SPARC - Innovation

SPARC has forged a 3-way alliance with the National Slum Dwellers Federation (NSDF) and Mahila Milan (MM), a federation of women’s collectives. NSDF has many city-based federations as its members. The members of the city federations are pavement and slum dwellers. NSDF undertakes all basic community organization and mobilization work and also lobbies for changes in policies which affect the urban poor. Its main focus lies in creating structures for the poor through which they can undertake negotiations. MM, by supporting and training women's collectives, ensures that women are included in local community decision-making and allows women to participate in both local and larger issues and debates related to their lives. It also undertakes the responsibility of setting up credit and savings groups, consumer co-operatives, ration shops, and housing co-operatives.