Sahmakum Teang Tnaut STT
a Cambodian Housing NGO working with marginalised urban communities
Background
Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (‘STT’) was established in September 2005 and officially registered with the Ministry of Interior in December 2006. Its main office is in Phnom Penh with 8 staff and there is a field office in Kampot with 2 staff.
‘Teang Tnaut’ means ‘Sugar Palm Leaf’ in Khmer. The Sugar Palm tree itself is typical of the Cambodian padi (lowland rice field) landscape and is used for many things including house construction, thatch roofs, palm wine, sugar and packaging. The leaf is both simple and useful. These are the aims of Teang Tnaut – to provide ‘low key’ upgrading interventions and a useful resource for marginalised urban settlements to improve their tenure security through accurate mapping and documentation. The name deliberately aims to evoke a small scale and simple approach to working with communities acknowledging that effective action generally comes from within the community themselves.
It also expresses the flexibility and innovation needed for settlements to address the ongoing difficulties with land alienation and evictions. This is done through research and debate, trying to link with Government policy where possible and by supporting genuine community complaints and grievances. This includes helping communities articulate their concerns and by bringing rights issues and abuses to the attention of local and international media, donors and other NGOs & INGOs.
Vision
A society in which urban poor communities enjoy adequate housing.
Mission
To provide technical assistance for housing and infrastructure to urban poor communities and to inform dialogue and raise awareness about housing issues
Programmes: STT works to achieve its mission through 2 main programmes
Programme 1: Technical
• Mapping, Infrastructure and Titling(MIT) project : to work alongside communities to improve tenure security and physical infrastructure which includes tangible interventions such as clean water supply, sanitation, drainage, adequate road access and tenure documents as well as non-tangible interventions such as increased understanding of tenure issues and confidence to discuss with authorities and relevant partners .
• Alternative Housing & Urban Planning (AHUP): to provide alternative pro-poor options to urban development plans using a participatory approach.
• Technical Research Project: To scope urban poor communities at a national level and produce accurate and reliable data, surveys and mapping that can be used as a reference point for communities, NGOs, donors, researchers and Government bodies.
Programme 2: Advocacy
• Community Project: to increase communities’ ability to articulate their concerns and to strengthen local community networks through meetings, forums, trainings and exchanges.
• Youth Project: to involve and inform both local and international students in housing and urban issues
• Media Project: to gather relevant information from communities, to prepare documents and reports and to disemminate information about housing issues affecting urban poor communities
• Ahimsa Project: to promote active non-violence as a means to raise awareness about housing issues
Donor support
STT’s operational budget for 2010 is approximately 106,000USD and its key donors are
• Norwegian People’s Aid
• DED Deutscher Entwicklungdienst
• MISEREOR
