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SDI Synopsis Misereor

SLUM DWELLERS INTERNATIONAL

INTRODUCTION

Slum Dwellers International is a loose network of people’s organisations from an increasing number of countries in the South. The network is made up of Federations of community organisations and other grassroots initiatives that are in the process of developing Federations. Linked to this network is a group of professionals who are committed to supporting Federations of the urban poor.

The SDI affiliates have come together to give a voice to the poor in an arena of decision-making that has, in recent years, been confined to global organisations that champion neo-liberal theories of development. As a counterpoint to these agencies, social movements (such as the women’s and environmental movements) have emerged.  They see themselves as opponents of centralised state power, backed by these global agencies - the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Then there has been a plethora (now diminishing) of organisations in civil society who have mobilised poor individuals, mainly through micro-finance, to help poor people improve their individual standards of living as a means of adapting to the reality created by the alliance of power between multi-laterals and national governments.

SDI affiliates are attempting to pioneer an alternative route to the two that are mentioned above.

All SDI affiliates are organisations of the Urban Poor. They range in size from a few hundred (at present) in Zambia to more than a million-and-a-half in India. Some are decades old, others have been in existence for less than a year. They all share a common vision: that the State on its own cannot solve problems of poverty and under-development. Whilst the State, especially in Southern countries, has a monopoly on power, its very relationship to this power and to the local and global economy makes it a very weak instrument for the delivery of the resources and services needed to eradicate poverty. Thus the SDI affiliates seek to remind the State and international agencies of their obligations with respect to equity. Since they question the capacity of these agencies to deliver, they constantly seek situations that enable those who are affected by poverty to become organised and united in ever-expanding networks, and to play a defining role in the way in which Governments and multi-laterals discharge their obligations to the poor. This is in sharp contradistinction to the rights-based social movements or the micro-finance organisations, or even archaic social movements of the past, such as earlier rural and urban movements of the poor, including trade unions and left-wing political parties.

Big brothers to the Nation States, the Bretton Woods Institutions and the UN, have been an international response, in a way, to the sporadic impulses of the poor and the marginalized, who have been driven by material need, towards contestation as an effort to create a society based on equity. SDI is an attempt to move away from sporadic impulses to sustained, long-term investments in local Federations of the Urban Poor. SDI, as a network of these Federations, opens opportunities at the international level in order to strengthen its member organisations.

 

 

THE FEDERATIONS IN SLUM DWELLERS INTERNATIONAL (2003)

 

These are the current members of the Slum Dwellers International Network.

A) FULL-FLEDGED FEDERATIONS

CAMBODIA – Society of Urban Poor Federations (SUPF) is the Cambodian affiliate, receiving support from Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR). SUPF is a network of 207 slum communities in the capital city of Pnom Penh. The city has a population of about 1 million people. About 200,000 live in Slums. SUPF was formed in 1993 with support from the National Slum Dwellers Federation of India and has been part of SDI since 1996.

INDIA - National Slum Dwellers Federation (NSDF) and its sister organisation, Mahila Milan, are the oldest members of the network. NSDF was formed in 1972, but only began to make an impact on the lives of the poor in India in 1985 when it linked up with an NGO called SPARC. This configuration of people’s organisation and professional support group led to the formation of a women’s organisation of the urban poor – Mahila Milan. NSDF and Mahila Milan have been involved in exchange programmes with the South African Homeless People’s Federation since 1991. These exchange programmes formed the platform for the launch of SDI.
KENYA – Pamoja Trust is an NGO that was formed in 1998 to support struggles for land tenure in Nairobi. It works closely with grassroots organisations in the city’s slums. Through contact with the South African, Indian and Zimbabwean Federations the Kenya communities have started savings schemes to be launched, in April 2002 as a Federation by the name of  Hakiba Mashinani.

NAMIBIA – The Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia was launched in 1998 but a network of savings collectives, linked to Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG) had existed since the early 1990’s. The Namibians have worked closely with the South Africans and Zimbabweans. They have participated in the creation of linkages in Kenya and Zambia.

NEPAL – There are two Federations in Nepal, both supported by the NGO, Lumanti, and working closely with the Indian and Thai Federations. The older of the two Federations is the Baso Bas Basti Samrochan Samaj  - the  Federation of Squatter Communities. The second Federation, which was formed in 1999, is Mahila Ekta Samaj – Women’s Savings Federation, which is active in nineteen communities in Khatmandu.

PHILIPPINES – The Homeless People’s Federation, Philippines was launched in 1998, after extensive links between savings and credit groups in the Philippines and the Federations in India, Thailand and South Africa. The Federation is supported by the Vincentian Missionaries Development Forum (VMSDF) and has chapters in 18 cities in the country. It started out on the dumpsites of Payatas.

 

SOUTH AFRICA – uMfelandaWonye WaBantu BaseMjondolo – the South African Homeless People’s Federation was formed 1991. It is supported by People’s Dialogue and is active in all nine provinces in the country. It has over 100,000 members, of whom more than 85,000 are women.  The South African Federation facilitated the birth of the Zimbabwean, Namibian and Swazi and Malagasy Federations.

SRI LANKA –  The Federation in Sri Lanka has emerged from the Million Houses Programme of the 1980’s and its indirect successor, the Women’s Bank. The Sri Lanka Federation receives support from NSDF/Mahila Milan – the Indian Federations.

SWAZILAND – The Swazi Federation was launched in 2001. It is primarily made up of community organisations in rural areas. It gets support from the South African Federation and has also received exchange groups from Zimbabwe and Namibia.
THAILAND – The Thai Federations prove  that the Federation model is able to accommodate diversity. There are many Federations in Bangkok and many networks of savings groups in other towns. The Thai Federations are linked together through their relationship with CODI, an innovative fund for the poor, linked to  Government. Thai groups have worked  with the Cambodian Federation and have started savings groups in Laos and Vietnam.

ZIMBABWE – The Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation was formally launched in 1998. Zimbabwe Dialogue on Shelter is its NGO counterpart. It is now active in every city and town in the country and has over 45,000 members. The Zimbabweans work closely with the South Africans and the Namibians. They have also provided support to the Swazis and gave birth to the Zambian Homeless People’s Federation.

  1. Networks of Savings Schemes beginning to emerge as Federations

 

MADAGASCAR – The Malagasy Federation was formed in early 2001 as a response to evictions in the capital city of Antananarivo. The Federation receives support from an NGO by the name of CDA -  Conseil Development d’Andohatapenaka. The Malagasy’s linked up to the SDI network through contacts with the South African Homeless People’s Federation and the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia.

UGANDA – Savings collectives in Kampala and Jinja were first established in late 2002 when the Indian, South African and Kenyan Federations began to work with the Uganda Government to design and implement citywide slum upgrading programmes.

  1. Networks of Savings Schemes with links to SDI (no Federations)

 

COLOMBIA -  The Leticia Saving Group was formed in 1999. They receive support from Gaia Colombia. The Leticia Saving Group has 67 members who are saving to purchase land in this southern Amazon town on the border with Brazil and Peru. The Leticia savers have started savings groups in the neighbouring towns in these two countries.

INDONESIA – The South African Federation attended the second Asian People’s Dialogue in Indonesia in late 2002. While they were there they started savings schemes on several islands. They consolidated their work with a follow up mission in January 2003.

MALAWI – The Zimbabwe Federation triggered a handful of savings schemes in Malawi in early 2003. These groups are in touch with their Zimbabwe counterparts, but face-to-face interaction is yet to take place.

LESOTHO – South African savings schemes in the Eastern Free State opened savings schemes in and around Maseru in 1998. These groups have continued to function with limited support. There are occassional exchanges between the Eastern Free State groups and the Lesotho groups.

TANZANIA – The South African Federation linked up with women’s groups linked to the Catholic Church in 2000. They also made contacts with communities working with Wateraid in Dar Es Salaam. Both the Church and Wateraid have started and continued to support savings schemes. The church groups are based in the capital city and in several smaller urban hubs, such as Arusha and Dodoma. The Wateraid groups are in Dar es Salaam.
 
ZAMBIA – The Zambian savings schemes were started by the Victoria Falls Federation, which is linked to the Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation. Savings Groups were started in Livingstone in 2000 and have now spread to Lusaka. The Zimbabwe Federation assists the Zambian groups.

  1. Groups Engaged In Exposure Programmes with SDI Affiliates.

 

ARGENTINA – Argentinian Federations of the Urban Poor, linked to the Trade Union movement have interacted with SDI groups in Kenya and South Africa. A South African delegation visited Buenos Aires in January 2003 and exposed the Argentinian groups to the concept of mobilisation through savings. An Argentine group is due to visit SA and India in late 2003.

BRAZIL – A Brazilian team, led by the Sao Paulo Secretary of Housing, will visit South Africa and July. The Sao Paulo Municipality has engaged SDI groups at international meetings in Brazil and in England and the Housing Secretariat is keen to establish links between Brazilian grassroots groups and SDI.

GHANA – South African Federation leaders attended a conference in Ghana in 2002. NGO’s involved in fighting evictions invited SDI to assist them in the enumeration of slums under threat in Accra.