Improving the lives of Poor People in Namibia.
Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia(SDFN) & Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG)
Welcome to Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia(SDFN) & Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG)
The Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN), is a community-based network of housing saving schemes, aiming to improve the living conditions of urban and rural poor, while promoting women’s participation. SDFN is affiliate to Shack Dwellers International (SDI). This Federation was founded in October 1998 by 30 grassroots housing groups, which were active since the late eighties. The Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG) is a Non-Governmental Service Organization, aiming to support and add value to the activities and processes of the Shack Dwellers Federation Namibia. It was established in 1992 to support the savings groups of the Shack Dwellers Federation as an umbrella organization. NHAG became a separate NGO in 1999, when it was established as a Trust to support the peoples’ processes of the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia..
SDFN Vision & Mission
The Shack Dwellers’ Federation of Namibia’s main focus is to improve the living conditions of low-income people living in shacks, rented rooms and those without any accommodation, while promoting women’s participation. The Federation facilitates and advocates for change for those excluded from commercial housing and financial processes, using a community-driven approach.
NHAG Vision & Mission
The Shack Dwellers’ Federation of Namibia’s main focus is to improve the living conditions of low-income people living in shacks, rented rooms and those without any accommodation, while promoting women’s participation. The Federation facilitates and advocates for change for those excluded from commercial housing and financial processes, using a community-driven approach.
SDFN Youth
Namibia has one of the youngest and fastest-growing populations in southern Africa. In 2018 the median age in Namibia was 21.3 years. The youth unemployment rate in Namibia continues to increase and reached an all-time high of 46.10% in 2018. Youth empowerment in Namibia is thus crucial for the sustainable development of the country. The youth is very involved in the Community Land Information Program (CLIP) to collect data towards scaling up informal settlement upgrading. They are very active and visible in fundraising activities, to sustain themselves as an organization, to pay tuition fees and to do youth projects.
SDFN Youth also took the lead on and enjoyed implementing the Know your City TV (KYCTV) Project, funded by Shack/ Slum Dwellers International (SDI). KYCTV is a call to action within the SDI ``Know your City Campaign” for cities in different countries to know their people, know the poverty and plight of the poorest and work together to bring about an end to poverty in our world's cities. They documented different SDFN projects across the country, from informal settlement upgrading to housing construction. The youth participated in international training sessions with SDI, on editing and filming. The youth also used their filming excursions as an opportunity to train other community members, exchange knowledge, and improve their skills.
Click on any of the links below to view their work.
Community Saving
89% of the Namibian population does not qualify for conventional home loans and connot access commercial housing. Community saving is the SDFN cornerstone to organize communities. This contributes to the development of households participating in the SDFN saving groups. Each group manages its own savings account. By regular saving the urban poor of Namibia are deriving financial strength from their own resources.
Learning Exchanges
Awareness and skills needed to improve the living conditions of the members are shared during local, national and international exchanges. From these exchanges Namibian communities learned how to save daily, collect information, map and plan settlements, and most importantly communities in informal settlements have realised they can do things for themselves.