Brick by brick Transforming relations between local government and the urban poor in Zimbabwe Beth Chitekwe-Biti Working Paper Urban Keywords: April 2014 Human Settlements, urban poverty, local organisations, local government, partnerships, SDI About the authors Beth Chitekwe-Biti: Executive Director at Dialogue on Shelter. The Dialogue on Shelter Trust is a Zimbabwe NGO that supports the initiatives of the Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation, an autonomous network of community organisations, on issues securing tenure and services in slum communities in the country. Dialogue on Shelter is affiliated to the global network of slum dwellers Slum Dwellers International, the two organisations working in alliance over 13 years to engage cities to work with the urban poor to build more inclusive cities in Zimbabwe, where the urban poor are seen as key partners and contributors to current urban challenges. Dialogue on Shelter works in over 55 local authorities in the country. Produced by IIED’s Human Settlements group The Human Settlements Group works to reduce poverty and improve health and housing conditions in the urban centres of Africa, Asia and Latin America. It seeks to combine this with promoting good governance and more ecologically sustainable patterns of urban development and rural-urban linkages. Published by IIED, April 2014 Beth Chitekwe-Biti. 2014. Brick by brick: transforming relations between local government and the urban poor in Zimbabwe. IIED Working Paper. IIED, London. http://pubs.iied.org/10702IIED ISBN 978-1-78431-054-7 International Institute for Environment and Development 80-86 Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1X 8NH, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 3463 7399 Fax: +44 (0)20 3514 9055 email:
[email protected] www.iied.org @iied www.facebook.com/theIIED Download more publications at www.iied.org/pubs IIED WORKING PAPER This paper explores how the Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation has built a working partnership with the City of Harare that has led to more inclusive, pro-poor, urban development.