Meet the Philippines Homeless People's Federation

This photo-essay describes how the Philippines Homeless People's Federation was formed, to bring together low-income community organizations that had developed housing savings groups in many different cities and to encourage and support the formation of other savings groups. The Federation now has o ver 20,000 member families who are saving and who are either developing the ir own homes or seeking ways to do so - for instance, negotiating for secur e land, forming homeowner associations, identifying sites on which they can build and exploring sources for loans. In common with similar federations in other countries (with whom there is constant contact), there is a strong emphasis oil community-managed savings schemes, community-to-community exc hanges (so members can learn from each other's experiences and discuss the best solutions for each particular case) and negotiating with governments w ith clear, carefully costed proposals that show how much the communities ca n do for themselves.