Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI) is a global network of the urban poor that stretches across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Federations of informal slum-dwellers drive the SDI network and through shared learning and practical interventions create a pro-poor platform on both the local and global stage. The political momentum created by slum dwellers across the globe is creating a global voice for the urban poor.

Slum dwellers are one of the most marginalized groups in developing cities and the current modes of rapid urban expansion perpetuate this distinction. Informal settlements are often seen as an illegal blight on the cityscape-areas that have to be regularized, ignored or removed to make space for formal and conventional modes of city development. Those who live in slums lack basic resources such as water, sanitation, security of tenure and housing and these deficiencies are perpetuated institutionally, politically and legally by the way in which governments engage with the urban poor. Exterior actors who are not sufficiently sensitive to local context and dynamics all too often determine interventions that do take place. Federations of the poor set precedents and work towards partnerships with government that demonstrate the implicit value of a community centered approach to urban informality and upgrading. This process works towards creating a citywide agenda and plan for transforming endemic conditions of urban poverty that is backed by the political momentum of the poor and excluded.

In settlements in South Africa, India, Kenya, Malawi, the Philippines (and many more) communities are working to improve their own lives. Through enumerations and profiles residents collect detailed information about their settlements, mapping different upgrading priorities and challenges. Female centered savings groups help finance upgrading projects as well as creating a platform for communities to start organizing themselves at scale.  Armed with accurate information, financial contributions and a clear upgrading agenda communities can engage local government and leverage assistance and resources. As informal settlements link together under common agendas the political momentum that they generate has the potential to go to citywide scale working towards the creation of more inclusive cities. This is not just about challenging the existing ways in which urbanization takes place but presenting feasible alternatives that are driven by the urban poor.

Currently SDI works in over 30 countries to facilitate and support the processes described above. Through the Urban Poor Fund International (UPFI), SDI provides a finance mechanism for communities to access loans for people centered upgrading projects including public toilets, water kiosks, incremental housing improvements and securing tenure. The funds from loans are revolved and used for other projects. SDI has helped settlements organize against evictions, facilitating discussions that outline workable alternatives. Additionally many communities have signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU’s) with local government, which forms the basis for an equal partnership and strategy for service provision and settlement upgrading that resonate at citywide level. A vital component of the SDI approach is peer-to-peer learning and numerous targeted exchanges between slum dwellers in different countries take place annually. Exchanges can focus on numerous issues (e.g. mapping, enumerations, project implementation and financial management.

SDI supports slum dwellers in numerous projects and upgrading initiatives were the poor communities, and not development proffesionals set the priorities and drive the construction, management and implementation of projects. One such example of this work is the construction and management of communal sanitation blocks in Uganda, described in the second section of this post.

Uganda and Sanitation:

A World Bank report released this month estimates Uganda loses USD $177 million annually due to poor sanitation. According to the report, Economic Impacts of Poor Sanitation in Africa - Uganda, the majority of these costs come from the annual premature death of 23,000 Ugandans from diarrheal disease, including 19,700 children under the age of five. Nearly 90 percent of these deaths are directly attributable to poor water, sanitation, and hygiene. The study estimates 13.8 million Ugandans use unsanitary or shared latrines and 3.2 million have no latrine at all and defecate in the open.

The National Slum Dwellers Federation of Uganda is working to address the country’s sanitation crisis, which is experienced most severely by those living in the country’s crowded slums. Having already completed two sanitation units, one in Kisenyi – a slum in central Kampala – and one in Rubaga, a slum in Jinja, the federation is pushing to scale up its approach throughout the country. It has begun construction of a unit in Nakawa, Kampala and is about to commence construction of units in Mbale, Mbarara, and five other settlements in Jinja. The federation prioritizes settlements revealed by enumerations to be particularly underserved.

Federation-built sanitation units vary in size, depending on the amount of land the federation is able to secure through negotiations with landowners and municipal councils. Generally, however, the federation attempts to design units with at least 3 stances for males and 3 for females as well as bathing and disabled facilities. In addition to the sanitation services, a second floor is constructed for use as a community hall. This hall can be used for federation meetings, saving money on renting space, and also rented to others to generate income.

Project funds typically come from three sources: the first is community contribution. This contribution takes the form of financial capital (usually 20% of project costs in order to secure a loan) and also community labor and management. An additional contribution is sought from the municipal council in order to strengthen collective responsibility for sanitation and contribute towards the kind of institutional strengthening required to take the strategy to scale.  The final contribution comes from SDI’s Urban Poor Fund International (UPFI). This money comes to the federation as a loan at an interest rate of 8%.

In order to repay the UPFI loan the community has structured their sanitation units as income generating facilities. Community members pay a small user fee – typically much lower than that charged by similar facilities – and can rent out the community hall. The fees collected are used to maintain the facility and repay the loan. The federation conservatively expects to repay a loan of $25,000 within 6 years based on use projections for the toilet and bathing facilities.

During the construction phase the federation forms a Project Management Committee (PMC) headed by a PMC chairperson and PMC treasurer. The PMC has 4 sub-committees: Procurement committee; Finance Committee; Construction Committee and a Security and Store Committee.  These sub-committees are comprised of federation members, members of the local community that are not in the federation but may be central to the project – such as the landowner or market chairperson – and local authorities. The PMC receives training from other federation members in the SDI network and where necessary outside experts. A recent training held in Uganda, for instance, was conducted by the World Bank for the purpose of exposing the federation to procurement standards in the hope that the federation will be better equipped to participate in future large scale Bank projects.

Once construction is complete, the PMC changes. The project operations PMC is comprised of 2 caretakers to maintain the facilities to a high hygienic standard, 2 collectors responsible for day-to-day collection and banking of user fees, and federation Health and Hygiene representatives, a treasurer and project chairperson. All projects within the federation are overseen by regional leadership and the National Slum Dwellers Federation of Uganda’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

As the projects grow, so too will the number of Ugandans with access to adequate sanitation. The federation will continue to strengthen partnerships with outside actors and streamline its internal processes to make its approach more efficient and more scaleable. This is how the federation is working to reduce the incidence of premature death, preventable disease, and the wasted precious resources outlined in the Bank’s report.

To learn more about SDI and our work please visit our website and read our blog (www.sdinet.org)