Uganda 2010
Ends: 31 Jul 2010
Required course: Evaluating Development Impact
Program Coordinator: Pamela Hershey pamela.hershey@gmail.com
Concentrations: Cities and Urbanization, Development
Context:
The Cities Alliance, a global coalition of cities and their development partners, including NGOs and city governments, was established in 1999 by the World Bank and UN Habitat. Their two main programmatic objectives focus on Slum Upgrading and City Development Strategies.
In 2009, the Cities Alliance received a grant of US $15 million dollars from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, through their Global Development Initiative. This grant will support national-level slum upgrading initiatives in five countries across Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, and is entitled "Land, Services and Citizenship for the Urban Poor" (LSC).
The first participant in this program became Uganda in 2009, with the submission of a successful proposal from the Government of Uganda (GOU) to the Cities Alliance. The remaining four countries are yet to be determined, but focus is expected to remain on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
The Cities Alliance's LSC program is innovative for several reasons. First, the three year framework for program development and implementation is significantly longer than the Cities Alliance's traditional maximum two-year implementation period. Importantly, the LSC program focuses on developing a national-level policy and urban strategy for slums and informal settlements, while at the same time working with five municipalities throughout the country to upgrade and service existing slums. Additionally, a significant innovation in this program is the Cities Alliance's partnership with Slum Dwellers International (SDI) to mobilize local communities in participating municipalities.
Objective:
The objective of the Uganda IFP in 2010 is to establish a framework for a multi-year monitoring and evaluation of the LSC program in Uganda. Students will be placed in two of the participating municipalities in eastern Uganda where they will have the opportunity to pursue internships and research with the municipal governments, with local community groups, as well as with various local NGOs. It is anticipated that any internships will be non-traditional, in the sense that they will be largely field-based, as opposed to office-based. Students will have the opportunity to examine how relationships and projects are developed and implemented, and to document the process itself.
Students will collaborate with each other, as well as with students at Uganda's Makerere University, as they develop a framework to evaluate the slum upgrading process as it unfolds in the two towns where they are staying. They will also have substantial opportunity to pursue research in areas of individual interest which may include community participation, access to health services, infrastructure development, municipal waste management and sanitation, among others.
Architectural Design - Build Component:
A unique feature of this IFP is the collaboration between GPIA and Parsons The School of Constructed Environments. Several MA Architecture students are working with a local NGO in Jinja, Uganda, the Slum Women's Initiative for Development (SWID) to design a prototype of an affordable, replicable house. Upon obtaining design approval from the Jinja Municipal Council (JMC) the students will coordinate with local contractors to undertake the building process. These two homes are to be built for women who have already purchased plots of land in a local slum in Jinja.This partnership also provides GPIA students an opportunity to consider the importance of architectural design and the physical environment in informal settlements and slum upgrading.