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Slum Dwellers International (SDI), which
recently became members of the Cities Alliance
Consultative Group, has managed to secure a $10
million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation.
It is the first time a major US foundation has
made a significant investment to address urban
poverty in the South. The grant is also unusual
in that it will go direct to grassroots
Federations that convene under the umbrella of
SDI, enabling them to improve their living
conditions and their capacity to negotiate with
governments to secure rights to land, basic
services and affordable housing. |
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The Gates’ Foundation’s grant to SDI is part of the
Special Initiatives portfolio of its Global
Development Program, which works with motivated
partners on focused strategies to increase
opportunities for people in the developing world to
lift themselves out of hunger and poverty.
Special Initiatives grants allow the foundation to
fund compelling, specific opportunities to advance
development and to learn about new approaches that
can inform and improve the strategies and
grant-making of the Global Development Program.
Improving the physical infrastructure is half the
battle faced by SDI. The urban poor need the
security that comes with knowing they have the right
to live where they do. It is easier to negotiate
with governments if officials can see the
improvements the Federations have made, especially
as they are usually cheaper and of better quality
than anything local contractors can build.
“This fund is a breakthrough for slum dwellers to
achieve their dreams and the opportunity to do
things themselves,” says Rose Molokoane, chair of
the South African Federation of the Urban Poor and
an SDI board member.
National and local Governments in countries such as
Brazil, Malawi, Namibia, the Philippines, South
Africa, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka have
recognised the role of the Federations and have
worked with them as partners in urban development.
SDI plans to work with Cities Alliance and other
agencies to leverage this grant and gear it up with
resources from other urban development sources. This
would lead to the establishment of a Global Finance
Facility for Federations of the Urban Poor that
would significantly enhance their potential to draw
Governments and even the Private Sector into slum
upgrading initiatives.
More information on:
SDI:
http://www.sdinet.org
Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation:
http://www.gatesfoundation.org
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