This series of six briefs celebrates the innovative efforts of organised groups of slum dwellers to tackle, recover from, and mitigate against the overlapping crises and multifaceted vulnerabilities of urban informality, such as inadequate infrastructure, environmental hazards, and social inequalities. By addressing these challenges, they work to mitigate the impact of these issues and improve their living conditions.
This brief explores how community-based organisations in informal settlements engage with city governments to gain recognition and secure crucial support for their initiatives. These efforts focus on community advocacy, collaborative data sharing, and participatory planning processes that significantly influence urban policies aimed at slum upgrading and improved service provision.
By fostering strong partnerships with city authorities, these organisations enhance their capacity to drive meaningful change and address the needs of marginalised communities.
Examples include formal agreements in Malawi to secure land tenure for informal settlement residents, data-driven advocacy in South Africa through the Asivikelane campaign to improve essential service delivery, and the participatory planning efforts in Nairobi’s Mukuru Special Planning Area, where community input plays a pivotal role in shaping large-scale upgrading projects and ensuring they meet local needs.
The brief is part of the Building Resilience in Informal Settlements programme, a broader initiative led by Cities Alliance and Slum Dwellers International (SDI), with funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The programme aims to support sustainable and inclusive development in informal settlements, focusing on locally-led climate adaptation and resilience building.
Other briefs in this series
Brief 1: For Sustained Solutions to Urban Challenges, Focus on Strengthening Grassroots Leadership
Brief 3: Locally Led Infrastructure Projects: Small but Scalable Climate Adaptation
Brief 4: Mainstreaming the Marginalised Majority: A Grassroots Perspective on Gender and Youth
Brief 5: The Conflict Sensitive Nature of Working in Informal Settlements
Brief 6: Locally Led Environmental Management for Climate Resilience
