The GIRT research project has published a new practice-oriented manual: “Manual for Interviewing Women in Urban Informal Settlements and Slums.” It provides guidance for researchers, students, and practitioners working with women in informal urban contexts.
The manual is based on the interdisciplinary GIRT project (2022–2026), involving over 30 researchers from universities in Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Austria. It builds on more than 400 qualitative interviews conducted in African cities and combines empirical insights with established research methods.
A key contribution of the publication is its strong focus on context and gender. Many research handbooks are grounded in Global North settings, while the realities of informal settlements remain underrepresented. The GIRT manual addresses this gap by offering practical, context-sensitive approaches tailored to low-resource and socially complex environments.
At its core, the manual emphasises a gender-sensitive perspective. Women in informal settlements often carry a “triple burden” of paid work, unpaid care responsibilities, and community obligations, while their voices remain insufficiently reflected in research and policy debates.
The publication includes a structured 10-step guide covering the entire research process—from preparation and field access to interviewing, analysis, and dissemination. It offers practical advice on building trust, conducting semi-structured interviews, and adapting methods to multilingual and culturally diverse contexts.
Ethics and reflexivity are central throughout. The manual addresses informed consent, confidentiality, fair compensation, and the importance of managing expectations, while encouraging researchers to reflect on their own positionality and power dynamics in the field.
By combining methodological rigor with real-world experience, the GIRT manual supports more inclusive, context-aware, and socially responsible research. It highlights women not only as participants but as key contributors to knowledge production.
The manual is available under an open-access Creative Commons license:
GIRT project: Improving the living conditions of women
The GIRT project focuses on the everyday lives of women in informal settlements and slums in Ethiopia and Mozambique. These settlements are often characterized by precarious housing conditions, a lack of infrastructure and insecure tenure. Women and children are particularly affected by the difficult living conditions - be it through a lack of access to sanitary facilities or limited economic participation. The aim of GIRT is to work together to identify areas and approaches that can lead to an improvement in the living conditions of women in specific informal settlements and slums.
