Shelter Forum's goal is to facilitate access to affordable and decent shelter for all, particularly vulnerable groups such as women and children, the aged, disabled and dispossessed.

Established in 1990 as a coalition of institutions and individuals, it brings together key players who, through collective action, facilitate access to affordable and decent shelter for vulnerable groups. At its inception, Shelter Forum was mandated to undertake research, establish a network of organizations, facilitate sharing of information and support housing policies that benefit both rural and urban poor.

The forum is under the guidance of a board of directors which include Kituo cha Sheria, Nairobi Vikundi vya Kujisaidia, Architectural Society of Kenya (AAK), Federation of Kenya Women Lawyers (FIDA) and National Housing Cooperative Union (NACHU). Others are German Technical Assistance-Small Towns Development Project, Intermediate Technology Development Group - Eastern Africa (ITDG - EA) and other individual professionals.

Today, Shelter Forum enjoys recognition and widespread goodwill from the public, private and community sectors with membership of about 600. We have also crossed frontiers to establish focal point in Uganda and Tanzania.

It is the focal point for co-ordination of NGOs' participation in the Habitat debate. It co-ordinated NGOs' preparation for the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly (Istanbul +5) held in New York in June 2001 to review progress in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda. During this Special Session of the UN, Shelter Forum was elected the new secretariat for Africaucus, the network of African NGOs implementing the Habitat Agenda.

The Forum has close links with other networking organizations such as the Regional Appropriate Technology Information Service (RATIS) and the Building Advisory Service and Information Network (BASIN).

Shelter Forum appreciates the continued support from its members and donors. This has enabled it to get to where it is. Donors who are or have been supporting it include the following: the Department For International Development (DFID), Comic Relief, CORDAID, the Ford Foundation and GTZ.

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