This paper describes the water and sanitation programmes that the NGO Development Workshop has developed in Luanda over the last 15 years, working with community organisations, local government, and the official water and sanitation agencies. This includes a public standpost programme that serves some 20,000 households, a family latrine programme that built 5,000 latrines, and a programme to improve solid waste collection. The paper also discusses how initiatives such as these can be developed in ways that can be sustained and expanded, despite very weak local governments and the fact that they serve very low-income groups.