Cities Alliance Highlighted in Brazilian Media, 16-20 July 2007

Brazil is both the Cities Alliance’s biggest partner country as well as one of its most active members. National, state, and city governments in Brazil have been active Alliance partners dedicated to dealing with urban challenges, particularly slum upgrading. In July 2007, Cities Alliance Manager William Cobbett and Senior Operations Officer Kevin Milroy, accompanied by Giorgio Romano Schutte from the Alliance’s Sao Paulo office in Brasilia, met with senior officials of Brazil’s Ministry of Cities; the President and Vice-President of the Brazilian Federal Savings Bank (CAIXA), Maria Coelho and Jorge Hereda; the in-coming head of the GTZ office, Ulrich Krammenschneider, and the Confederation of Municipalities to discuss Cities Alliance activities in Brazil. In addition, the team also attended a meeting at the Brazilian Parliament, hosted by Deputy (and PAB member) Paulo Teixeira, to promote a national slum upgrading agenda.

The Cities Alliance Secretariat also participated in the 7th meeting of the Tripartite Committee in Salvador, Bahia from 11-12 July. This was the first opportunity to engage with new Bahia Governor Jaques Wagner, Secretary Alfonso Florence, and their team of officials. The highlight of the first morning was the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding between the State Government and the Government of Italy, represented by Director General Ekonomides. The meeting was also attended by the new leadership of the Company of Urban Development of the State of Bahia (CONDER), officials of the City of Salvador, and community representatives. Participants visited a number of sites in Salvador, including Pau da Lima, a slum settlement (see photos).

Pau da Lima with Salvador in the background

While the Secretariat staff were in Brazil, the President of Brazil, President Lula da Silva, visited Bahia on 12 July to announce a $700 million federal investment for slum upgrading in Bahia, as part of the national Programa de Aceleraçã do Crescimento (Accelerated  Growth  Programme). The  PAC,  as it  is  popularly known, is an urban investment programme intended to generate $234 billion (2007-2010)  in new public and private investments, including an additional $4 billion for interventions in favelas, including upgrading and housing construction (see Cities Alliance April 2007 newsletter for more details).

The Brazilian media took advantage of the timing of President da Silva’s succession of similar announcements to focus attention on slums in São Paulo. O Estado de São Paulo, a leading Brazilian paper, ran a front page report on growing slum populations in São Paulo, and the government’s efforts to study slums and design appropriate interventions. The Cities Alliance funded the extensive slum mapping undertaken in the Prefecture of São Paulo. An interview with Cobbett accompanied the article. Cities Alliance activities are supported through a regional office in Sao Paolo.

Article: Cities Alliance Representatives visit the Confederation of Municipalities:  In Portuguese

India Urban Report Discussions, New Delhi, 27 June 2007

The Government of India hosted a meeting of national and state government officials, city administrators, development partners and urban development specialists in New Delhi to discuss the interim India Urban Report. The draft report highlights data on urbanisation trends, urban economies, urban poverty and inequality, the status of urban infrastructure, and decentralisation. The meeting’s most lively discussions surrounded decentralisation according to India’s 74th Constitutional Amendment, and the subsidising of services in slums—with city governments in support of subsidies and the national government more conservative. The discussions also looked at India and China's comparative urban performance. The draft report will provide inputs into India’s $22 billion national urban development programme, the Jawaharlul Nehru National Urban Development Programme (JNNURM). Senior Urban Finance Specialist Rajivan Krishnaswamy represented the Cities Alliance at this meeting. For additional information on JNNURM, see: http://jnnurm.nic.in.

Cities Alliance Conducts Field Evaluations in Niger, Mozambique, and Swaziland

Cities Alliance Secretariat staff conducted two field evaluations of completed projects in spring 2007. Evaluators reviewed completed Alliance-funded projects in one capital city and three medium-sized cities in sub-Saharan Africa.

Niger. The evaluation team travelled to Dosso and Maradi in Niger to review impacts of the completed $245,000 Cities Alliance grant: Development, Urban Management and Poverty Reduction Strategies for the Cities of Maradi and Dosso, Niger (2003-2005). The grant primarily supported the elaboration of city development strategies in Maradi and Dosso, medium-sized cities growing at about 6 percent per year. The approach was to be replicated in other cities in Niger. The Association des Municipalités du Niger (AMN) and the Bureau National de Coordination were the main Nigerein organisations involved in the process. Cities Alliance members the World Bank and Agence Française de Développement were project co-sponsors. Main outcomes included detailed urban poverty mapping for the two cities and comprehensive action plans that are being used to attract donor funding, including a $16 million IDA credit, under preparation, from the World Bank to fund infrastructure in three cities (Niamey, Dosso and Maradi). Lessons learned during the project include highlighting the importance of: (i) involving the private sector early in CDS planning, (ii) recognizing and supporting the potential for growth and job creation in urban areas, (iii) government leadership in donor coordination and strategising, and (iv) balancing the central government’s devolution of responsibilities and transfers of funds with the capacities of local authorities to enable them to assume responsibilities with adequate resources.

Typical storage facilities in Niger Market in Niger

Swaziland and Mozambique. A second evaluation team travelled to Swaziland to assess the impacts of the $500,000 grant for the Mbabane Upgrading and Finance Project (MUFP) in Swaziland (2004-2007), taking advantage of the proximity to Maputo, Mozambique to review progress on the city's ongoing Slum Improvement Demonstration Project, awarded a $75,000 grant in 2005.

Slums on steep terrain in Mbabane, Swaziland

Swaziland. The Mbabane Upgrading and Finance Project built on the World Bank Swaziland Urban Development Project and aimed to support the Mbabane City Council as well as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development in preparing “a comprehensive citywide upgrading plan that [would] result over the medium term in Mbabane becoming a ‘city without slums’”. The project was to provide for the survey and design costs of a comprehensive programme to upgrade all slums in Mbabane, make land titles available, address poverty issues, and mainstream programmes to prevent HIV infection and mitigate the impact of the disease on people living with HIV/AIDS. Co-sponsors of the project included the World Bank, USAID, UNDP, and the U.S. Peace Corps.

The evaluation team felt that one of the main objectives of the project, mobilising stakeholders to plan and implement a comprehensive pro-poor slum upgrading programme, had been met, laying a solid foundation for citywide upgrading. Socioeconomic surveys and analysis had also been undertaken and an overall plan for upgrading had been developed at the settlement level. Detailed designs of upgraded settlements and associated costs had not yet been completed, however, and sources of funds to support implementation had yet to be identified. The findings highlighted the need to provide for a few small scale activities or 'quick wins' to maintain momentum and trust of community residents during the sometimes lengthy design process. More generally, the evaluation reinforced the importance of committed local authority leadership and active participation of communities, both of which have underpinned Mbabane's significant achievements to date.

Mozambique. The aim of the Slum Improvement Demonstration Project in Maputo has been to work with bairro community residents to identify problems in informal settlements and develop strategies to address them. The project also set out to establish the collaboration between slum communities and central authorities of the Maputo Municipal Council that would provide technical, legal and economic advice. The World Bank is sponsoring this project.

Assessing the progress achieved in the first phase of the project, the evaluation team found that while the mayor has a high level of enthusiasm for upgrading the city's slums, the second phase of the project would benefit from a deeper level of involvement of the city council. Among the project's objectives is to work out the financial and technical needs for the general improvement of the living conditions in the bairro, including investments in infrastructure, social organisation and the promotion of economic opportunities. Addressing these issues, within the order of priorities established with community residents, will be a central activity for the project's second phase. At the same time the city council may look to Maputo's active Donor Working Group as it looks to scale up its slum upgrading initiative. This Working Group could potentially serve as a significant forum for Cities Alliance members in Mozambique to coordinate prospective urban activities.

Typical alley in Chamanculo- Maputo

World Bank Hosts 4th Urban Research Symposium, 14-16 May 2007

“Urban Land Use and Land Markets” was the topic of the Fourth Urban Research Symposium organised by the World Bank at its Washington DC headquarters in conjunction with key partners. Implications for city spatial growth, efficiency and equity were also key topics. The symposium featured presentations of commissioned survey papers and other research papers. All papers are now available on-line: http://www.worldbank.org/urban/symposium2007/.

CLIFF Expands to Third Country, April 2007

The Community-Led Infrastructure Finance Facility approved the Philippine Action for Community-led Shelter Initiatives, Inc (PACSII) and the Homeless People’s Federation of the Philippines (HPFP) as the third local CLIFF implementing partner, joining the Kenyan and Indian Alliances in demonstrating community-led housing solutions. The decision was made at the 14-15 April 2007 meetings of the CLIFF Advisory Group in Nairobi. PACSII and the Federation in Iloilo City will begin to draw down CLIFF funds from the summer of 2007 to start the preparations for and construction of resettlement housing by communities in low lying coastal informal settlements. A total of US$550,000 is available in the form of both capital and operational grants. http://www.homeless-international.org/News_1.aspx?id=0:264&news=1:30216.

Cities Alliance Policy Advisory Board Meetings hosted by African Development Bank, 24-26 April 2007

The Cities Alliance Policy Advisory Board’s (PAB) annual spring meetings this year were held jointly with the African Development Bank, on the occasion of the AfDB's review of its Urban Development Policy. Meeting in Tunis, Tunisia in April 2007, board members participated in the AfDB’s Stakeholder Review Workshop, where discussions on Africa's urban future were designed to support the revision of the Bank Group’s urban development policy and preparation of an Urban Development Strategy Paper. They were joined by a number of Cities Alliance members, including AfD, GTZ, UCLGA, UN-HABITAT and the World Bank. PAB members also had an opportunity to further discuss Africa’s urban agenda with AfDB President Donald Kaberuka. The meeting in Tunis marked the annual rotation of Policy Advisory Board members, as incoming members, Lajana Manandhar, of Nepal, and President Nicéphore Soglo, of Benin, filled the regional representative positions of rotating members Sheela Patel and Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, respectively. Cities Alliance partners will continue drawing on the wealth of experience and knowledge all departing members have offered since the board’s formation.

AfDB President Kaberuka with PAB Members and Alliance Secretariat Staff

The 21st Governing Council of UN-HABITAT, Nairobi, 16-20 April 2007

The 21st session of UN-HABITAT’s Governing Council convened in Nairobi and welcomed 911 delegates from 92 countries joined by 231 NGO representatives and 61 representatives of local governments and their associations. Ten resolutions aimed at taking the battle against urban poverty closer to slum dwellers were passed. The landmark decision was undoubtedly the adoption, after more than a decade of lobbying and debate, of the Guidelines on Decentralization and Strengthening of local authorities (Resolution 21/3). Two important resolutions gave Habitat the go-ahead to introduce experimental financial mechanisms for pro-poor housing and infrastructure for a period of four years, and approved UN-HABITAT’s Medium-term Strategic and Institutional Plan for 2008-2013 (21/2). Other resolutions included the adoption of guiding principles for providing basic services, a resolution on Arctic cities, and urban youth development.

The Cities Alliance delegation to the Governing Council participated in a series of meetings and activities with members, including the regional launch of the State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future in collaboration with the World Watch Institute (see story below). The 21st Governing Council also elected India as its new Chair for the next two years, taking over the helm from the Czech Republic.
http://www.unhabitat.org/categories.asp?catid=528.

Worldwatch and Cities Alliance present State of the World 2007 at UN-HABITAT Governing Council Meetings in Nairobi

The Cities Alliance and the Worldwatch Institute co-hosted a presentation of Worldwatch's annual report, State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future, in Nairobi, Kenya. The event took place during UN-HABITAT's 21st Governing Council Session in April 2007. Presenters included Cities Alliance, UN-HABITAT, and Worldwatch representatives, and Rasna Warah, a noted Kenyan writer. This 24th edition of the State of the World report will be released in more than 20 countries in an effort to raise the profile of urban environmental concerns among new audiences. William Cobbett, Kevin Milroy and Farouk Tebbal represented the Alliance at this event.