The Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC) is a nucleus for professionals and grassroots activists who think independently yet plan and act collectively. It is the hub of new synergies between development professionals, local project workers and collective action. CORC provides support to two different types of community networks who mobilise themselves around their own resources and capacities. The first are networks of informal settlements that are mobilised around specific issues: land, evictions, informal settlement upgrading, basic services and citizenship. The second are women’s collectives that are mobilised through savings
For more than twenty years, the Federation of the Urban and Rural Poor (FEDUP) has pioneered a collaborative solution that can transform our cities: empowering poor people to help themselves, teach themselves, and develop themselves. FEDUP has empowered hundreds of communities to start savings schemes, develop their own knowledge and capacities, build houses, and acquire land.
FEDUP has established itself as an international pioneer in the field of tenure security and people’s housing. Through its collective power, this network was able to lobby government for direct access to the housing subsidy programme (without the interference of developers or contractors), secure 10 million rand as a revolving loan facility, and heavily influence low-income housing policy under “the People’s Housing Process” (PHP). By securing these entitlements from the national government, the Federation was able to deliver 12,000 housing units (average size being 56sqm), incremental loans for a further 2,000 houses, infrastructure for 2,500 families, land tenure for 12,000 families, hundreds of small business loans, three parcels of commercial land, eleven community centres, and several crèches.
FEDUP has established itself as an international pioneer in the field of tenure security and people’s housing. Through its collective power, this network was able to lobby government for direct access to the housing subsidy programme (without the interference of developers or contractors), secure 10 million rand as a revolving loan facility, and heavily influence low-income housing policy under “the People’s Housing Process” (PHP). By securing these entitlements from the national government, the Federation was able to deliver 12,000 housing units (average size being 56sqm), incremental loans for a further 2,000 houses, infrastructure for 2,500 families, land tenure for 12,000 families, hundreds of small business loans, three parcels of commercial land, eleven community centres, and several crèches.
There is not, and never will be, a one-size-fits-all approach to upgrading of informal settlements. Upgrading is any intervention that improves the physical conditions of a settlement, which in turn enhances the lives of its inhabitants.
For SDI, the central participation of women is a critical component of a gender-sensitive mobilization strategy. By prioritizing leadership potential for women, federations alter traditionally male dominated communities and strengthen grassroots leadership.
Community planning activities such as enumeration (household-to-household socio-economic surveys) and mapping allow communities to identify developmental priorities, organize leadership, expose and mediate grievances between parts of the community and cohere around future planning.