We, the Alliance of the Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation (ZIHOPFE), the Zimbabwe Young People’s Federation (ZYPF), and Dialogue on Shelter for the Homeless in Zimbabwe Trust (DOS) are a partnership between a social movement of the urban, rural poor and an NGO. We collaborate in order to address poverty among slum dwellers through women and youth-led approaches and strategies. Within the Alliance, ZIHOPFE is an autonomous network of community-based organizations (CBOs) whose membership derives from residents in slums, informal settlements and backyard shacks in towns, cities and peri-urban areas as well as in rural areas in Zimbabwe. The slum dwellers lack access to land and secure tenure; shelter; adequate water and sanitation; income opportunities and food security. In short, these are people living in poverty and are among the 21.4% of Zimbabweans living on less than US$1.90 per day1. ZYPF was birthed by ZIHOPFE and has a specific focus on the needs of young people within the communities served by the mother movement. DOS supports the initiatives of ZIHOPFE and ZYPF and other organised communities of the urban poor to find collective solutions to problems they face. As a technical partner, DOS facilitates capacity-building, training and spaces for interface and influence between communities and government, private sector and academic institutions. This support is mainly geared towards enabling the poor to access resources and address systems and practices that hinder affordable housing and infrastructural services. DOS is also responsible for supporting fundraising from the Alliance.

We enhance the well-being of urban populations by delivering innovative, multi-sectoral solutions to urban poverty.

• To strengthen and promote the role of cities in poverty reduction, and in sustainable  development;
• To capture and strengthen the synergies between and among members and partners; and
• To improve the quality of urban development cooperation and lending.