“Bottom-up” Community-Based Development : Gabon Urban Development Project
The Gabon Urban Development Project is being conducted through a series of pilot projects in the poorest, most densely populated neighborhoods in three cities. Reducing poverty hinges on increasing the access of the poor to employment opportunities...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/03/2819928/bottom-up-community-based-development-gabon-urban-development-project http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11393 |
| Summary: | The Gabon Urban Development Project is
being conducted through a series of pilot projects in the
poorest, most densely populated neighborhoods in three
cities. Reducing poverty hinges on increasing the access of
the poor to employment opportunities. This requires
improving infrastructure, which includes establishing water
and sanitation systems, as well as creating roads, safe
walkways, and transport services. This work is being carried
out by local contractors and employs the local poor. The
project's bottom-up approach is a key strategy for
sustainability. The pilot project focuses on the
construction of roads through targeted neighborhoods to
improve access and create direct, complementary benefits
such as services, local employment, and support for local
construction companies. To increase employment of local
unskilled laborers, the project uses concrete blocks for
paving roads. At the community level, each targeted
neighborhood provides help to identify the location and
alignment of the road that would make the area more
accessible. One of the criteria in the exercise is that the
proposed road should not involve involuntary resettlement.
Working with the assistance of NGOs, each neighborhood
organizes its Community Finance Plans (CFP) around
micro-projects that complement the construction of the main
road. The NGOs provide technical assistance such as
engineering and architectural expertise to the communities
to ensure that their micro-projects are linked to the
provision of local public goods and services. In addition,
each micro-project must meet certain standards: that
environmental conditions are improved and that no adverse
environmental impact will result from implementation or
construction. Local NGOs assess and certify these standards
while the Ministry of Planning oversees the process. After
the project is completed, it is expected that, to generate
their own source of activity as advocate planners on behalf
of communities, NGOs will pressure local governments to
target poor communities. Targeting will include allocating
appropriate budget. |
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