SDI Media Statement, 12 November 2025
SDI Media Statement
12 NOVEMBER 2025
For Immediate Release
Grassroots leaders and experts among the more than 1 billion people living in favelas and slums worldwide have demanded to be taken seriously by leaders at COP30.
The summit’s Brazilian hosts recognize that “cities are shaping the future of global climate action” while continuing the self-defeating trend of downplaying and excluding residents of vulnerable low-income and informal settlements, often referred to as slums.
In an open letter to the COP30 Presidency, the Climate Champions Group of Slum Dwellers International (SDI) says its members are tired of being “asked to provide testimony of the real-life consequences of climate breakdown” even as they are persecuted and their homes dismissed as “illegal” by authorities at home.
With evidence showing that upgrading informal settlements can provide a GDP boost for entire societies, SDI argues leaders are missing a trick by failing to adapt cities to the effects of climate change, and by failing to take advantage of the wealth of data and insights its network can provide.
Joseph Muturi, President of the Global SDI Network, said: “Informal settlements have been treated as problems to be solved by governments for decades. Our contributions are key to building and running the cities of today and of tomorrow.”
“We are arriving at COP30 demanding to be recognized as key stakeholders that hold solutions to climate change problems.” Mr Muturi is the co-chair of the Nexus Area Working Group on Empowering People Living and Working in Informality under the UNFCCC Marrakech Partnership.
Tucker Landesman, who supports the SDI Climate Champions Group as a Senior Researcher on Urban Climate Action at the International Institute for Environment and Development, said: “We have strong research demonstrating that people living in informal settlements are disproportionately more vulnerable than most to the effects of climate change like extreme heat, floods, and storms”
“Evidence is emerging across the global South that upgrading informal settlements is one of the most effective climate adaptation strategies we have. It reduces risk, improves health, and strengthens local economies.”
Nicera Wanjiru, a leader from the Kenyan national federation, Muungano wa Wanavijiji reiterated that “slum upgrading is climate action.” “We are working to save our homes and livelihoods from flooding and storms, sea level rise, and extreme heat. We could do so much more if the experts sitting in government and big development organizations worked with us in real partnership.”
Slum Dwellers International (SDI) is a global network of community-based organisations of the urban poor in more than 20 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Its federations organise savings groups, collect data, and negotiate with governments to secure land, housing, and basic services, advancing inclusive urban development and locally led climate action.
[Ends]
For more information or to request an interview, contact:
Esley Philander: +27 61 643 4249, esley@sdinet.org
Mikkel Harder: mikkel@sdinet.org
Click here to download the statement as a pdf
Enter the Resilience Through Our Eyes photo call
Let’s use a different lens to tell the story of Africa’s urban resilience!
If you are a young, aspiring photographer living in Nairobi, Mwanza, Accra, Windhoek or Lusaka, here is your chance to take your passion for storytelling to the next level!
Enter the Resilience Through Our Eyes photo call to document urban resilience with mentorship and support. This training programme is being offered by the Resilience Initiative Africa (RIA), which aims to strengthen urban resilience by helping African communities understand risks and prevent disasters.
In support of this mission, RIA is offering intensive training to 12 budding photographers, preferably from informal settlements. Applicants need to be available to attend a three-day in-person training session in November and participate in a three-month mentorship and fieldwork programme between December 2025 and February 2026.
This intensive skills development programme will culminate in the Resilience Through Our Eyes photographic exhibition in March 2026.
You can apply if you:
- Are 18 to 35 years of age
- Live in Nairobi, Mwanza, Accra, Windhoek or Lusaka
- Live in an informal settlement and are part of a federation
- Are passionate about using photography and visual storytelling to document resilience in vulnerable communities
- Are available to attend the theory and practical components of the training
- Possess at least basic photography skills (advantageous)
How to apply:
- Submit three of your best photos
- Write a paragraph explaining why you’re a good fit for the Resilience Through Our Eyes photographic training programme
To apply, please click here to enter.
Deadline: 24 October 2025
KYC Zimbabwe, ready to create and make an impact!
Seventeen Know Your City (KYC) TV Zimbabwe crew from Harare, Masvingo, Kadoma and Kariba gathered in Harare in July for a week long training workshop. The focus was on video production and social media management, both theory and practical. Some of the KYC TV crew participated in the filming of a video about the Gungano Urban Poor Fund, ahead of the formal workshop.
Africa is the world’s youngest and fastest urbanising continent, but the stories of young people in informal settlements are often overlooked in traditional media. In response, Slum Dwellers International (SDI) launched KYC TV, a creative collective made up of youth from across the SDI Network using photography, video and storytelling to mobilise young people to make change at a settlement, city and global level.
In the group, the youth displayed a wide range of skills from rapping, writing, filmmaking to music production. Some participants were more experienced looking to brush up on their skills, while others were new to the KYC TV collective. Rejoice Maridza, from the Golden Vision Savings Group in Masvingo, loves writing. Rejoice initiated this article for the SDI Stories of Change Blog and interviewed participants about their reactions to the workshop.
The crew received a warm welcome at the Crowborough Resource Centre from local savings group members designated to support and host City-to-City exchanges in Zimbabwe. Funded by the Gungano Urban Poor Fund and built by the local Federation, the Centre serves as a climate action hub and learning space. It also features a vegetable garden managed by SDI Climate Champions. The SDI Zimbabwe Alliance is a partnership between the Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation, the Zimbabwe Young People’s Federation and the NGO, Dialogue on Shelter for the Homeless Trust (DOS).
Dialogue on Shelter’s KYC Youth Coordinator, Teurai Anna Nyamangara, coordinated the programme supported by Youth & Media Coordinator James Taylor and Advocacy and Communications Officer Esley Philander from the SDI Secretariat. Kudakwashe Nyasha Matsangaise, videographer and editor for KYC TV Zimbabwe, was “encouraged by the unified technical and theoretical foundation now established within the team. I am optimistic for the future of KYC TV Zimbabwe.”
Hannah Ndoro a KYC TV member from Bulawayo says she was excited to “create, develop and make an impact. We must use every opportunity that has been awarded to us as a stepping stone for telling rich hard data stories as Know Your City TV!”
Learning from Federation Leaders
Through SDI’s pioneering practices such as slum profiling, mapping and community led data collection to ensure that every informal settlement is mapped, made visible and support advocacy efforts for settlement upgrading. During the week, the KYC TV Zimbabwe crew also had the opportunity to meet with leaders of the Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation and members of local savings groups in the Tafara settlement. Federation members shared their experiences leading community-driven slum upgrading projects, securing land tenure, improving access to essential services and the importance of savings groups and revolving funds.
Stellamaris Maradzamunda, a producer with KYC TV and member of the Crowborough Youth Savings Group, shared, “Savings is not something you can ignore. These groups change lives by fighting poverty and helping people in vulnerable communities secure land and build climate-resilient homes.” Philda Shekete, from KYC TV in Harare, added, “Through collaboration, young women can be empowered to collect data that helps advocate for real solutions to the challenges we face in informal settlements.”
Glenview Area 8 Market
The team also visited Glenview Area 8, Zimbabwe’s largest informal furniture market, to document the stories of SDI members who earn their living there.
Stella says that, “through the data collection and needs assessment done by the Federation, we saw that there was a need for proper toilets, especially for women. There was borehole but it was failing to meet the demand. Now, we have managed to build toilets and install two more boreholes through the support from ACRC so that there is water, especially since sometimes there are fire outbreaks at the market.”
Dezzel Chris Chinyama from Kariba said he appreciated learning about video production and podcast creation. He adds that this will not only help his federation, but he is looking into content creation for possible income generating opportunities.
Tendai Paradza from Kadoma says that, “I learnt that social media is a double edged sword, and how to verify data and beware of scammers online!”
Closing Ceremony, Opening Possibilities
At the closing ceremony, each participant received a Certificate of Participation. While the Certificates were being handed out, KYC TV crew shared out loud each individual’s contribution and talents displayed during the workshop.
Patience Mudimu, the Executive Director as well as George Masimba, Head of Programmes of the Dialogue on Shelter Trust attended the ceremony. Patience encouraged the KYC TV Zimbabwe collective that “there is no story that is too small. But now you can capture it in a much more professional manner. That is what we are expecting and hoping out of this training,”
She added, “Who else can you teach? Because you now teachers as well, you have skills you can pass on to other young people.”
WATCH KYC TV | The Gungano Urban Poor Fund
The Gungano Urban Poor Fund began with community members contributing just $1 USD per month. Since inception, the Fund has secured land for informal settlement residents valued at an estimated $84 million USD, an extraordinary achievement under difficult conditions.
The Fund was launched in 1998 in Harare in Zimbabwe, by the then Minister of Local Government. These collective savings are used as leverage to negotiate resources and partnerships with donors, city authorities, and other key stakeholders. Over the years, the Fund has weathered significant macroeconomic volatility, including currency fluctuations and record-breaking hyperinflation.
Besides providing access to land, the Fund also supports community-led financing for essential infrastructure such as housing, water, sanitation, and roads. It further provides seed capital for small business and remains responsive to the evolving needs of savings groups and the day-to-day realities faced by communities.
The fund has been decentralised to the regional level, bringing governance closer to community members to independently decide priorities and strategies for growing the fund. There is an urgent need for stronger partnerships with both state and non-state actors to ensure sustained financing and support.
Thank you to the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) team for their support in producing this video.
🎥 Watch the recent Know Your City (KYC) TV short feature to learn more about the inspiring impact of the Gungano Urban Poor Fund:
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K21t1GCT4EY
📚 To learn more, please see Chapter 8 titled, ‘Urban Poor Fund and Revolving Fund: Finance by and for the people in Namibia and Zimbabwe’ in the ‘Learning from informality publication’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K21t1GCT4EY
CBA 19: Tenure security is vital for climate adaptation
SDI’s message at the Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change (CBA19) was clear, Slum Upgrading is Climate Action! Held from 12–16 May 2025 in Recife, Brazil, CBA19 marked the first time the conference took place in Latin America.
The event brought together community practitioners from around the world to advance community-driven climate action. The SDI delegation included representatives from Brazil, Kenya, the SDI Secretariat, Tanzania, the Philippines, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
It is more than just about four walls
Housing is the first line of defence against climate change, but it is about more than just about four walls. Housing inequalities and injustices drive climate vulnerability. Secure land tenure is essential for sustainable climate adaptation and long-term impact. Forced evictions, fuelled by the commodification of land, is the unjust reality for countless low-income households.
Organised communities have the collective power to negotiate land rights and lead incremental, community-driven slum upgrading efforts.
Forced Evictions: A threat to Climate Adaptation
During the session Living the LLA Principles – Women and Traditional Communities Leading Action from the Global South, Theresa Carampatana from the Homeless People’s Federation of the Philippines shared how the women-led federation secured land ownership for nearly 3,000 informal settlement residents who were threatened with evictions. Once land tenure was secured, the federation facilitated efforts to mitigate flood and fire risks through incremental upgrading of homes and the settlement.
Youth as Agents of Change
In a dialogue on coalitions for inclusive climate action, urban labs and youth-led climate planning, Lizian Onyango from SDI Kenya asked those in attendance: “We often frame urban youth as a marginalised group vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. But what if this narrative is holding us back? What if, instead of being seen solely as recipients of support, urban youth were recognised as active agents in shaping climate adaptation?”
Lizian shared how SDI Kenya has engaged youth as co-researchers. Using GIS mapping, they identified key infrastructure, assessed risks, and visualised social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities. This combination of technology and local knowledge shows how youth can drive practical, community-led adaptation.
Locally-led adaptation begins with shifting power!
Milka Kori, also from SDI Kenya, took part in a dialogue on building stronger global partnerships to support local action. Participants explored how civil society organisations can connect grassroots groups with national and international efforts.
Communities must lead and set their own priorities to design solutions that work for them. While intermediaries like NGOs can provide support, they must ensure communities remain in control.
Financing Adaptation from the Ground Up
The SDI Secretariat, together with the Centre for Community Initiatives in Tanzania, co-hosted a session showcasing SDI’s Urban Poor Funds (UPFs), savings groups, and community-led data collection (profiling and enumeration) as successful examples of grassroots-led climate finance mechanisms.
This interactive session demonstrated how pooling funds as an organised collective, combined with community-led data collection, helps address the most urgent climate risks through incremental upgrading in slum communities. It also highlighted the vital role of community-driven governance in ensuring financial management is transparent, accountable, and impactful.
LLA Supports Food Sovereignty and Livelihoods
Ian Matimba, representing the People’s Process on Housing and Poverty in Zambia (PPHPZ), was recognised at CBA19 for presenting the most inclusive solution during the “Shark Tank” – a platform where participants pitch locally-led climate adaptation ideas to a panel of experts with investment experience.
The winning initiative, Sustainable Enterprises for Urban Resilience in Zambia, focuses on scaling up hydroponics and black soldier fly farming. This innovative approach conserves water, improves soil quality, enhances access to nutritious food, supports better waste management and creates new income opportunities for local communities.
Judges commended the PPHPZ team for a well-rounded project that applies circular economy principles to improve food production and soil health in marginalised areas, using waste as a resource. They also highlighted the hydroponic system’s efficiency and its potential to be replicated in diverse contexts. The project’s contributions to water and soil conservation, food security, local livelihoods and the team’s commitment to reinvesting profits for continued growth and sustainability were welcomed.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-FYqqfjlXnc
Viva SDI Brazil, Viva!
In May 2025, representatives from the SDI Secretariat and affiliates from the Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe visited the SDI Brazil Federation in Ilha de Deus (Island of God) in Recife in Brazil. The visit coincided with the 19th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change (CBA19) also held in Recife.
Watch a short video from the visit here →
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EWm0HFWf4ks
The afternoon was spent in intergenerational dialogue, with the federation sharing their struggles and achievements over the years, along with visits to key community sites. The community in Ilha de Deus, Recife, collaborates with a host of stakeholders including other social movements and regional NGOs. Since its inception, the federation has been supported by the NGO Rede Interação.
In recent years, there had been some distance between the Brazil Federation and the wider SDI network. However, a learning exchange held in South Africa and Namibia in August 2024 helped reaffirm solidarity and renew connections. Next, a week-long training workshop and South-South youth exchange—bringing together participants from Brazil, Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe— will take place in July 2025 in Recife to activate KYC TV.
Earlier this year, federation members participated in a short documentary titled, Their Island, directed by Brazilian filmmaker Giuliana Monteiro in collaboration with Rede Interação. The film is part of the Solutions Storytelling Project, an initiative supported by the Skoll Foundation.
SDI at CBA19 – Slum Upgrading is Climate Action!
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For more information, please email joseph@sdinet.org
A Call to Urgent Action
Over one billion people live on the frontlines of climate change in informal settlements. This number is projected to double by 2050.
The urban poor are forced to live in climate-vulnerable settlements, using inadequate building materials and construction methods highly susceptible to climate shocks.
We are not statistics. We are people. We are a movement.
We are resilience in action.
For over 30 years, Slum Dwellers International (SDI) has practised locally-led climate adaptation in informal settlements in over 22 countries. Despite limited institutionalisation or policy support, urban poor communities are imagining their own futures through precedent setting pilots. We upgrade our communities because we cannot afford
to wait.
Cover photograph courtesy of Know Your City Zambia
Slum Upgrading is Climate Action
Despite the growing crisis, world leaders and global institutions are not treating climate action—let alone climate justice—with the urgency it demands. SDG 11, which aims for inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities, remains far from reality for our communities.
From Promises to Working Partnerships
Governments and all stakeholders must urgently honour and fast-track the implementation of the Global Action Plan (GAP) for transforming informal settlements and slums by 2030, using more appropriate and inclusive approaches.
Now is the time to turn promises into partnerships and jointly
design a #DignifiedUrbanLife that leaves no one behind.
Slum Upgrading is Climate Adaptation — from the Ground Up
We live with the problems. We must lead the solutions.
Housing is our first line of defense against climate change, but it’s more than just about four walls. Housing inequalities and injustices are driving climate vulnerability.
Basic rights, such as land tenure security, have not been widely secured. Forced evictions, driven by the commodification of land, are accelerating under climate pressure, further limiting adaptive capacity. Being organised increases our bargaining power to secure tenure and drive incremental, community-led slum upgrading. Organised communities are advocating for secure tenure to unlock resilience capacity.
We don’t wait. We act.
We feel climate risks first.
We adapt to climate changes.
We are the first to respond to climate shocks.
Equitable Financing
We invest in our own adaptation and upgrading.
Over the past 20 years, only 3.5% of global climate finance was allocated to the urban poor. This gap is likely to widen. While informal settlements lack essential infrastructure and basic services, households are forced to spend a significant portion of their already limited income on climate adaptation.
Women-led savings groups are the building blocks of our movement. Members’ savings are pooled and networked into Urban Poor Funds (UPFs), which support housing upgrades, climate adaptation, disaster response, and essential services. Urban Poor Funds (UPFs) are a community-led financing model grounded in solidarity, with a strong track record of direct accountability to their members for every cent spent, despite receiving limited support from international funders.
Community action alone isn’t enough — scaling impact requires sustained investment, institutionalisation and critical infrastructure.
Governments, donors, climate finance agencies, and all stakeholders must move beyond top-down funding mechanisms and support climate action aligned with the principles of Locally Led Adaptation (LLA). Direct investment in community-led adaptation is a high-impact, cost-effective strategy that delivers better value for money in building resilient and inclusive cities.
Know Your City
Community-led Data Collection for Slum Upgrading
Community participation in urban planning must be inclusive to be effective. SDI Federations leverage community-collected data for evidence-based advocacy, making the invisible visible, engaging governments to promote inclusive urban development and policy. This approach helps fill gaps in official data and ensures that local knowledge informs decision-making.
We map our communities. We count our homes.
We document our needs
We collect our own data, we take control of our future.
Information is our Power.
Halala SDI, halala!
SDI at CBA19
SDI is represented at CBA19 by the SDI Secretariat and the following Affiliates:
Kenya: Muungano wa Wanavijiji & SDI Kenya
Philippines: Homeless Peoples’ Federation Philippines & Philippine Action for Community-led Shelter Initiatives
Senegal: Fédération Sénégalaise des Habitants & UrbaSEN
Tanzania: Tanzania Urban Poor Federation & Centre for Community Initiatives
Uganda: National Slum Dwellers Federation of Uganda & ACTogether Uganda
Zambia: Zambian Homeless & Poor People’s Federation & People’s Process on Housing and Poverty in Zambia
Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation & Dialogue on Shelter
Visit SDI at the CBA19 Marketplace Stall #14 on Floor 2 and join us at the following sessions:
MONDAY 12th May 2025
Equitable finance mechanisms by the urban poor
Hosts: Center for Community Initiatives & SDI
Time: 15h30 to 17h00
Location: Sala Moxoto (Floor 3)
Living the LLA principles – women and traditional
communities leading action from the global South
Hosts: Avina Foundation; Tropenbos International; Huairou Commission & SDI
Time: 13h30 to 15h00
Location: Sala Sao Francisco (Floor 2)
THURSDAY, 15 May 2025
Coalitions for inclusive climate action – urban labs and youth-led climate planning
Hosts: IIED; SDI Kenya; World Resources Institute & United Nations University
Time: 13h30 to 15h00
Location: Sala Moxoto (Floor 3)
SDI’s participation at CBA19 forms part of the Generating Ambition for Locally Led Adaptation (GA-LLA) programme, a collaborative initiative led by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and generously supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in the Netherlands.
TAKA for Education
Kambi Moto Youth and Kids (KYAK) was established in 2018 and registered in 2019. We are a youth and children-led platform supporting 65 participants (14 members and 51 kids) based in a village within Kambimoto, Huruma informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya.
Our mission is to empower youth and children in our community by addressing poverty, unemployment, and fostering self-reliance through arts, sports, entrepreneurship, and knowledge management.
Waste management in our community faces significant challenges due to population growth and inadequate infrastructure. Every day, we see the impact of plastic waste clogging our drainage systems and causing flooding in our community. Despite the significant solutions to this problem, we noticed that children are left out in the proper plastic waste management practices. The challenge is to create an incentive-driven system that encourages children to actively participate in collecting and recycling household waste.
To address the problem, we launched an incentive called Taka for Education in October 2024. The project aims to address key waste management challenges, to minimise waste found along the roadside and in drains, while helping kids get stationery for school use. We are making good progress. So far, we managed to collect 116kgs of recyclable waste from 30 kids within a span of two months. Taka for Education works as follows:
Step 1: Kids collect plastic and paper waste from their households/schools
Volunteers identify plastic and paper waster in their respective homes/schools. They then store the waste, sometimes setting it aside in designated recycling dustbin, until it reaches a considerable amount in terms of kilograms. Once this has been achieved, the students bring the plastic waste to the community hall container for weight measurement, data entry and storage.
Step 2: Waste is weighed, converted to points and then recorded in our database
The data entry involves registering the student names and recording the amount of plastic weight. The number of kilograms then earn them points.
Step 3: Waste is stored and then transported and sold to local aggregator
The plastic collection stored is then sold to recycling companies.
Step 4: From our records, the students can then redeem their points to stationery
Money earned is then divided in accordance to the student’s points earned and used to buy stationary such as exercise books, pens, calculators etc.
We plan to expand to other communities, and our target is at least 1 000 student volunteers enrolled in the project with a maximum 0.5 tons of waste per week. We are also projecting to have a revenue of Ksh. 25,000 per week from the sales of the plastic and paper waste. We also want to create at least 10 jobs for the youth in our community. Our marketing strategy is through social media where we will be posting our activities and our products, conferences, our partners, and community leaders. We encourage all SDI Network members to follow the Kambi Moto Youth and Kids Collective Facebook page for updates.
SDI Youth Exchange in Kampala
In a collaboration with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Norwegian Agency for Exchange Cooperation (Norec) partnered with the SDI Secretariat to facilitate a transformative youth media exchange in Uganda.
This initiative saw me, Xola Mteto as the Know Your City (KYC) TV Coordinator, participate in a five-month exchange in the second half of 2024. I was based at the ACTogether office in Kampala. The exchange aims to support youth-led media groups with hands-on learning and strategic campaigns.
The exchange focused on two key objectives:
- KYC TV Learning by Doing Exercises: Youth media groups received training in KYC TV revitalization, videography, social media management, and communications skills. These skills were applied to create impactful media products showcasing their work.
- Strategic Campaigns: Participants planned and initiated both on-the-ground and online campaigns to address pressing community issues.
I travelled extensively across Uganda and witnessed the remarkable impact of the SDI Ugandan Federation’s work. This blog describes some of the inspiring federation’s initiatives I visited.
The National Slum Dwellers Federation of Uganda savings groups and projects
Mbarara Savings Groups – River Rwizzi
Mbarara has about 30 savings in the western region of Uganda. During the Norec exchange we documented the savings groups efforts to conserve and restore the River Rwizzi which is the second-longest river in Uganda, after the Nile. The river plays a crucial role in supplying water for the entire city of Mbarara and the entire western region. But climate change has been one of the main reasons for the river’s deterioration as well as the proliferation of water Hitchen, an invasive species which grows along the river’s edges.
In 2016, a bridge connecting the Kansanyarazi community to the city of Mbarara broke due to flooding. The National Slum Dwellers Federation of Uganda savings groups, which live along the river, explained how they responded to the challenge of the bridge collapse. They used their savings to fix the bridge which helped workers, school goers and traders who travel daily to the city. They also and developed locally made tools to scoop out growing Hitchen in the river.
Watch a short video about the project >
SDI Youth Savings groups and youth projects
I was excited to see the growth of SDI Youth-Led groups in three regions in Kampala central namely, Mbale and YesWeCan, Brotherhood, Balisaka Madda and the Tshinawataka Biogas center. All these savings groups are organised around SDI’s core rituals. With support from the SDI and Safe and Inclusive Cities, youth groups from different regions received funding to strengthen and scale up their efforts.
Baliska Madda Group: Turning Waste into Sustainable Energy
The Baliska Madda youth groups proves that through innovation, the youth can create their own solutions for many of our burdens. Comprising of 15 men and 15 women in Nakawa, Uganda, Baliska Madda meets weekly to save for their own projects to transform their settlements.
When COVID-19 disrupted waste management and charcoal transport, the group turned this crisis into an opportunity. They collect plastic and organic waste, process it through carbonization, and use a briquette machine to create clean-burning fuel. Each mini briquette burns for 5–6 hours, providing an affordable cooking alternative to charcoal or electricity.
This initiative not only cleared waste and reduced flooding, but also provided income during the pandemic, helping members support their households. Today, their briquettes meet the growing demand for clean energy, showing how youth-led innovation can solve environmental and economic problems while strengthening community resilience.
Watch a short video about the project >
Youth-Led Urban Farming: The rise of urban farming in Kampala Central
In the bustling streets of Kampala Central, where the hum of traffic and rhythm of city life dominate, I witnessed a quiet revolution taking root. Amidst the concrete and chaos, a growing movement of young people is transforming idle spaces into thriving urban farms.
Watching the young farmers at work was truly inspiring. While urban farming itself is not new, in Kampala it has taken on a unique character, fuelled by the energy and innovation of the city’s youth. This youth-led movement is more than a trend—it’s a testament to their resilience and creativity in the face of adversity. With limited access to arable land and rising unemployment, these young farmers are turning underutilized spaces into productive food sources, redefining sustainable living in an urban environment.
Brotherhood Youth Group
The Brotherhood Youth Group is a collective of 28 young individuals based in Tshinawataka, Kampala Central, which addresses food insecurity and community challenges through three core activities:
Urban Farming: The group utilizes limited urban spaces for farming, growing vegetables (e.g, sukuma wiki, tomatoes, onions) and spices in repurposed containers and sacks. The urban farmers refrain from using pesticides and other toxic agricultural chemicals. This initiative reduces reliance on distant markets, cuts transportation costs, and provides fresh, affordable produce directly to the community. Similar urban farming practices in Kamwokya slums have shown success in boosting nutrition and income.
Community Clean-Ups: Focused on waste management and environmental conservation, the group organises clean-up drives. These activities align with youth-led initiatives in Kampala’s suburbs, where waste recycling—such as eco-briquette production—helps combat pollution and generate income.
Outside Catering: The group offers catering services using produce from their urban farms. This creates livelihoods while strengthening local food systems. By localising food production, they aim to reduce costs and improve access to nutritious food—an issue faced in both rural and urban Uganda.
Watch a short video about the project >
Biogas project
The Bio-Gas Centre, launched in 2023, is a transformative model for sustainable urban living, addressing multiple environmental and social challenges in one integrated solution.
Harnessing renewable energy through biogas for cooking and solar lighting, educes reliance on fossil fuels and curbs greenhouse gas emissions. The center’s rooftop urban farming initiatives promotes local food production and fosters biodiversity in an otherwise concrete environment. The multifunctional design; combining sanitation, housing, and green technologies; enhances climate resilience by reducing waste, improving air quality, and promoting water conservation.
Overall, the Bio-Gas Centre serves as a holistic approach to mitigating climate change, empowering communities while promoting a cleaner and more sustainable urban future.
Watch a short video about the project >
Personal and Professional Growth
Through the Norec exchange program, I gained firsthand insight into living and working abroad. This experience strengthened my global competencies, particularly through collaboration with a national NGO such as ActTogether Uganda, which deepened my understanding of the daily challenges local affiliates face.
Visiting grassroots communities reinforced this idea, where I met passionate federation members—women, men, and youth—who are making a real difference in their communities. I learned that lasting progress happens when communities are directly involved in decision-making, with those affected by the issues playing a key role in driving change.
Cultural Understanding
My cultural awareness expanded significantly during this exchange. Learning some words and phrases in Luganda (the most widely spoken language in Uganda), was a highlight. I discovered linguistic similarities between Luganda and my native language (isiXhosa), which bridged communication gaps and enriched my connection to local communities.
Insights into Ugandan Politics and Regional Dynamics
I deepened my knowledge of Uganda’s political history and its role as a strategic player in the Great Lakes region. Through networking and observation, I gained perspective on the country’s evolving trajectory and its potential to influence socioeconomic and political developments in the region.
Technical Skill Development
The exchange honed my ability to communicate more effectively in multilingual settings. Facilitating presentations to various audiences taught me to navigate language barriers creatively. Additionally, co-planning, co-leading, and co-facilitating initiatives with the national federation sharpened my skills in collaborating with international teams. Participating in grassroots campaigns underscored the importance of strategic communication in mobilizing communities and building solidarity among activists, leaders, and movements.
Conclusion
This experience reaffirmed the power of collective action and the value of listening to local voices. The lessons I’ve learned—from cross-cultural adaptability to inclusive leadership—will continue to shape my approach to advocacy and global collaboration.
Building Houses, Building Communities: Father Jorge’s Lifelong Dedication to Slum Dwellers
Eduardo Jorge Anzorena’s (25 February 1930 to 22 February 2025) life was an unquestionable dedication to the urban poor. Better known as Father Jorge, his mission was to promote and support community-driven solutions to rapid urbanisation, homelessness and slums.
Father Jorge spent his childhood in Argentina, but his calling to the Jesuit priesthood and commitment to low-cost housing initiatives took to him to informal settlements across the world. He completed a PhD in architectural studies in 1973 at Tokyo University. He later taught young students of architecture at the Sophia University in Tokyo. While volunteering at Mother Theresa’s Missionary Brothers of Charity in Calcutta, Father Jorge reached the conclusion that technical knowledge alone would not solve the global housing crisis, “From that moment, I tried to find out how to combine the priesthood, architecture and working for the poor.”
Father Jorge connected with Jesuits involved in housing and learned from activists building low-cost housing in Latin America. He participated in the Bureau of Asian Affairs’ (BAA, now known as the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific) Low-Cost Housing Program in Manila for several years. In a report drafted in 1978, former BAA President Father Bernard Chu SJ describes Father Jorge as, “Living out of a suitcase, he has accommodated a continuing variety of climates, foods, and accommodations to a degree that most would find impossible…”
Father Jorge also worked closely with the housing advocacy group SELAVIP. A big champion of information exchange, he launched the Journal of Low-Income Housing in Asia and the World, more popularly known as the SELAVIP Newsletter. It was ‘issued twice a year, every year since 1978. Without fail’ and described as a newsletter that,
Housing advocates could read about approaches being tried in Bombay, Manila, or Mexico City, to organize communities and reduce the cost of housing linking new economic opportunities to the poor while arranging professional assistance and links to government programs.
Father Jorge firmly believed in the organising agency of the urban poor and that programmes executed by governments and aid agencies often failed if the intended beneficiaries were not actively involved. While he acknowledged that NGOs had a critical role to play, he formulated guidelines for professionals working with the poor such as respect the poor; change is possible; people’s energy is the greatest resource; people do things best together; and all willing people can participate.
He encouraged the creation of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR) in 1988. In a presentation he made to the ACHR Regional Meeting in Bangkok in 2011 titled What I have learned in 34 years, Father Jorge said that although the organisation didn’t have much money it was founded in the spirit of “Lets help each other. Let’s learn from each other.” He strongly advocated for uniting slum dwellers across the world through people-to-people exchanges, remarking, “Why shouldn’t poor people from slums also visit each other and learn with their own eyes how other people do?”
Father Jorge was a friend of the SDI movement since inception . About the creation of the SDI network, Father Jorge once commented,
A very important part of all this work – are the growing links between these good groups. They are breaking down of the concept of “my project”, “my organisation” and even “my country.” It is no longer necessary for each group to sort out the problems of the world alone, in isolation, and through their own limited perspective! The work of SDI has helped to expand these principals of sharing and mutual support between the groups into Africa and Latin America.
Father Jorge was a recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in 1994 which recognised that he “fostered a collaborative search for humane and practical solutions to the housing crisis among Asia’s urban poor.” In his acceptance speech, Father Jorge said,
To tell you the truth, when I was called to this podium to receive the prize, I had a very strong feeling that I was not the real recipient of this award. The only thing I did was to try to understand the heroic struggle of millions of human beings who, for survival, left the countryside and are enduring the inhuman conditions of urban slums. Of course, I will transfer the whole amount of the prize to them, but still that is not enough.
Over the years, he would travel annually to meet and engage with SDI Federations and visited the SDI South African alliance once a year. In a presentation he made during one such visit to the Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC) in 2011 he stated that,
The basic things are that the poor have the energy to solve their problems. This means that it is not the government or the NGO, but basically the people need to solve their own problems. But they need some help in organising to solve the problem. The people should be the main actor in their activities.
Tributes paint a picture of a man who left a rich legacy across the SDI Network. SDI Secretariat’s Executive Director Beth Chitekwe-Biti describes Father Jorge as, “a beautiful soul and amazing theologian who lived as his religion required. What a privilege it was to have known and spent time with him.” Rose Molokoane, the National Coordinator for South African SDI Federation, says Father Jorge, “became a Saint for the poor of this world” and that his “support gave strength to all of us who fight for the good of our people.” Joseph Kimani, SDI Kenya Director says that “SDI’s strong foundation is embedded in the spirit and philosophy of great people. Jorge was such a soul in our midst.” Anna Muller from Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG) shared that, “I always think of him as the one that enabled our process to start. He was key in getting me involved in community driven initiatives in Namibia in 1988.”
Patience Mudimu the Executive Director of the Dialogue on Shelter Trust says, “We remember Father Jorge for the humility and wisdom he showed the times he visited Zimbabwe.” Sheila Magara from the Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation (ZHPF) says she will ‘always remember him through his encouraging words.’ Sheila recalls that during one learning exchange which Father Jorge attended, federation members were discussing all the challenges they were facing in their countries. She says Father Jorge listened intently and only once everyone had spoken, he responded,
You got the answers – you from the community. You are building houses, so it will be good to also build communities, to build people in your communities, so that they can become active. If people are not together, nothing will happen. Build people in the communities. Build houses in the communities.
Father Jorge never wavered in his faith and life’s work. His call in 2011, to always strive towards more people-centred slum transformation, remains as relevant today as it was then,
“We all need to grow: people in the NGOs need to grow, people in the government need to grow, and people in the communities also need to grow. This is a people’s process.”
Umeme Father Jorge, may you rest in Perfect Peace.
