UN-HABITAT is one of the key partners of the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme (KENSUP). KENSUP was initiated in 2001 by the Government of Kenya (GoK), and it is complemented and supplemented by UN-HABITAT through cooperation outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding and existing project documents.

Project activities under KENSUP are taking place in Nairobi, Kisumu, Mavoko, Mombasa and Thika.

The Challenge of Slums presents the first global assessment of slums, emphasizing their problems and prospects. It presents estimates of the numbers of urban slum dwellers and examines the factors that underlie the formation of slums, as well as their social, spatial and economic characteristics and dynamics. It also evaluates the principal policy responses to the slum challenge of the last few decades. The report argues that the number of slum dwellers is growing and will continue to increase unless there is serious and concerted action by all relevant stakeholders. The report points the way forward and identifies the most promising approaches to achieving the Millennium Declaration target on improving the lives of slum dwellers.