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Sheela Patel
She is the founder and Director of the Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC) India, which is based in Mumbai, and works in partnership with the National Slum Dweller Federation and Mahila Milan. She is also Chair of Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI).
Sheela Patel's blog posts
Global goals and targets often rely on national data, but local data are needed to inform action on the ground and to monitor progress on the goals.
Is it possible for global funds to be accountable to local communities – especially those whose needs the funds should address?
In India, slum and pavement dwellers' organisations have designed and managed a programme of community toilets and washing facilities that are used by hundreds of thousands of households. Guest blogger Sheela Patel describes how this was achieved.
Around one in seven people around the world live in informal settlements in urban areas. These settlements – sometimes referred to as slums or shantytowns – lack not only good provisions for water, sanitation and basic services, they are also often deliberately left out of official surveys and maps. As a result, their inhabitants rarely have official identity documents, or other official papers confirming their address and therefore their right to live there.