• Homeless International (HI) provides grants, advice & innovative financial services to develop the ability of local partners to mobilise and support groups of slum dwellers.

• It is estimated that nearly 1 billion people worldwide live in city slums. Most do not have access to clean water or sanitation, or a chance to escape grinding poverty. Under fives and infant mortality is much higher in slum areas than in rural ones.

• The partners help slum communities organise themselves into associations, set up savings schemes, and plan housing and water & sanitation projects.

• HI’s Guarantee Fund encourages banks to lend to partners for on-lending to slum communities for redevelopment works. The Fund reduces the risks of medium-scale lending to poor communities. It has been called on just once in 15 years.

• The partners help the groups to communicate with the local authorities, and advocate for local pro-poor housing policies.

• A lending facility helps slum communities build demonstration models of low-cost, sustainable housing & sanitation projects. These are used to mobilise additional government, private and third sector financial support.

• In 2008, HI contributed directly to ~6,000 slum dwellers accessing decent, secure housing, at a cost of just ~£340/person. Around 90,000 people benefitted during the year from access to improved sanitation and clean water.