Building Partnerships Between the Urban Poor & the City

**Cross-posted from the SA SDI Alliance Blog**

By Walter Fieuw, CORC

“This is a dream come true in bringing City Councils and communities around a table to talk about possibilities of city-wide informal settlement upgrading,” said Jerry Adlard, the facilitator of the 9th November learning event organised by South African, Namibian and Malawian poor people’s movements aligned to Shack/Slum Dwellers International. Paired with these words, was the call for honest reflection on the objective, structure, achievements, lessons learnt and challenges of unfolding partnerships in the cities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Ethekwini, Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg, Windhoek and Lilongwe. The learning event was preceded by two days of site visits to re-blocking, sanitation and relocation projects in the City of Cape Town and Stellenbosch Municipality.

How do various actors implicated in urban development build partnerships to ensure pro-poor and inclusive cities? Contemporary African cities are juxtaposed with multiple layers of social, political, economic and environmental realities, which in many ways are aggravated by its colonial past. On the one hand, cities are the spaces of aspiration, innovation and drivers of social change, and on the other, social polarisation, poverty, conflict and environmental degradation narrate the conditions of large portions of city dwellers. In an age that is characterised by urbanisation, said to transform the cities of Africa, Asia and Latin America, there is arguably never been a time where effective partnerships are more needed.

In many cases, slum dwellers are taking the lead in building partnerships with local authorities with the view to significantly influence the way slum upgrading is conceptualised and operationalised. The full participation of slum dwellers in upgrading programmes is central to meeting the outcomes of sustainable human settlements, tending towards social (and political) change. For instance, slum dwellers of the Homeless People’s Federation of Malawi influenced the Lilongwe City Council’s bureaucracy through its large scale enumeration project which involved churches, tribal chieftaincies and other community based organisations (Lilongwe slums span municipal boundaries and averages in sizes of 50,000 residents). This inclusive project resulted in a shift on the part of the City Council from treating urban development as homogeneous to rural development. The establishment of the Informal Settlement Unit, a department which reports directly to the Mayor, was the result of effective lobbying on the part of the urban poor. This partnership illustrates the limitations of technocrats and the possibilities of communities initiating their own developmental priorities.

In Windhoek, the partnership between the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN), City of Windhoek and the Polytech is challenging the limitations to transformation implicated in the inherited colonial land use management norms. Space for policy innovation is opening where the contribution and full participation of informal settlements are at the plinth.

Partnerships unfolding in South Africa through the Informal Settlement Network (ISN) and Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP) were also discussed at length. Some of the overarching achievements to date have included pilot projects in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and the mining belt in Ekurhuleni whereby communities successfully re-blocked (e.g. Ruimsig (CoJ) and Sheffield Road (CoCT)), installed drainage (Masilunghe (CoCT)), and resettled (Langrug (Stellenbosch) and Lwazi Park (CoCT)). Innovation through upgrading is challenging the enduring (mis)conceptions associated to the subsidised housing paradigm which only looked after the interests of the nucleus family. The SA Alliance’s aspirations for establishing city-wide Urban Poor Funds – funding facilities that support the initiatives of poor communities – have also partially realised when communities successfully leveraged funds from the Stellenbosch Municipality in financing the relocation project and associated service provision.

The institutionalisation of partnerships for city-wide upgrading initiatives is underway. Reports were heard from city officials and community leaders of respective cities. As communities penetrate the seemingly perceived ‘iron towers’ of city bureaucracy and build effective partnerships that influence budgetary allocation and prioritisation, the emphases are shifting from ‘control’ to ‘participation’.

Delegates argued that if the partnership cannot affect political will, for instance to transform the ward councillor structure (in the SA case), then there is no real power to promote the upgrading agenda. One of the Namibian delegates remarked:

“There is a problem to talk about the poor’s ‘self-reliance’ when the issue actually lies with the state’s orientation. Political space is opened to engage around delivery priorities and this is a two-way process; both the state needs to be held accountable, and citizens, demanding basic human rights, need to be proud and organised. One of the main reasons why the partnerships fail to deliver is that the departments don’t understand the difference between upgrading and housing delivery”.

The Power of Quiet Encroachment

Back in August, Professor Mark Swilling, Academic Director of the Sustainability Insitute at University of Stellenbosch, spoke at TEDxStellenbosch about urbanization in Africa, where nearly 60% of urban dwellers live in slums. He describes this phenomenon of "slum cities," a phenomenon created by rapid urbanization without correlating industrialization. Swilling raises the possibility of the urban poor as co-producers of their own urban environments and of the city as a whole.

In discussing this logic of urbanization, he highlights SDI projects in Kenya and Malawi, where women in urban poor communities mobilize against hopelessness, raising the possibility that tomorrow can be a better day. Swilling showcases an in situ upgrading project in Huruma, Kenya as an example of the SDI affiliate's ingenuity and innovation that allowed them to improve their living structures while remaining on their land, as well as a greenfields development project in Malawi that uses low-cost technologies, which allowed for the construction of 800 secure homes for Malawi's urban poor. 

 

Malawi Federation Launches Mtandire Batik Centre

By Siku Nkhoma, CCODE Malawi

In 2006, the Malawi SDI Alliance travelled to South Luangwa, Zambia on an income generation exchange. During their time in Zambia, the Alliance visited a community led eco-tourism centre and the famed Tribal Textiles centre. The federation women were convinced that these strategies could be adopted by the Malawi federation as a means of income generation, but enthusiasm dwindled as there was no champion of the effort.

This began to change after a follow up visit was organized in 2009. A group of women from Mtandire, the second largest informal settlement in Lilongwe and home to the first group of the Malawi Federation, returned to Zambia with determination to launch a similar income generation project in Malawi. Many of these women helped found the Federation in Malawi and are aware of the empowering effects of mobilization. So when CCODE, the Federation's support NGO, informed them that there was no money to undertake such a project, they decided that they would do the training by contributing some of their own resources. Thus, from January  to December 2010 the members participated in training under the tutelage of Mai Barbara.  Many women who had never had chance of attending school got exposed to the basics of measurement, writing and designing.   By December 2010, fifteen women received certificates upon successful completion of the training. To date, these 15 women make up the five groups, each comprised of three members, operating in the center. They are able to produce batiks of very high quality, ranging from wall hangings, cushion covers, aprons, tablemats, table runners and more. The fact that these women now have a sustainable income from the sales of these products is life-changing,  as over half of them are single mothers or widows responsible for the welfare of their families. 

For more on CCODE and the Malawi Federation, visit their Facebook page. You can also visit their affiliate page, and see more photos from the batik centre on Flickr.

Malawi parliament dedicates support to Federation

pictured above: The Malawian federation after its presentation to the Malawian Parliament on 14 May.

By Wonderful Hunga, CCODE Malawi

The Malawi Federation met the Budget Committee of the Malawi National Assembly on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at the New Parliament Building in Lilongwe. Apart from introducing itself to the legislators, the Federation lobbied for inclusion of financial support for the low income housing programmes in this years national budget.

The Federation journey to Parliament began almost five years ago through exchange visits that exposed the Malawian Ministry of Lands and Housing to the growing need to support low income housing and shelter initiatives. While top Ministers have changed — since the first trip with Bazuka Mhango in May 2006, five other Ministers including the current one Bande have been involved — the strategy never changed. Exchange visits were still arranged for the Malawi government officials and facilitated by SDI.

Then there was a growing recognition by the Ministry to introduce a housing finance mechanism for the low income households. However, the question remained how that could be done?

In October 2010, there was another exchange to Namibia. It was time to learn how housing initiatives by the poor could be supported. The Malawi delegation, which included, the Minister of Lands, housing and urban development, the director of budgets in the Treasury and other government officials learnt how the government of Namibia supports directly supports low income housing initiatives.

One of the fruits of this eye-opening trip to Namibia was the drawing up of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Malawi and SDI. The MoU ignited a serious of discussions between CCODE, the support NGO for the Malawi Federation, on how the Namibian experience could be replicated in the country. Meetings continue to be held and one of the successes so far is that the parties are close to finalising modalities on disbursement of funds.

However approval from Parliament was required in order for the Ministry of lands, housing, and urban development to support the processes of the federation through the National Budget. Immediately the budget and finance committee of the National assembly came into the picture.

So when it was time for the 23rd Session of the Governing Council of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT GC 23), the Ministry of lands, housing and development, John Bande, MP, requested Hon. Ralph Juma to visit the council in Nairobi Nairobi. Hon. Juma is the chairperson of the budget and finance committee.

The Budget Committee is one of the most powerful parliamentary committees in the Malawi National assembly. The committee is responsible for overseeing the formulation and passing of the national budget. Among other successes, the committee championed the inclusion of hardship allowances for teachers in remote areas of the country.

Hon. Juma learned about the Federation processes in Malawi, and a meeting was facilitated for the Federation, CCODE and the budget and finance committee.

“Where we are now, we are pressed with a huge demand to support shelter initiatives across the country and we are overwhelmed.  We need budgetary support. It is time for government to take part in alleviating the housing problem in the country,” explained Mphatso Njunga, a Malawi Federation national leader, in her presentation to the committee.

When the turn came for the budget and finance committee chairperson, Ralph Juma, MP, to speak, the meeting exploded with joy.  “What I can assure you is that we are behind you and we will ensure that you get this support just make sure that you finalise on the modalities with the Ministry of Lands,” said Hon. Juma.

CCODE and the Federation are already working on the modalities on the disbursement of the funds with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development. The modalities have so far been drawn with a few legal hitches to be sorted out.  According to the draft modalities, the Federation would access the funds through the Ministry’s vote.

“Maybe we would be worried that the budget formulation process is at an advanced stage before the modalities are agreed on and a contract signed. In any case we will still have the allocation under contingencies to ensure that you still have the funds once all is done,” the Budget and finance committee chair further assured the Federation amid handclapping.

According to an official statement from the Malawi National Assembly the budget meeting will open on May 23, 2011.

This is the first time the Malawi Alliance has engaged the committee. The engagement process showcases the power of exchange visits in bringing change at policy level.