Potential role of urban public transport in assets and employment creation for the poor

Alleviation of poverty is the key objective of any international development policy. The strategy adopted by donors such as the Department for International Development (DFID), can be summarised as (DFID white paper on international devleopment): Policies and actions which promote sustainable livelihoods Better education, health and opportunities for poor people Protection and better management of the natural and physical environment To translate policies into actions on ground, understanding the ground realities, historical and socio-economic context is necessary. A holistic and integrated approach is proposed to be more beneficial as compared to the purely sectoral approach to identify the key policies and practices to improve the livelihoods of the poor. One such approach is sustainable livelihoods (SL). This study briefly reports on the findings of applications of such approach on the issue of urban public transport

Fighting corruption in infrastructure delivery in Nigeria

Fighting corruption in infrastructure delivery in Nigeri

Sustaining livelihoods by improving urban public transport

This paper reports on application of the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach to the wider impacts of urban public transport on the lives of the urban poor in developing countries. In applying the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach to the research data, transport is considered as an asset within the Sustainable Livelihoods framework. It draws upon findings of case studies undertaken between 2001 and 2003 in Colombo (Sri Lanka), Faisalabad (Pakistan) and Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania). Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative data, the study looks at price, affordability, accessibility and quality of public transport services

Water and sanitation tariffs for the poor: Guidance notes

The purpose of the project Public Private Partnerships and the Poor in Water and Sanitation is to determine workable processes whereby the needs of the poor are promoted in strategies which encourage public-private partnerships (PPP) in the provision of water supply and sanitation services. One of the key objectives is to fill some of the gaps which exist in evidence-based reporting of the facts and issues around the impacts of PPP on poor consumers. Design of water and sanitation tariffs is a key issue in provision of services to the poor. This book is about the design of pro-poor water and sanitation tariffs

An investigation into the procurement of urban infrastructure in developing countries

The poor in urban areas of developing countries suffer from inadequate tertiary (neighbourhood level) urban infrastructure; water and sanitation, solid waste, drainage, access pavements, street lighting and community buildings. Procurement of tertiary level infrastructure is the responsibility of the public sector. Rapid urbanisation is outstripping the already lacking resources of public sector. The involvement of private commercial sector in the procurement is through the micro-contracts. The term, 'micro-contracts', is proposed for the small and medium size contracts. In some cases a third sector like NGOs, CBOs and community groups have also played roles in the procurement of infrastructure. The processes, roles, relationships and performance of micro-contracts procured under routine and community participated strategies were explored with a view to promote the role of the community in the procurement process. The constraints to contract, relationship between public sector and community groups and ways to overcome those constraints were explored. The contract contexts were taken from India, Pakistan and Sri-Lanka. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used. A multiple case study approach was adopted for the research. During the research three hundred and ninety contracts, more than a hundred interviews and filed notes and more than two hundred documents related to the micro-contracts were reviewed and analysed. The concept of benchmarking was adopted in performance analysis. 'Community partnering' is proposed as a procurement strategy to facilitate the community to play different roles parallel to the roles of Client, Engineer and Contractor. The cost and benefits of community partnering were discussed. It was concluded that, for the similar conditions studied, the community partnering between the urban public sector and suitable urban communities is an appropriate procurement strategy. The recommendations include a number of actions which could be taken to promote the community role in urban infrastructure procurement. Areas of future research are proposed

Water use and rights

United Nations treaties guarantee the human right to water. Although states must fulfill this human right and businesses must respect the state’s obligation, approximately 900 million people around the world do not have access to safe drinking water. Despite growing awareness of the need for sustainable water use by companies, increasing global population and inequitable access to water will create controversy and lead to conflict

Performance monitoring of micro-contracts for the procurement of urban infrastructure

This document presents the findings from Project R6857 Performance Monitoring of Infrastructure Procurement for Urban Low Income Communities carried out by the authors as part of the Knowledge and Research Programme, Infrastructure and Urban Development Department, Department for International Development (DFID) of the British Government. The purpose of this project is to develop a framework and tools for the appraisal, monitoring and evaluation of micro-contracts for the procurement of local infrastructure in urban low-income communities. In addition to the standard measures of time, cost and quality, the work also attempts to capture some of the crucial wider socio-economic impacts of community-based works. The findings in this booklet will be of use to donor/lending agencies, government officials, and non-government organizations (NGOs) involved in improving services for the urban poor

Corruption in construction projects

Recently there has been an increase in international concern about the extent of corruption in the construction industry. For example the American Society of Civil Engineers claim that corruption accounts for an estimated $340,000,000,000 of worldwide construction costs each year. Corruption such as bribery, embezzlement, kickbacks and fraud in construction projects undermines the benefits of infrastructure. This paper documents how corruption affects construction projects and discusses the growing interest in accountability in the delivery of construction projects. This paper is based on the initial findings of an ongoing research project on anti-corruption practices for infrastructure services in a number of countries in South Asia, Southern Africa, and Central Eastern Europe

Public-private partnerships in the water and sanitation sector

Following the growth, employment and redistribution (GEAR) programme in June 1996, South Africa saw an acceleration in the privatisation of service delivery. This paper reports on a study of two longer-term public–private partnerships (PPPs) in the water and sanitation sector undertaken in Queenstown and Dolphin Coast. The case studies offer important insights into a number of factors that determine the effectiveness of PPPs, including quality and quantity of services, workers, municipal tariffs for water and sanitation, customer management and impact on the poor. The case study findings are used to assess the general risks to main stakeholders involved in PPPs (the concessionaire, council and community) and to provide universal lessons on the conditions under which PPPs in the water and sanitation sector work best

Community-partnered procurement : a socially sensitive option

The purpose of this paper is to provide information for promoting increased involvement of low income urban communities in the procurement of neighbourhood (tertiary level) infrastructure. The contexts are several and varied including • upgrading works carried out by urban government • donor funded urban development programmes • programmes initiated by NGOs. The paper aims to introduce the potential benefits to be gained from community partnered procurement(CPP). The content of the paper applies to those frequently occurring, low risk, routine small infrastructure works which characterise neighbourhood urban upgrading programmes and projects. We investigate cases relating to water supply, sanitation, drainage, access, paving, street and security lighting, solid waste removal, and community buildings. It is not applicable to complex, large, high risk and high hazard infrastructure projects. The findings are based on the results of interviews and a review of literature, documents and project files on urban upgrading projects in Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. We are particularly grateful to the many government officials who so generously gave their time to us, and provided access to very detailed information on a wide range of both community-based infrastructure works and conventional procurement contracts