Asian Coalition for Community Action

Asian Coalition for Community Action
Name	Asian Coalition for Community Action
Formation	2007
Type	Non-governmental organization
Headquarters	Bangkok, Thailand
Region served	Asia-Pacific
Leader title	Executive Director

Asian Coalition for Community Action is a regional civil society network that mobilizes urban and rural community organizations across South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia to secure land tenure, basic services, and participatory planning. It operates through a consortium of grassroots federations, technical support agencies, municipal authorities, and development partners to advance rights-based approaches in urban development, housing, and disaster resilience. The coalition synthesizes practice from community-driven projects, legal campaigns, and policy advocacy to influence multilateral institutions, municipal administrations, and national legislatures.

History

The coalition traces its genesis to dialogues among activists linked to Slum Dwellers International, Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, ACHR, Habitat International Coalition, and Mercy Corps during regional workshops in Bangkok and Mumbai in the mid-2000s. Early convenings included representatives from National Slum Dwellers Federation (India), Krueng Sane Community Forum (Indonesia), Philippine Homeless People’s Federation, and networks associated with Urban Poor Associates and Kounkuey Design Initiative. Influential events shaping the coalition's formation included conferences at the Asian Development Bank and consultations hosted by UN-Habitat and United Nations Development Programme offices in Manila and Kathmandu. Founding partners incorporated methodologies from Community-Led Total Sanitation, Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme, and experiences from Typhoon Haiyan and Indian Ocean tsunami post-disaster recovery. Over time the coalition formalized working groups engaging with World Bank urban teams, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and municipal alliances such as Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network.

Mission and Objectives

The coalition's stated mission aligns with aims championed by Amnesty International-aligned campaigns and rights-based movements like Habitat for Humanity advocacy and Oxfam-supported anti-poverty strategies. Core objectives include securing community land rights similar to initiatives by Landesa, expanding access to water and sanitation modeled on WaterAid approaches, and promoting participatory urban planning paralleling efforts by ICLEI and C40 Cities. It emphasizes gender-sensitive programming resonant with UN Women priorities, inclusion of indigenous communities as highlighted by Survival International, and disaster risk reduction consistent with UNISDR frameworks. The coalition explicitly references international instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and commitments under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Programs and Initiatives

Programs combine community savings and credit schemes inspired by Grameen Bank microfinance, mapping and enumeration projects using techniques from Map Kibera and OpenStreetMap, and legal aid modeled on Legal Aid Society and International Commission of Jurists practices. Initiatives include slum upgrading pilots in partnership with municipal programs influenced by City of Pune participatory budgeting, resilient shelter projects drawing on lessons from Habitat III dialogues, and gender-based violence prevention linked to International Rescue Committee toolkits. Capacity-building activities involve exchanges with Asian Development Bank Institute, training modules developed with Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, and monitoring frameworks compatible with Global Urban Observatory standards. The coalition has deployed post-disaster interventions with coordination mechanisms akin to Cluster Approach operations used by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Governance and Membership

Governance combines federated membership of grassroots organizations such as Slum/Shack Dwellers International affiliates, community-based organizations from Bangladesh to Vietnam, and support NGOs including Consortium for Urban Equity and Urban Resource Centre Karachi. Decision-making structures mirror models used by International Cooperative Alliance and Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction, featuring a steering committee, regional coordinators, and technical advisory panels drawing expertise from Asian Development Bank consultants, academics from National University of Singapore and Jawaharlal Nehru University, and practitioners from Practical Action. Membership criteria reference standards employed by World Habitat and Habitat International Coalition for transparency and accountability.

Partnerships and Funding

The coalition partners with multilaterals such as United Nations Human Settlements Programme and Asian Development Bank, bilateral agencies including Japan International Cooperation Agency and Department for International Development-style donors, and philanthropic foundations like Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and Open Society Foundations. Program funding blends community savings mechanisms, grants managed through intermediaries such as Oxfam and CARE International, and contract work with municipal governments influenced by Cities Alliance frameworks. Technical partnerships involve research institutions like Institute for Transportation and Development Policy and Stockholm Environment Institute, and private sector collaborators comparable to Arup and GDF Suez on infrastructure pilots.

Impact and Evaluation

External evaluations reference methodologies used by Independent Evaluation Group and Bridgespan, reporting outcomes in slum upgrading, tenure security, and community health improvements akin to those documented by World Bank urban projects and World Health Organization interventions. Case studies highlight successful land regularization in cities comparable to Nairobi, Kathmandu, and Manila, improved water and sanitation access reflecting WaterAid impact metrics, and strengthened disaster preparedness observed after Typhoon Ketsana and Cyclone Nargis responses. Monitoring utilizes indicators aligned with Sustainable Development Goals monitoring by UN Statistics Division and participatory evaluation techniques used by ActionAid and CARE International.

Criticism and Challenges

Critiques echo those leveled at regional networks like Slum Dwellers International and Habitat International Coalition regarding scalability, dependency on donor cycles such as those of DFID and USAID, and tensions between grassroots autonomy and technical partner agendas represented by World Bank urban teams. Challenges include navigating municipal politics exemplified by controversies in Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City, legal barriers similar to those addressed by Asian Human Rights Commission, and donor reporting burdens criticized by Global Fund evaluators. Observers note the difficulty of harmonizing diverse member priorities akin to coordination problems faced by Asian Development Bank-supported consortia and sustaining long-term financing without overreliance on philanthropic cycles from institutions like Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Category:Non-profit organizations based in Thailand