Slum Dweller International, also known as Shack Dwellers International or Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI) is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa that conducts international development efforts and programs in many developing countries with a focus on African countries.

The organization operates regional federations in many African countries as well as in developing nations on other continents such as Brazil, India, and the Philippines. The organization uses a process called “enumeration” through which members of its national federation collect data about slums. The organization changes its branding between Slum Dwellers International and Shack Dwellers International depending on which phrase is more commonly used for “informal settlements” in the regions in which it is operating. ¹

The organization promotes the upgrading of slums in cities throughout the global south.  It is affiliated with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat), and is funded by left-of-center grantmaking foundations including the Ford Foundation, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Skoll Foundation. ^{2 3}

Background

Slum Dwellers International traces its roots to the formation of informal networks of non-governmental organizations focused on housing issues in Asia and Africa in the late 1980s and early 1990s. By 1996, several federations gathered in South Africa to formalize Slum Dwellers International as an international network of such organizations. The organization grew throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, receiving funding from various national governments and was invited by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme to be partners in its Global Campaign for Secure Tenure. The group also began coordination efforts with the World Bank, the Cities Alliance (another program of the United Nations Human Settlements Program), Selavip, Misereor, CordAid, and Homeless International. The Ford Foundation began funding the organization in the late 1990s. ⁴

Activities

Slum Dwellers International operates in 33 countries which include nearly 20 African, Southeast Asian, and Latin American countries. The organization has developed a unique approach through a process it calls enumeration whereby local organizers and volunteers that are members of national affiliated federations within the SDI network collect data on slums (also known as “informal settlements”) in cities across its area of focus. SDI aggregates the data it collects to contest official data from governments or other organizations about urban poverty and seeks to have mayors and governments accept its data. ^{5 6}

The organization provides an online data hub in addition to operating other programs related to international development and specific themes including environmental issues and climate change, public health, and youth services. ⁷

Funding

Slum Dwellers International is funded by a variety of left-of-center grantmaking organizations including the Ford Foundation, the World Cinema Fund, the World Wildlife Fund, World Resources Institute, Frontier Funds, the African Cities Research Consortium, Plan International, Cities Alliance, Arise, UrbaMonde, Sundance Institute, and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). ⁸

One-third of the organization’s 2022 revenue came from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). ⁹

The Ford Foundation has consistently funded SDI over the years and provided a $720,535 grant to the organization in 2022 for core support for “institutional strengthening in financial management, affiliate engagement, and organizational strengthening of the Secretariat” of the organization. ¹⁰

1.  Patel, Sheela. “The federation model of community organizing” United Nations Human Settlements Program. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://unhabitat.org/the-federation-model-of-community-organizing-sheela-patel-slum-dwellers-international
2. “SDI Annual Report 2021-2022.” Slum Dwellers International. 2022. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://sdinetorg-1c78b.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Annual-Report-2021-22.pdf
3. Patel, Sheela. “The federation model of community organizing” United Nations Human Settlements Program. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://unhabitat.org/the-federation-model-of-community-organizing-sheela-patel-slum-dwellers-international
4. Patel, Sheela and Burra Sundar, and D’Cruz, Celine. “Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI) –foundations to treetops.” Environment & Urbanization. October 2001. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://www.slurc.org/uploads/1/0/9/7/109761391/slum-shack_dwellers_international__sdi_-foundations_to_treetops.pdf
5. ^[1] Patel, Sheela. “The federation model of community organizing” United Nations Human Settlements Program. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://unhabitat.org/the-federation-model-of-community-organizing-sheela-patel-slum-dwellers-international
6. “SDI Annual Report 2021-2022.” Slum Dwellers International. 2022. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://sdinetorg-1c78b.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Annual-Report-2021-22.pdf
7. “Stories of Change.” Slum Dwellers International. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://sdinet.org/stories-of-change/
8.    “SDI Annual Report 2021-2022.” Slum Dwellers International. 2022. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://sdinetorg-1c78b.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Annual-Report-2021-22.pdf
9. “SDI Annual Report 2021-2022.” Slum Dwellers International. 2022. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://sdinetorg-1c78b.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Annual-Report-2021-22.pdf
10. Core support for institutional strengthening in financial management, affiliate engagement, and organizational strengthening of the Secretariat.” Ford Foundation Grants Database. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/slum-dwellers-international-npc-142178/