellers and the urban poor in general.

"Slum policy issues should be integrated with broader, people-focused urban poverty reduction policies that deal with aspects of poverty including employment and incomes, shelter, food, health, education and access to basic urban infrastructure and services," according to the report.

UN-Habitat Executive Director Anna Tibaijuka said in the report that "improving the effectiveness of slum policies can be achieved by fully involving the urban poor and those traditionally responsible for providing the slum housing."

She criticised what she said was "apathy and lack of political will" on the part of governments to address the issue of urban poverty.

"Much more political will is needed at all levels of government to confront the huge scale of slum problems that many cities face today, and will no doubt face in the foreseeable future," she added.

The theme of this year's World Habitat Day is "Water and Sanitation in Cities".

Tibaijuka is on Monday at a ceremony in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, expected to present awards to groups and individuals who have excelled in improving the living conditions of urban poor.