Owning the Process: Sustainable Outcomes for Community-based Financing for Livelihood and Commerce

8/3/2019 Owning the Process: Sustainable Outcomes for Community-based Financing for Livelihood and Commerce

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Mary RacelisAteneo de Manila University


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Urban informal settlements in Asia make up

significant proportions of city residents In Asia-Pacific , 1,211,540,000 slum dwellers ,or 43.2% of total urban

population (UN-Habitat 2004/05: 107), or 242,308,000 households

In 2003, proportion of slum dwellers in the urban populationranged from 17% in Thailand to 92% in Nepal (UN Habitat 2004/05,Figure 5.5: 109).

Informal Settlers in selected mega cities: Bangkok 1.2 million (1993);Manila 2.5 million (1998), Jakarta 7 million (2002) (EASRD 2004)

Except for Sub-Saharan Africa at 71.9, Asia has the highest regional

percentage and absolute numbers of urban informal settlers in theworld


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Negative views about the urban poor

toward informal settlers in the 1960s haveshifted significantly in more positive

directions today: squatter to citizen

Right to the city Long struggle for secure tenure, on-site residence near

employment, basic services, resettlementcompensation, participation

Urban poor have resisted eviction, especiallyrelocation to distant settlements


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Negative to positive: informal economy

View of informal economy as inappropriate to or adrain on modern cities shifting to recognition of itsvitality in Asian cities and its many contributions tothe urban economy

E.g. Hawkers/street vendors; small-scalemanufacturing (doors, windows; sandals etc), services(pedicab drivers, tire repair, tailoring, food stalls,

barbering, etc); tax payments to policemen for space Social capital as peoples key adaptation for survival

and improved lives


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Negative to positive: womens roles

Womens capacities as microenterprise managers:

credit, training, access to markets; empowermentAs savers: Community Funds, Savings Funds

Income directly to children and household

Double burden of production and reproduction;gender also means men


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Negative to positive shift:

differentiated urban poor populations Recognition of out-of-school youth as a population

needing assistance: scholarships, vocational training,

alternative education to counteract crime and drugs Increasing attention to older people: geriatric health,

burial assistance, pension, income

Childrens participation

Ethnic/religious minorities

Migrants ; disabled


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Negative to positive: comprehending

peoples realities and priorities Slow realization by authorities that urban poors highest priority is

employment and shelter location, not houses in distant settlements

Pressure for onsite/near-site detached or two-storey attached units

Resistance to medium and high-rise housing: informal hh earninglimited, amortizations difficult, poverty increases; except for better-off poor, under-the-table resale and return to informal settlement

Increasing value of land in the inner-city and commercial

developers power threaten access to in-city land and housing forthe urban poor


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Some reasons


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Strong urban poor community organizing Effective planning, implementation, monitoring by the

community; demand-making, negotiating, mobilizingdemands from below, protest rallies and uprisings

NGOs (and some political parties) instrumental informing Peoples Organizations, Homeowners Assns;Urban poor federations; information access

Civil society advocacy to listen to the voices of the poorand to mobilize them for participation


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Women as effective urban poor leaders Highest level of motivation: on frontline for child and

family wellbeing

Initially less threatening to authorities than men; goodnegotiating skills

Women-dominated micro-enterprise income as theirsto dispose of increasing their options, capacities and

self-realization Builders of dynamic community links and networks;

social capital

Support to education of girls


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NGO/Civil society involvement

NGOs (and some political parties) instrumental informing Peoples Organizations, Homeowners

Associations; Urban poor federations; Coalitions

Global evidence of efficacy and sustainability incommunity-generated initiatives, drawing on indigenousknowledge and local experience; people as stakeholders

Advocacy: listen to the voices of the poor; media support

Academics and post-development social theory


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Recognition of the poor as voting constituents:

enhanced accountability, transparency Understanding of local situations; greater chance of

dialogue between community groups and officials;listening to community proposals

Land allocation for social housing -- tenure, location,costs, feasibility, basic services issues

Local government decentralization


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Economic incentives from LGU/City (often

with national support) to poor households

Partnerships in labor exchange for government-funded

construction of potable water and drainage systems;health, early childhood, greenhouse and communitycenters; public toilets; classroom repairs, road-paving,energy schemes like methane gas production fromgarbage dumps; waste recycling

Loans and grants for self-help housing improvementand rental schemes; conditional cash transferstargeting


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Inclusive governance: participation of community

residents in decision-making and policy formation

Designated seats on local government councils,housing boards and committees on procurement,

land use; women-specific slots Leaders of POs/community organizations/HOAs

running for local political office as village or citycouncilors: accountability to poor constituents

men, women, children, youth, elderly Participation in crafting of City Development Loan

Funds, City Shelter Code, and relevant legislation;Countrywide networks linking city groups


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Rapid growth with greater flexibility of

small and medium-sized cities

More land available for social housing

More manageable participatory processes Greater flexibility in devising pro-poor policies than in

large and mega- cities

International donor funding because greater

likelihood of success


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Frequency of massive disasters linked to climate

change affecting urban poor most severely

Flooding, tsunami, typhoons/cyclones, earthquakes, firetake their toll in informal settlements, but also show

community resilience and self-mgmt capacity under stress Disaster risk management programs underway generating

greater commitment to and closer contact between localauthorities and people: issues of safety, communication,house rebuilding, reconstructing livelihoods and transport,safety net schemes, community based data acquisition andmonitoring, etc.

HOWEVER, also occasions for officials to justify large-scaleevictions to distant sites, generating community resistance


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Private-public-community partnerships

Housing construction: e.g. Habitat for Humanity,

Gawad Kalinga, Church-generated housing (Phil);CODI (Thailand), ACCA/ACHR (15 countries 107+cities; 748 community projects, $5,170,000 for 3 yrs)

Micro-enterprise/income generating programs/

marketing and value chains Health, family planning, nutrition, environment,

waste management, gender empowerment programswith community ideas, labor, time, money


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Advice for Government andthe Private Sector


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Lessons learned Support community organizing and locally

generated initiatives

Strengthen womens involvement in economic,social, political and environmental spheres;reorient traditional male roles

Welcome NGOs to help communities organize,

network and partner with government in demand-making; revise government audit regulations tofacilitate NGO community involvement


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Lessons learned (contd.) Develop pro-poor-friendly governance institutions in local

and national government structures responsive to

community initiatives. Enhance locally-initiated funding schemes but enable

community organizations to gain access to and training inhow to utilize external loans and grant funds (NGO-asstd)

Enlist assistance of academics in participatory research andtechnical support for community-based problemidentification, data collection and analysis; facilitate accessto and training in new electronic and social media use forcommunity action and advocacy


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Caveat: Significant breakthroughs for poor peoplehave happened but still far to go


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From Asian Coalition for Housing Rights/ACCA Program:

Asian Coalition for Community Action for community

upgrading in 107, now150, Asian cities(Second Yearly Report of ACCA December 2010)

Implemented by people

Based in concrete action

Driven by real needs

Citywide in its scale

Strategic in its planning Done in partnership

Aiming at structural change


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Finally, four experienced presenters will bring out these

points in vivid detail at the Breakout Panel to follow:

Mr. Francisco Fernandez, President, Pagtambayayong,

former City Administrator, Cebu City Mr. John Hummel, former tourism network leader, SNV

Asia

Ms Do Thi Thanh Huyen, Country Director, ENDA, Viet

Nam Mr. Omar Saracho Aguilar, Urban Development and

Climate Advisor, Mercy Corps


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Aim: create state-society synergy in which publicagencies and mobilized communities co-produceand co-finance for greater equity and sustainable

outcomes (E. Ostrum 1997; P. Evans 2002:21)

Documents

Owning the Process: Sustainable Outcomes for Community-based Financing for Livelihood and Commerce