"A leader of Indonesian Urban Poor Consortium and is called as 'a mother of the poor' "

The leader of Indonesia Urban Poor Consortium, Ms. Wardah Hafidz is called the 'Mother of the Poor'. She is a well-recognized leader of public opinion who has chosen a rough road for herself in order to alleviate the suffering of the urban poor.

She does not offer assistance to the poor in terms of one-time donations or activities. Instead, she focuses on assisting the urban needy as they work towards building systems that will allow them to protect themselves and secure their own rights. To this end, Ms. Wardah Hafidz launched the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), an association aimed at training the urban poor, helping them with settlement, and corning up with policy recommendations, in 1977. UPC is now exerting an enormous influence on social campaigns for Jakarta's deprived areas as well as on government decision making.

When a tsunami hit Indonesia in 2004, Ms. Wardah Hafidz stayed in Aceh, one of the areas most devastated by the disaster, and led recovery activities by building 3,500 housing structures throughout 23 villages in the region. While doing this, she not only delivered emergency aid but also suggested methods to achieve joint economic development and encouraged the residents to undertake self-driven recovery efforts.

Under the shared name of 'campaigns for the poor.’ Ms. Wardah Hafidz established solid networks with international organizations and activists in the Philippines, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries to help deal with the social problems being faced by the disenfranchised urban poor. Her activities have significantly contributed to improving the quality of life for many people in the Asia.