Partnerships

Engagement as Equals

Since its inception, SDI has operated from a clear platform of engagement and negotiation with governments, multi- and bi- laterals, academic institutions and other actors in the development sector to reorient roles, responsibilities, and relationships for the benefit of the urban poor. Although SDI Federations resolutely eschew confrontational strategies, this does not result in automatic acquiescence to national and international interests. In fact, most Federations are essentially pragmatic in nature - their extraordinary capacity to survive under impossible conditions is, more often than not, based on their ability to seek compromise and mediation. As a result, SDI affiliates question the capacity of State and multi-lateral institutions to deliver on their own - and thus, seek out situations where conglomerations of slumdwellers can play a defining role in the global development industry.

For many years, SDI has focused on building partnerships with national governments that produce, control or regulate all of the commodities that the poor need for development (land, water, sanitation, electricity, housing finance). Such partnerships are crucial to remind States of their responsibility towards the poor, ensuring that the most vulnerable are not left to the mercy of the market. More recently, however, SDI has also begun to engage on multi-lateral institutions (particularly the World Bank and the UN) bringing the voice of the urban poor to global forums, and attempting to shift policy at the transnational level.

Whilst this approach is often perceived as an instrument for co-optation, it is in fact the much more difficult and more transformative route. Instead of seeking safety in affiliation with a particular political party or coalition, SDI develops complex political relationships with the various levels and forms of national and international bureaucracies.

Besides partnerships with State governments, SDI's primary affiliations include: Cities Alliance, Homeless International, Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Miserior, Cordaid, Sweedish Sida, Sustainability Institute, and the International Institute for Environment and Development.