Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG)/ Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia 9SDFN) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Otjiwarongo Municipality on the 24th of November 2021

 This marked a long awaiting milestone in the history of community-driven development, and in particular for the members of Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia and the informal settlement inhabitants of Otjiwarongo. This MoU should be a living document, bringing change to people’s lives and not a paper to be hidden in the cabinets of the municipality and NHAG/SDFN. The seeds for implementation were already sown with Otjiwarongo municipality and the community showing their willingness for collaborating.  Over 100 houses were constructed by the SDFN members, more land has recently been allocated and almost 3,000 households are involved in preparing for upgrading. Now, this agreement is paving the way for up-scaling towards an incremental development that will help all shack dwellers and low-income families to secure tenure, services, and decent shelter. 

This MoU is being signed at the time that Namibians are calling for new innovations and strategies to address the quest for affordable land and housing. In order to accelerate and scale we need to engage ourselves and spend more energy on programs that are responsive to the need of the peoples’ such as community-driven upgrading programs.

By signing this MOU we have now become one unity - no longer them and us - but we are united for reaching a common goal.

We also like to give special thanks to the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development (MURD), Office of the Governor, Oshikoto Regional Council, Otjiwarongo Municipality, Private Sectors such as Standard Bank, MTC, Ohorongo Cement, FNB Foundation, Pupkewitz Foundation, Neopaint, B2 Gold, Osino Mining and other corporates for supporting our dreams and aspirations to achieve improved shelter for all those who did not have hope but now they have hope.