Community savings that mobilize federations, build women’s leadership and support slum upgrading

This paper describes how in urban areas in many nations, community savings groups not only help meet the individual and collective needs of the poorest groups but also underpin the growth of citywide and national shack/slum(1) dweller federations where these groups have influence. As most savers and savings group managers are women, this helps ensure that their priorities are addressed; but as savings managers represent their savings groups, they also seek improvements that benefit all, including upgrading. Although the amount that each individual saves is modest, when aggregated in community savings funds it is often large enough to attract external resources that allow support for larger-scale initiatives. Savings groups also draw inspiration from visiting other savings groups, including those that have large, successful partnerships with local governments. This paper includes commentaries from women community leaders in Zimbabwe, India, South Africa, Uganda and Bolivia on why they began saving and how savings are organized and managed in their groups. The paper also discusses how external agencies can support these processes.