Enhancing Dignity and Opportunities for Slum Residents
Summary
In 2025, the Human Needs Project (HNP) committed to improving dignity, health, and economic opportunity for 70,000 underserved residents in Kibera, Nairobi—Africa’s largest urban slum—by launching a new community center. Building on a model that has already served over 100,000 people, the 15-month initiative will expand access to clean water, sanitation, solar energy, digital training, and financial services. The center will operate on a transaction-based model that promotes dignity and self-agency, aiming to be at least 70% self-sustaining. HNP will recruit and train local staff, tailoring training to the center’s services. Community outreach campaigns, in collaboration with local leaders, youth groups, and health workers, will promote participation, and partnerships with other community-based organizations, schools, and religious groups targeting women and youth will deepen engagement. By 2027, expected outcomes include training 10,000 people, securing 5,000 job placements, and reducing enteric disease. HNP will also continue providing free water and hygiene stations to informal schools.
Approach
The Human Needs Project (HNP) commits to launching a new Satellite Center in an underserved area of Kibera, replicating their successful, community-centric model from the Kibera Town Center, which has served over 100,000 residents since 2014. This initiative, named “Dignity and Opportunities for Slum Residents of Kibera,” will expand access to vital Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services, alongside financial inclusion services comprising savings, credit and entrepreneurship skills. A skills training and placements center will increase skill-up and employment opportunities. These efforts aim to uplift residents’ dignity, improve health, and create economic opportunities, thereby breaking cycles of extreme poverty. Through a highly subsidised pricing model, the approach also changes mindsets from dependency to self-agency and true empowerment. The Human Needs Project will increase their focus on health services, which is logistically feasible due to existing and planned infrastructure. The scale of health services will be tailored to HNP’s resources, starting with a minimal dispensing, referral, and consulting kiosk to assess needs.
In this project, HNP will leverage a decade of expertise in integrated WASH and empowerment programs. HNP’s team brings proven experience in clean water technology, sustainable infrastructure management, and deep community engagement.
HNP’s key partner, the Solar Electric and Light Fund (SELF) , will contribute over 30 years of experience in solar power solutions for energy-impoverished regions. SELF will be the technical partner for the Satellite Center’s solar power system, ensuring the facility is climate-smart and sustainable.For health services, the Ministry of Health will be a willing partner, considering their commitment in 2023 at COP28, to have all health facilities in Kenya powered by renewable energy. This collaborative approach empowers residents with essential tools for well-being while building local capacity for long-term project viability. The community will actively participate in all the steps, to foster community ownership and sustained impact.
Action Plan
The Human Needs Project (HNP) will implement this 15-month commitment using a phased approach to expand access to WASH & Health services, skills training and opportunities in Kibera. Site selection and architectural plans for the satellite center are already done.
From months 1 to 6, construction and installation will take place, including a borehole, sanitation and laundry facilities, and solar energy systems. In addition to the digital skills training center, a pilot health center will be integrated, involving a dispensing, referral, and consulting kiosk to determine needs. If successful, this could expand to a larger facility for consultations, pre-natal/infant check-ups, and pharmaceutical distribution, integrating with Kenya’s national Electronic Medical Records network.
Between months 7 and 9, HNP will recruit and train local staff to manage the center. Community outreach campaigns will be launched in collaboration with local leaders, youth groups, and community health workers to promote the new center and increase participation. Partnerships with local CBOs, schools, and religious groups will help deepen community engagement and ensure inclusivity, especially for women and youth.
From months 10 to 15, the center will operate at full capacity, targeting 500 Service Uses per day. This includes individuals accessing toilets, showers, water, laundry, health center, SACCO services, and training programs. Services will follow a transaction-based model that supports dignity, access, and accountability.
Service usage will be tracked through digital systems like Vortex and Zero, enabling real-time monitoring and data-informed adjustments. Feedback sessions with community members will help improve service relevance and quality.
By the end of the project period, the center aims to be at least 70% self-sustaining through affordable user fees for the services. The fees are arrived at by significantly marking down the prevailing market rates for similar services within the settlement. A final impact report will document outcomes, lessons learned, and recommendations to support further replication.
Background
Urban informal slum residents normally face a dire lack of services as basic and unbelievable as toilets, clean water, showers, street illumination, security, healthcare, or livelihood opportunities, which are normal necessities in planned communities and formal settlements. This shortage of essential infrastructure for dignified hygiene and opportunities often perpetuates the cycles of extreme poverty for the residents. According to UN-Habitat, over 60% of Nairobi’s population lives in such informal settlements (UN-Habitat, 2023) .
The primary challenge is the absence of fundamental infrastructure and services that are prerequisites for human health, dignity, and economic participation. This forces residents, particularly women and children, into undignified and unsafe practices for basic needs like sanitation and hygiene, increasing their vulnerability to diseases like cholera and typhoid due to contaminated water and poor waste management. Furthermore, the lack of secure and illuminated public spaces contributes to rampant insecurity, limiting movement and social cohesion, particularly at night. Economically, the absence of basic infrastructure acts as a significant barrier to formal livelihood opportunities, trapping residents in low-wage, insecure informal sector jobs.
These are the challenges that the The Human Needs Project seeks to address, in both direct interventions and indirect outcomes. They also commit to further integrate health services, with a focus on women and children, at both the current HNP facility and the new satellite center in Kibera.
Progress Update
Partnership Opportunities
The Human Needs Project is looking for technical expertise from companies that can offer their innovative products, services, and solutions, as well as corporations, foundations, and philanthropic individuals that are looking to support scale-up through such replicable approaches that support the most needy populations.,The Human Needs Project offers partners over 10 years of expertise, particularly in promoting self-agency and community involvement in the design and implementation of intervention programs. Partners can rely on HNP’s extensive data on service consumption and impact, including both qualitative and quantitative data from impact assessments, program design, adjustments, and technical challenges, along with their mitigation strategies. The Kibera Town Center prototype serves not only as a model for similar initiatives but also as a valuable resource center for researchers exploring bottom-of-the-pyramid markets, effective strategies, and the role of dignity and self-agency in aid.