Presented to the Workshop on Democratization, Civic Strengthening and Human Development Arena, in Sub-Saharan Africa at the Mazingira Institute & Settlement Information Network Africa (SINA) in Nairobi. The Sustainable Community Services Project (SCSP) is a component part of the Luanda Urban Poverty Programme (LUPP). SCSP sets out to pilot a model of basic service provision in an area of the musseques of Luanda, and at the same time create links between the users of these services, the local government and the providers of the services. These two objectives are closely linked: the linkages between the stakeholders are vital for the management and sustainability of the services, as well as being an opportunity for creating space for participative politics (which can contribute to peace-building and democratisation in Angola).