Archive for September, 2011

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their experience in Asia’s biggest slum in comparison to poor communities in their home regions.

By Fernando Prada, FORO Nacional / Internacional (Peru)

Visiting Dharavi has made me reexamine some ideas about social networks, leadership, and sense of community. First, that social networks tend to be strong where conditions are adverse is a common idea but very hard to appreciate in the field, let alone to measure. For every case study supporting this hypothesis, there is another cross-country study showing that poverty conditions erode social networks. Second, that leadership can make the difference does not say anything about how leadership surges and how communities can survive their leaders. Third, that the sense of community can make people work together for their common good regardless of their differences sometimes sound like wishful thinking and an impractical idea to implement in the field. In the three cases, visiting Dharavi has provided clear evidence that social networks become stronger when a group of people face a common problem; that leadership guiding efforts toward a common goal can make the difference and promote the surge of new leaders in the process; and that the sense of community can make communities work more efficiently. » Continue reading “Dharavi Reflection 5″

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their experience in Asia’s biggest slum in comparison to poor communities in their home regions.

By Sowmya Suryanarayanan, Strategic Foresight Group (India)

In the first instance, Dharavi comes across as a typical slum with shacks of varied sizes and shapes piled on top of one another. However, what is remarkable about Dharavi is how this large group of migrant population has managed to create employment opportunities that support them and their families with minimal aid from the government. In addition, they have created markets for their products both within and outside the slum area, which has made the community self sustaining. » Continue reading “Dharavi Reflection 4″

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their site visits to pro-poor initiatives in Mumbai. Attendees discuss the need and role of these social enterprises in their current context as well as in the writer’s home region. 1298 Ambulance is a low-cost pay-per-use ambulance service, the first of its kind in India.

By Sheila Ochugboju, African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET) (Kenya)

Our field visit to the Dial 1298 Ambulance in Mumbai revealed the concept of “Mission Command” first explained by Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, the great military strategist, Chief of Staff for the Prussian Army in the late 19th century. Simply put, it illustrates the art of defining and refining good adaptable plans, a process whereby the company goals and objectives are allowed to filter way-down the lines authority, allowing the deepest level of delegation to create an empowered workforce, able to deliver critical results in very difficult circumstances. » Continue reading “1298 Ambulance”

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their experience in Asia’s biggest slum in comparison to poor communities in their home regions.

By Dinh The Phong, National Institute for Science and Technology Policy and Strategy Studies (NISTPASS) (Vietnam)

The problem of the urban poor is a permanent one of all developing countries and an inherent characteristic of these countries. Thomas Friedman’s 2005 book The World Is Flat focused on the idea that countries in the world are getting more equal chances to compete on an increasingly level playing field. However, looking at this issue from another angle might reveal a quite spiky world. The problem is predicting whether the world will be flatter or spikier. If we compare the worst conditions of the present urban poor to those of the past, then we see an improving world. If we, however, look at the gap between the condition of the poorest and the richest in the world, then we might see a decreasing trend. So, it depends more or less on how we want to see and perceive the world. » Continue reading “Dharavi Reflection 3″

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their site visits to pro-poor initiatives in Mumbai. Attendees discuss the need and role of these social enterprises in their current context as well as in the writer’s home region. URBZ is an organization operating in Dharavi that facilitates the production and exchange of information, knowledge, ideas and practices towards better cities for all.

By Mario Bazan, FORO Nacional/Internacional (Peru)

The visit to URBZ in Mumbai was more than interesting.  I come from Lima, Peru’s largest city, and the size and number of people living in Mumbai impressed me. In particular, Dharavi showed a permanent landscape of contrasts, between poverty and entrepreneurship, overcrowding and coexistence, and exclusion and innovation, which clearly presents challenges and the potential for improving the lives of people that live there. » Continue reading “URBZ”

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their experience in Asia’s biggest slum in comparison to poor communities in their home regions.

By Pun-Arj Chairatana, Noviscape Consulting Group & Chulalongkorn University (Thailand)

“Dharavi”: the name associates with a stream, reflects a symbiotic relation between people and water. Dharavi signifies about the future of the urban poor in three aspects: » Continue reading “Dharavi Reflection 2″

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their site visits to pro-poor initiatives in Mumbai. Attendees discuss the need and role of these social enterprises in their current context as well as in the writer’s home region. Teach for India is a nationwide movement of international college graduates and young professionals who will commit two years to teach full-time in under-resourced schools.

By Arthur Muliro, Society for International Development (Italy)

Teach for India (TFI) is a unique experiment that uses volunteer graduates working alongside regular teaching staff to try to cover some of the vacancies that are created by the inability of the state education system to meet the required staff numbers. Visiting the Worli Sea Face School, I observed – if only for a short while – the contribution that TFI is able to make to the quality of instruction of children. » Continue reading “Teach for India”

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their experience in Asia’s biggest slum in comparison to poor communities in their home regions.

By Dr. Julius Gatune, Africa Centre for Economic Transformation (Ghana)

Dharavi is the reality that will face many of the rapidly urbanizing populations around the world. However, the future of the urban poor need not be as bleak as Dharavi shows. We saw examples of programs to improve the living conditions in slums, along with actively supporting the growth of slum-based industries. » Continue reading “Dharavi Reflection 1″

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their site visits to pro-poor initiatives in Mumbai. Attendees discuss the need and role of these social enterprises in their current context as well as in the writer’s home region. UNLtd  is a seed fund and incubator for social entrepreneurs.

By Aidan Eyakuze, Society for International Development (Tanzania)

Two social enterprises that were talked about during our visit to UNLtd caught my attention. The first was the story of “Nikita and the Night Schools.” Nikita was perhaps UNLtd’s first client. Her passion was to improve the quality of the night schools attended by so many of Mumbai’s young adults in a bid to further their education and give themselves an advantage in the competitive job market. Nikita had engaged with 10 schools and 650 students to improve infrastructure, find ways of incentivizing the teachers, and was working on persuading the local and state governments to take over the schools to ensure minimum quality standards. » Continue reading “UNLtd”

For one week in April 2011, global participants of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Searchlight function were hosted by Beyond Profit publisher Intellecap and convened in Mumbai to discuss the future of the urban poor in different geographies. Participants attended workshops on various forecasting models, as well as field visits to Dharavi and various social enterprises. Throughout this week, Beyond Profit will be featuring reflections by participants about their experiences during the Mumbai convening.

By Claudia Juech and Evan Michelson, The Rockefeller Foundation

The effects of events such as the protests and demonstrations that have combined to create the promise of the Arab Spring, the American subprime mortgage crisis leading to a widespread and deep economic recession, or the Japanese tsunami disrupting global supply chains, tell us that it is becoming more and more difficult to forecast what the future may look like in 10 or 15 years. In our increasingly complex and interdependent world, the high pace of change, trends and discontinuities in demography, lifestyles, technology and economy can rapidly create new opportunities as well as threats. » Continue reading “The Future of the Urban Poor”