Federations formed by poor urban people in developing countries are emerging as one of the most significant initiatives for addressing poverty. Their success with involving community members in solving their own problems is being noticed by governments and international agencies.

In at least 11 developing countries, federations formed by the urban poor and homeless (including those living in slums and informal settlements) are involved in community initiatives to improve housing and services and provide more stable income opportunities. A report from the International Institute for Environment and Development in the UK considers why these federations have been so successful, in order to suggest how external agencies can best work with them.

Savings groups formed and managed by their members are the foundations for each federation. Women are particularly attracted to these, because they provide crisis credit quickly and easily.  Money accumulated in federation savings accounts can also help fund housing improvements or income generation initiatives. This collective management of money and the trust it builds within each savings group increases their capacity to work together on housing and other initiatives. These savings groups form federations that can develop into city-wide and national federations.

All the federations seek partnerships with external agencies, while retaining their independence. Such partnerships can give federations the legitimacy and encouragement they need and allow external agencies to potentially reach millions of poor people. In many nations, these federations are seen by governments and international agencies as essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. All the federations also learn from each other and support each other.

The federations use a variety of approaches, including pilot projects (to demonstrate to their government what they can do), community-driven surveys (to provide the information base for action) and community exchanges (so other savings groups can visit and learn from successful initiatives). These tools and methods help to direct the process of change, by demanding a more equal relationship with external agencies and showing these agencies what can be achieved with local resources.

The authors see the significance of the federations in:

• The scale of their work: programmes involving hundreds or even thousands of community organisations in some countries have reached millions of people.
• The way they work and their willingness to develop partnerships indicate that they do not want to replace government but to make it more effective. This realisation has a profound effect on how governments and other agencies approach them.
• The way they have redefined participation: even when non-governmental organisations are involved in community projects, the savings groups of the federations, and particularly women and the poorest people, have a lead role in carrying out projects.
• Their ability to lower costs and mobilise local resources: this means that external support goes further and sometimes is not even required.

Governments and international agencies need to recognise the potential of community-driven processes linked by federations working on a large scale. The authors recommend that they:

• support community initiatives, especially city-wide plans involving all poor urban communities and their organisations, local and international exchanges for community representatives and community-driven surveys
• consider how successful projects within a community can be applied on a wider scale and support local and municipal authorities that are interested in community-driven approaches
• ensure that city development strategies and national poverty reduction strategy processes involve the federations
• disseminate lessons and experience to international agencies.

Source(s):
‘Building Homes, Changing Official Approaches: the Work of Urban Poor Organizations and their Federations and their Contributions to Meeting the Millennium Development Goals in Urban Areas’, Poverty Reduction in Urban Areas 16, International Institute for Environment and Development, by Celine d’Cruz and David Satterthwaite, 2005 Full document.

id21 Research Highlight: 13 June 2006

Further Information:
David Satterthwaite
Human Settlements Programme
International Institute for Environment and Development
3 Endsleigh Street
London WC1H 0DD
UK

Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7388 2117
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7388 2826
Contact the contributor: david@iied.org

International Institute for Environment and Development, UK

Other related links:
'Community initiatives: slum dwellers can do it for themselves'

'Finance and empowerment for slum upgrading in Mumbai'

'Cities without slums: knowledge-sharing needed urgently'

'Building the Inclusive City: understanding the networks of the urban poor'

The Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC)

Shack/Slum dwellers International