Note No. 54 March 2001 "Bottom-up" Community-Based Development: Gabon Urban Development Project Social Development Best Practice Elements · Multi-dimensional approach to poverty reduction aimed at enhancing opportunities, capabilities, empowerment, and security of the poor · Institutionalized mechanisms for participation and decentralized implementation · Ongoing monitoring and evaluation of social development outcomes by the government and community By 2020, the majority of the developing world's projects to alleviate poverty in the urban areas is population will live in urban areas, increasing the unprecedented. number of urban residents by 2.5 billion. The World Bank is at the forefront of international efforts to manage The Gabon Urban Development Project is being urban growth and reduce poverty. Decentralization conducted through a series of pilot projects in the enables local urban governments to address the specific poorest, most densely populated neighborhoods in three needs of the urban poor, including employment, cities. Reducing poverty hinges on increasing the access infrastructure, finance, and governance. of the poor to employment opportunities. This requires improving infrastructure, which includes establishing By African standards, Gabon is a relatively wealthy water and sanitation systems, as well as creating roads, country with a per capita GNP of $4,230. Yet, pockets of safe walkways, and transport services. This work is extreme poverty are growing in urban areas. More than being carried out by local contractors and employs the half the population in Libreville, Port-Gentil, and local poor. Franceville live in neighborhoods that lack electricity and running water. Bank support has enabled the Adopting decentralized and participatory processes in government to invest in these poor neighborhoods poor neighborhoods is not easy. Bringing together through community-based development. disparate peoples to develop plans to improve their living conditions requires, first, involving beneficiaries In the past, the government focused little on poverty and other stakeholders, including local nongovernmental alleviation, especially at the community level. Typically, organizations (NGOs), municipalities, local contractors, budget allocations were put toward large and costly and engineering firms. Second, it requires extensive infrastructure projects in the transport sector, with poor training of these different groups. Although the process management of urban sector issues. Thus, the shift by is laborious, participatory planning and implementation the government from a centralized strategy to localized enable the community to become involved in common ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This project was recognized as Best Practice in Social Development by the Social Development Family and received an award for Excellence in Quality at Entry from the Quality Assurance Group (QAG). The task team leader was Patrick P. Canel. The views expressed in this note are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the World Bank concerns and result in a sense of ownership for should not involve involuntary resettlement. Working beneficiaries and other stakeholders. with the assistance of NGOs, each neighborhood organizes its Community Finance Plans (CFP) around Characteristics of the Urban Poor micro-projects that complement the construction of the main road. In Gabon's urban areas, unemployment is high and rising, particularly for unskilled workers. Many urban The NGOs provide technical assistance such as poor are recent arrivals from rural areas. They tend to engineering and architectural expertise to the cluster around urban peripheries--areas that are poorly communities to ensure that their micro-projects are connected and under-served by traditional transport linked to the provision of local public goods and routes or service and distant from commercial centers. services. In addition, each micro-project must meet certain standards: that environmental conditions are The 1995 poverty assessment highlighted lack of improved and that no adverse environmental impact will infrastructure, isolation, and unhealthy living conditions result from implementation or construction. Local NGOs as key elements of urban poverty. Inadequate assess and certify these standards while the Ministry of infrastructure acts as a regressive tax on the poor. Much Planning oversees the process. of their time that might be used for productive employment is spent carrying potable water, collecting Lessons Learned fuel or in commuting to work. Public health indicators in the urban shantytowns were alarmingly low. Inadequate · Improvements in urban infrastructure and public transport water and sanitation contribute to high morbidity rates contribute to increased equity and inclusion of the urban from parasitic and infectious diseases. poor in economic growth. · Participation of local communities in project selection and The urban poor are much more heterogeneous than the design ensures that investments reflect community rural poor, making it more difficult for them to present a priorities and enhance ownership. unified voice in community matters. Neighborhood · Partnership of public agencies with local communities improvements often are left in the hands of absentee and NGOs helps to adapt project design to local needs and priorities. owners of housing properties, who have little interest in · spending more money or time to improve the Community involvement in operations and maintenance increases the likelihood of project sustainability. community. Project Sustainability Developing a "Bottom-up" Approach The project's bottom-up approach is a key strategy for The pilot project focuses on the construction of roads sustainability. After the project is completed, it is through targeted neighborhoods to improve access and expected that, to generate their own source of activity as create direct, complementary benefits such as services, advocate planners on behalf of communities, NGOs will local employment, and support for local construction pressure local governments to target poor communities. companies. To increase employment of local unskilled Targeting will include allocating appropriate budget laborers, the project uses concrete blocks for paving resources and matching community contributions made roads. in cash or kind. In turn, local governments are expected to pressure the central government to match community At the community level, each targeted neighborhood participation in infrastructure upgrading in the provides help to identify the location and alignment of neighborhoods. Maintenance and replication of the road that would make the area more accessible. One community infrastructure schemes will keep local of the criteria in the exercise is that the proposed road contractors involved in the project. Ongoing monitoring throughout the duration of the project is carried out by a designated NGO. "Social Development Notes" are published informally by the Social Development Family in the Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Network of the World Bank. For additional copies, contact Social Development Publications, World Bank, 1818 H Street, NW, MSN MC5-507, Washington, DC 20433, USA, Fax: 202-522-3247, E-mail: sdpublications@worldbank.org. Printed on Recycled Paper