Savings & Finance

When we speak of SDI “federations,” we are referring to agglomerations of savings groups constituted at the street and community levels in informal settlements. These groups then federate at city-wide and nation-wide scale. From a developmental perspective, however, the basic equity inherent in savings is the cohesion, understanding, trust and confidence generated.

The trust built through savings is not only essential to the formation of a strong and active Federation, but also critical to take pro-poor development initiatives to scale. The discipline and systems required for strong savings groups are the base through which communities can manage and implement projects.

Further, the savings groups are the building blocks for poor communities to accumulate their own resources. By combining the savings of the poor with the external contributions the savings leverage, national Urban Poor Funds gear up capital for large-scale construction and infrastructure development.

SDI’s Urban Poor Fund International (UPFI) works alongside these national funds to support grassroots activities that build capacity through practice. The UPFI funds projects that enable federations to secure tenure, improve basic services, and address shelter needs. It also supports peer-to-peer exchanges that can help build further capacity and build the network. In doing so, it demonstrates not only innovations that can be scaled up, but also transforms relationships between the poor and the city, and provides a new vehicle to make investments to undertake slum upgrading.