Partners

International networks

Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR)

ACHR is SDI’s sister network of organizations of the urban poor. ACHR was formed out of a People’s Dialogue in 1987 of activists and community organizations to address the challenge of forced evictions in informal areas in Asian cities. Currently, ACHR serves as a network for sharing learning around community organization, inclusive finance, and building links with city governments and global institutions. The Asian Coalition for Community Action (ACCA) is a program of ACHR to fund small and large upgrading projects by urban poor community organizations. These projects are designed to incentivize savings and city-wide funds, community information gathering, and building links with city governments. Some of SDI’s Asian affiliate federations are also part of ACHR and participate in its ACCA program.

United Cities and Local Government — Africa (UCLGA)

UCLGA is the African chapter of United Cities and Local Government (UCLG), the global network of city governments. In 2011, SDI signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UCLGA to pilot city-wide strategies for community-based informal settlement upgrading.

Women in the Informal Economy: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO)

WIEGO is a network of organizations of informal traders in countries throughout the Global South. As another network of informal dwellers, WIEGO and SDI work to build broader understandings of the contributions of informality to the development of cities, and create space for organizations of the poor to influence policies and practices in cities.

Multi-lateral organizations

Cities Alliance (CA)

Cities Alliance is a partnership of major multilateral donor agencies, Northern country donor agencies, Southern country governments, and networks of cities. CA is housed in the World Bank. As the global network of the urban poor, SDI is a member of CA and serves on its Consultative Group, equivalent to a board of directors. SDI has sponsored projects of other organizations funded by CA, and affiliate federations participate in many CA programs, notably its Land, Services, and Citizenship initiatives in Ghana and Uganda.

Global Land Tools Network (GLTN)

The Global Land Tools Network brings together a range of international networks and organizations to address the challenges of land tenure with regards to the inclusion of informal settlements and residents in cities. In particular, SDI works with GLTN on developing tools for community-information collection practices, such as enumeration, to form the basis of dynamic GIS technologies for understanding and managing urban development. Further, SDI participates in GLTN forums and publications to build a wider constituency for prioritizing community information collection and planning as the basis for addressing issues of urban land.

Academic Institutions

International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

IIED is a UK-based research organization with a strong emphasis on building links with Southern practitioners and academics. SDI has a long-standing partnership with the Human Settlements unit of IIED, which has often produced research on SDI-affiliated federations. The Human Settlements unit of IIED also produces the academic journal Environment and Urbanization, which has published a number of influential articles about SDI and its affiliates.

Society for Participatory Research In Asia (PRIA)

PRIA is a centre for learning and promotion of participatory democracy based in New Delhi, India. SDI works with PRIA as one of its partners to develop a learning, monitoring and evaluation (LM&E) framework for understanding its work at both the global level and for many of SDI’s affiliate federations in Asia.

Institute for Policy Alternatives (IPA)

IPA is a centre for policy study and learning based in Accra, Ghana. SDI works with IPA as one of its partners to develop a learning, monitoring and evaluation (LM&E) framework for understanding its work at both the global level and for many of SDI’s affiliate federations in East and West Africa.

African Centre for Cities (ACC)

ACC is a research centre on urban development in the African continent, housed in the University of Cape Town, South Africa. ACC works with SDI to produce documents and research on the work of SDI and its affiliates.

Association of African Planning Schools (AAPS)

AAPS is a network planning schools in universities throughout the African continent. In 2010, SDI signed a Memorandum of Understanding with AAPS to develop internships and relationships between affiliates planning schools and SDI affiliates in countries in Africa where both are active.