Welcome to SDFN & NHAG
Improving the lives of Poor People in Namibia
Community Savings
89% of the Namibian population does not qualify for conventional home loans and cannot access commercial housing. Community saving for housing is the SDFN cornerstone to organize communities. By regular saving the urban poor of Namibia are deriving financial strength from their own resources. Each saving group manages its own savings and has its own bank account – currently the Shack Dwellers form more than 1,000 saving groups countrywide.House Construction
Over the years the Shack Dwellers have built over 7,000 brick houses for low-income and poor people in informal settlements. Each house built by the Shack Dwellers has its own toilet, electricity, and water connection. Assuming 4 or more people live in such a house built by SDFN/NHAG: this means that more than 30,000 people have moved into a life with dignity and hope - through their own commitment and persistence. The active participation of SDFN members in the management and production of the houses results in much cheaper units than commercial house construction for low-income families. The price for a SDFN house is N$ 40,000.
Women Empowerment
Currently 2/3 of the over 33,000 members of the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN) are women. The activities of the Federation have a visible impact on women empowerment in Namibia since the processes of forming saving groups, engaging in community-led negotiations with authorities and upscaling informal settlement upgrading, have been mainly driven by women. These community-led activities by the Shack Dwellers have given many women in informal settlements the opportunity to break away from top-down and male dominated leadership. The Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia has proven in its more than 20 years of existence that female leadership not only gets things done in a sustainable and participatory way; female leadership within the Federation also stands for justice and equality for all - regardless of income, gender or other personal characteristics.
Women Empowerment
Currently 2/3 of the almost 30,000 members of the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN) are women. The activities of the Federation have a visible impact on women empowerment in Namibia since the processes of forming saving groups, engaging in community-led negotiations with authorities and upscaling informal settlement upgrading, have been mainly driven by women. These community-led activit
Read moreBy the end of our financial year 2021/2022 saving groups of the Shack Dwellers Federation in all 14 regions of Namibia have saved collective...
Over the years the Shack Dwellers have built over 7,000 brick houses for low-income and poor people in informal settlements. Each house buil...
Since 1995 the Twahangana Fund channelled almost N$ 300 million to the saving groups of SDFN for the construction of over 7,000 ho...