Background
In recent years, the Colombo Municipal Council has demonstrated a strong interest in, and commitment to, performance improvement and change. It has focussed on making the city administration more responsive to public needs and aspirations, and has facilitated the participation of a wide range of stakeholder groups in planning and decision-making. The City has also involved the private sector in the management and provision of urban services. The City of Colombo is therefore in an influential position, as an able and willing partner, to guide and assist other smaller cities to promote an integrated cross-sector approach to sustainable urban development. The aim of the project is to facilitate urban poverty reduction in Colombo by developing a participatory and sustainable institutional framework within the municipality that is closely working with the urban poor.
Results
Implementing the draft poverty reduction strategy prepared in 2002 (responding to the poverty profile of Colombo) has been the core focus of project support during 2003, by establishing broad-based working groups at the community, District and City-levels (Housing and Community Development Committees). Community-level support has focused on Community-Action Planning (CAP), an innovative approach to facilitate urban poor community decision-making in consultation with District officials regarding their own priorities for service delivery improvements, supported by the testing of innovative community contracting procedures, community enterprises, skills training, as well as savings and credit schemes to build sustainability - both for service operations as well as urban poor community empowerment. A total of 20 settlements are being supported through skills training in preparing their CAPs, backed with community enterprise support, and small grant infrastructural support ($60,000) to 15 settlements. At the District-level, officers have received skills training as well as "exposure" study visits to Thailand. At The city-level, support continues to disseminate the poverty reduction strategy as a core part of city policy. The challenge for 2004 will be adoption of the CAP process and good practices in policy, along with institutionalisation of the process within the HCDC structure, with resources sustained from the Council.
Partners
Colombo Municipal Council; Sevanatha (NGO); community groups, Department for International Development (DfID), Urban Management Programme
- Catalytic Support to Peacebuilding in Sri Lanka
- Preparation of the Resettlement Plan (RP) for Households Affected by the Rehabilitation of the Kelani Valley (KV) Railway Line in Sri Lanka (Phase I)
- Emergency Shelter Relief for Flood and Landslide Affected Households in Kalutara and Galle Districts of Sri Lanka
- The State of Sri Lankan Cities Report
- Human Development Initiative through Empowerment and Settlement Improvement in the Plantation Settlements in Sri Lanka
- Indian Housing Project in Central and Uva Provinces
- Emergency Shelter Relief for Flood Affected Families in Colombo and Gampaha Districts in Western Province, Sri Lanka (Completed)
- Sustainable Resettlement through Community-Driven Improvement of the Learning Environment in Mannar District, Sri Lanka
- Support My School: Supporting Schools in Northern Sri Lanka with Access to Water and Sanitation Facilities (Completed)
- Project for Rehabilitation of Community Infrastructure, Improvement of Livelihoods and Empowerment of Women in the Northern and Eastern Provinces (RCI) (Completed)
- Rainwater Harvesting in a Water Scarce Small Village in Northern Sri Lanka (Completed)
- Climate Resilient Action Plans for Coastal Urban Areas (Completed)
- Disaster Resilient City Development Strategies for Sri Lankan Cities (Completed)
- Disaster Resilient City Development Strategies for Four Cities in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka (Phase II) (Completed)
- Rehabilitation of Community Infrastructure and Facilities in the Conflict Affected Areas in Northern Province of Sri Lanka (Completed)
- Improving Living Conditions in Returnee Areas of Sri Lanka through Housing (Completed)
- Indian Housing Project (Completed)
- Support to Conflict Affected People through Housing (Completed)
- Shelter Support to Conflict-affected IDPs in the North of Sri Lanka (Completed)
- Jaffna Tsunami Recovery and Reconstruction Project (Completed)
- Community Recovery and Reconstruction Partnership to Support the People's Process of Rebuilding (Completed)
- Reconstruction of Fish Market in Galle (Completed)
- Rebuilding Community Infrastructure and Shelter in Tsunami-Affected Areas (Completed)
- Lunawa Lake Environment Improvement and Community Development Project (Completed)
- Pro-Poor Partnerships for Participatory Settlement Upgrading (Completed)
- Early Recovery Shelter for IDPs in Batticaloa (Completed)
- Support to the Urbanization Framework
- Post Disaster Housing Coordination Project (Completed)
- Sustainable Cities Programme (Completed)
- Urban Governance Support Project (UGSP) (Completed)
- Rebuilding Communities in North East Sri Lanka (Completed)
- Urban Poverty Reduction Strategy - Colombo (Completed)