SDI. (Slum Dwellers International)

What SDI. (Slum Dwellers International) does

Slum Dwellers International (SDI) is a non-profit network organization headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa. Founded in 1994 (previously known as Shack Dwellers International), SDI supports community-led data collection, organising, and slum upgrading through a federated network of urban poor communities, support NGOs, and five regional hubs spanning more than 16 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Its governance model is distinctive: the Board of Directors is majority-composed of elected slum dweller leaders from affiliated national federations, augmented by independent professionals such as former Cities Alliance Director William Cobbett.

SDI's core products are the Know Your City (KYC) community-led data collection initiative, the KYC TV youth media collective, and the Urban Poor Funds (UPF) — women-led revolving savings mechanisms that finance housing upgrades and climate adaptation. The KYC methodology combines participatory profiling, household enumeration, GIS-based settlement mapping, and risk assessments; an in-development KnowYourCity Data Platform will integrate this community-generated data into advocacy and planning tools for both community members and local government officials. Bespoke national adaptations include Fiscovidata, a COVID-19 case-monitoring application developed by the Sierra Leonean affiliate FEDURP/CODOHSAPA.

Revenue is grant-based rather than commercial. SDI does not charge membership or programme fees; operations are funded by institutional development partners including the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Norwegian Agency for Exchange Cooperation (Norec), Cities Alliance, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Urban Poor Funds are community-managed savings, not organisational revenue. SDI therefore functions as a coordination secretariat for a much larger federated movement whose direct beneficiaries include organisations such as Muungano wa Wanavijiji (Kenya), the Homeless People's Federation Philippines, FEDURP (Sierra Leone), Dialogue on Shelter (Zimbabwe), and the Ghana Federation of the Urban Poor.

Name

SDI. (Slum Dwellers International)

Legal name

Slum Dwellers International

Website

https://sdinet.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Slum Dwellers International is a non-profit network headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, supporting community-led data collection, organising, and slum upgrading through federations of the urban poor across more than 16 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Development and Community Upgrading Services

NAICS

Community Housing Services (62422), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus & Resilience Programming (BPADAEAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC)

Keywords

• Community-led development
• Slum upgrading programs
• Informal settlement mapping
• Community savings funds
• Climate adaptation services

Headquarters

HQ city

Cape Town

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Institutional Grants and Development Funding: SDI receives funding from international development agencies and governments to support network operations, programmatic work, and capacity building of affiliate organizations.
2. Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) Funding: Three-year commitment supporting the ALLRCISS programme for accelerating locally-led responses to climate change in informal settlements across Brazil, Kenya, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
3. Norwegian Agency for Exchange Cooperation (Norec) Youth Exchange Funding: Funding for youth media exchange programme between July and November 2025, in partnership with Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, supporting KYC TV podcast development and skills training.
4. Urban Poor Funds (Community Savings): Community-managed revolving funds where members pool savings to support housing upgrades, climate adaptation, disaster response, and essential services. Women-led savings groups serve as the building blocks of the movement.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SDI is a global network of slum dweller federations that supports community-led data collection, household enumeration and settlement mapping, women-led community savings groups, locally-led climate adaptation, and advocacy for secure land tenure and slum upgrading. It connects urban poor communities across more than 16 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America with technical support NGOs, peer learning exchanges, and donor funding channels to drive bottom-up upgrading of informal settlements.

Product overview

SDI operates as a global network organization rather than a traditional product company. Its core offerings include the Know Your City (KYC) community-led data collection initiative, KYC TV youth media collective, and Urban Poor Funds financing model. SDI is developing a KnowYourCity Data Platform to integrate community-generated data, maps, and stories into actionable tools. These products work together to enable slum dweller communities to collect their own data, amplify their voices through media, access community-led financing, and advocate for inclusive urban development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Know Your City (KYC) TV: A creative collective of youth from the SDI network using photography, film and storytelling to mobilize young people to drive and evaluate change at settlement, city and global levels. Youth make up the overwhelming majority of the 1 billion people living in slums and amplifying their voice is critical to delivering SDI's strategy.

Products and services

• Know Your City (KYC) A community-led data collection, household enumeration, and settlement mapping initiative documenting informal settlements across the global south to make slum communities visible through their own data for advocacy and planning purposes.
• KYC TV (Know Your City Television) A youth media collective using photography, film, and storytelling to mobilize young slum dwellers and amplify community voices at the settlement, city, and global levels.
• Urban Poor Funds (UPFs) Community-led financing model where women's savings groups pool funds to support housing upgrades, climate adaptation, disaster response, and essential services, with direct accountability to federation members.
• SDI Data Portal An online portal providing access to community-collected data covering over 7,000 slums in more than 16 countries across the global south.
• KnowYourCity Data Platform A technical data platform under development to integrate community-generated data, maps, and stories into actionable tools for advocacy, collaborative planning, and monitoring, for use by community members and local government officials.
• ALLRCISS Programme A multi-country programme for accelerating locally-led responses to climate change in informal settlements, including household profiling, settlement risk assessments, nature-based solutions, and capacity building for national federations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,400 households profiled and mapped through ALLRCISS programme in first year
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIIED works with SDI on climate adaptation advocacy and policy, including participation in the Generating Ambition for Locally Led Adaptation (GA-LLA) programme and joint events at COP30.
• Humanitarian OpenStreetMap (HOT)coreTechnology or IntegrationHOT partnered with SDI for the 'Community-Led Data as a Tool for Power Redistribution' event at COP30, combining community mapping with open data technologies.
• Enda EnergyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with SDI and HOT for the community-led data event at COP30 Peru Resilience Hub.
• Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACHR provides funding support to Homeless People's Federation Philippines for community-led initiatives.
• SDI NetherlandsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSDI Netherlands is a national affiliate that supports the global SDI network, with Anne-Marie Rakhorst serving as Chair of its Board.
• Development Governance Institute (DEGI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDEGI supports the Hopley community in Zimbabwe under the Inclusive Urban Infrastructure (IUI) project, funded by UK Research and Innovation's Global Challenges Research Fund.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR): ACHR is a strategic partner and funder within SDI's network (supporting HPFPI) and runs a comparable community-led housing and savings coalition across Asian cities. Shares SDI's federation-based methodology and donor base.
• SPARC (Society for Promotion of Area Resource Centers): SPARC and its partner Mahila Milan pioneered the federated slum-dweller savings and community-led upgrading model that SDI scaled globally. Operates the same community-organizing methodology in Indian informal settlements, making it the closest methodological peer.

Emerging players

• International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED):

Broad incumbents

• Cities Alliance: A multi-donor coalition hosted by UNOPS that funds SDI affiliates and operates joint programmes on slum upgrading. Shares SDI's city-level upgrading mandate but functions as a funding and policy platform rather than a community-organizing network.
• UN-Habitat: The UN agency for sustainable urban development, which has formally recognized SDI (Scroll of Honour, 2011) and shaped the Global Campaign for Secure Tenure. Works on the same urban-poor agenda but as a multilateral policy and convening body.
• Habitat for Humanity International: A much larger global affordable-housing NGO working on tenure, upgrading, and shelter finance. Overlaps with SDI's slum upgrading and secure tenure objectives but operates through a top-down, donor-driven model rather than a community-led federation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/sdi_net
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/KnowYourCityTV
• Facebookfacebook.com/sdinet
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sdi-shack-slum-dwellers-international-
• Instagraminstagram.com/sdi_net

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SDI. (Slum Dwellers International)