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| Informal Settlements Network | |
|---|---|
| Name | Informal Settlements Network |
| Type | Non-governmental organization |
| Headquarters | Nairobi, Kenya |
| Region served | Global South |
| Leader title | Director |
| Formation | 2000s |
Informal Settlements Network
Informal Settlements Network is a community-based collective active in urban Nairobi and other Cape Town and Lagos contexts, working on land tenure, upgrading, and rights advocacy in Kibera, Kibera slum, Mathare, and comparable favelas and barriadas. Founded amid waves of mobilization linked to events such as the World Urban Forum and policy shifts following the Millennium Development Goals era, the Network engages with municipal authorities, international agencies like the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and UN-Habitat, and local movements including the Federation of the Urban Poor and the Slum Dwellers International. The Network's work intersects with initiatives by World Bank, African Union, European Union, and philanthropic actors such as the Ford Foundation and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Network operates at the nexus of grassroots organizing in locales such as Kibera, Dharavi, Khayelitsha, and Rocinha, linking community leaders, local NGOs, and municipal offices like the Nairobi City County administration and the City of Cape Town. Its approach draws on precedents from movements including the Brazilian Urban Reform Movement, Habitat International Coalition, and the People's Housing Process in Philippines. Engagements have involved dialogues with institutions such as the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation, the African Development Bank, and academic centers like University of Cape Town and University of Nairobi.
Origins trace to collaborations among activists inspired by campaigns against forced evictions in Dharavi and advocacy by groups related to Slum/Shack Dwellers International and the National Slum Dwellers Federation of India. Early gatherings were influenced by conferences such as the World Social Forum and policy forums associated with UN-Habitat and the Global Land Tool Network. Key moments include strategic alliances during municipal reforms in Nairobi and participatory planning pilots influenced by the Participatory Budgeting experiments in Porto Alegre.
The Network features federated community committees, often modeled on structures used by Federation of the Urban Poor affiliates and National Slum Dwellers Federation chapters, with elected coordinators, technical committees, and liaison roles interfacing with bodies like the Nairobi County Government and national agencies such as the Ministry of Lands (Kenya). Decision-making integrates community assemblies, partnering technical experts from institutions like University of Cape Town's Built Environment Faculty and consultants formerly associated with UN-Habitat projects. Funding and oversight involve donors including United Nations Development Programme and foundations like the Rockefeller Foundation.
Initiatives range from participatory mapping in collaboration with Map Kibera-style projects and platform partnerships with OpenStreetMap contributors, to housing upgrading pilots similar to Site and Services schemes and tenure regularization efforts consonant with Global Land Tool Network recommendations. Programs include sanitation and water projects aligned with WaterAid and UNICEF standards, disaster risk reduction measures drawing on frameworks from the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and livelihood initiatives linked to ILO recommendations and local cooperatives inspired by Federation of the Urban Poor savings groups.
Collaborations span municipal administrations such as Nairobi City County and City of Johannesburg, international agencies including UN-Habitat, UNICEF, World Bank, and civil society networks like Slum Dwellers International and Habitat International Coalition. Academic partnerships involve University of Nairobi, Stellenbosch University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology research labs that have partnered on informal settlement digitization. Philanthropic partners include the Ford Foundation, Oak Foundation, and corporate social responsibility arms of firms that have worked with International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in emergency contexts.
Reported outcomes include incremental tenure regularization in pilot neighborhoods akin to reforms seen in Brazil and South Africa, improved access to services modeled after Kibera upgrading pilots, and strengthened community savings federations patterned on National Slum Dwellers Federation methodologies. Evaluations by research centers such as Institute of Development Studies and universities have documented shifts in policy discourse at forums like the World Urban Forum and within multilateral lenders including the World Bank Group.
Critiques mirror debates seen in literature on participatory planning and urban informality: tensions with municipal planning paradigms exemplified by conflicts in Nairobi and Cape Town; dependency on donor cycles associated with organizations like USAID and European Commission programs; and questions about scalability raised in comparative studies from India's Mumbai and Brazil's Rio de Janeiro. Operational challenges include negotiating with state actors such as national land ministries, addressing internal accountability documented by NGOs like Transparency International, and sustaining long-term financing amid shifting priorities from donors like the Ford Foundation and multilateral creditors.