Negotiating the Right to Stay
The community of Old Fadama in central Accra has resisted threats of eviction for nearly a decade. Most recently, the Ghana Federation of the Urban Poor and the Old Fadama Development Association have successfully negotiated with the local government to prevent the diplacement of nearly 7,000 residents as the city prepares for a large-scale clean up of the Korle Lagoon. Read More
In the Spirit of Jubilee
In Nairobi, 65% of the city's inhabitants occupy only 1% of the land mass of the nation's capital. The Kenyan SDI Alliance marks the 50 years of independence with the launch of the Jubilee Campaign. This campaign is an announcement of freedom, restitution of land and property, preclusion of inequalities created by the extremes of riches and poverty in Kenya. Read More
Doing What We Can, with What We Have, Where We Are
The Western Cape Backyarders Network is doing what they can, with what they have, where they are by building momentum in a community with a history of fragmentation, marginalisation and crime. Community organisations from Manenberg have come together around a process of upgrading in order to finally improve the lives of backyard shack-dwellers in the area. Read More
Change by Design: SDI at the Smithsonian
It is within the extreme constraints of social exclusion and poverty that poor people are discovering revolutionary ways of designing homes, neighborhoods, and cities. As architects, designers, planners, and politicians recognize the work the poor are doing, they imagine new kinds of partnerships with organizations of the poor. These are the foundations for building new, inclusive cities. Read More
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ZimbabaweSettlements Under Siege
Close to 200,000 people have been left homeless in Kenya after six bulldozers flattened Kyang'ombe village off Mombasa Road in Nairobi, under the watchful eye and supervision of police. The Kenyan SDI alliance, Muungano Wa Wanavijiji, and local residents believe that there is a lot more to the story than meets the eye, arguing that the residents were evicted because private developers with powerful political connections acquired the land illegally. “I do not know where to go," said Kepher Otieno, a resident of Kyang'ombe. Otieno and thousands others never received notice to vacate and have been given no instruction of where to go from here.
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Latest Blog Posts
South African SDI Alliance Sets Strategic Goals for 2012
Leaders of the SA SDI Alliance met from 16–18 January 2012 to reflect on progress made over the last year. The Alliance has pledged ‘to strengthen the voice of the urban and rural poor in order to improve quality of life in informal settlements and backyard dwellings’. This we will accomplish by supporting communities who are willing and able to help themselves. ...
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Ms. Mandela Learns from the Community at Sheffield Road
Last year, a leader of the South African Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP) was appointed the Ministerial Task Team on Water & Sanitation headed by Winnie Mandela. During a recent trip to Cape Town, the SA SDI alliance made recommendations to the team on slum upgrading based on their experience of re-blocking at Sheffield Road.
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Knowing What They Have and Expressing What They Want
Social preparatory activities such as the Social Mapping and Dream House Workshop are among the capacity building activities supported by the Philippine Alliance to foster and promote community-led processes among partner communities in the country as a whole. Building capacities among housing participants is likewise a leap forward towards a holistic community-led process.
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Brazil Supports Federation Strengthening in Bolivia
Savers from Brazil traveled to Cochabamba, Bolivia in October to support the Bolivian SDI alliance in their strategic planning for the following 3 years. Drawing on their experience from similar process in Brazil, the group was able to support the planning and exchange experiences on the saving groups´ work and challenges in the different countries.
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Building Partnerships Between the Urban Poor & the City
In November, delegates from South Africa, Malawi and Namibia reflected on the objective, structure, achievements, lessons learnt and challenges of unfolding partnerships in cities where slum dwellers are taking the lead in building partnerships with local authorities.
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Latest Photos
Latest Video
Spotlight on Slum Upgrading
The Uganda SDI alliance has partnered with the International City Managemement Association (ICMA), Cities Alliance, and the Government of Uganda on a project which seeks to transform informal settlements through mobilization of urban poor women around savings schemes, the backbone of SDI's methodology. In this interview, Sarah Nandudu, a national leader of the Uganda Slum Dwellers Federation, explains how this project supports efforts to improve water and sanitation by using SDI's core methodologies.
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Spotlight on Community Planning
Social preparatory activities such as Social Mapping and the Dream House Workshop are capacity building activities supported by the Philippine SDI Alliance to promote community-led processes in partner communities nationwide. Since 2007, the Philippine Alliance has believed strongly that these types of activities are fundamental components of a cohesive and responsive community development undertaking. Building capacities among housing participants is a critical component of a holistic community-led process.
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