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ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOR IMPROVED SERVICE DELIVERY IN COLOMBO K.A. Jayaratne FEBRUARY 2004

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ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONSIN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE

LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOR IMPROVED SERVICEDELIVERY IN COLOMBO

K.A. Jayaratne

FEBRUARY 2004

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The views expressed in this paper are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Directors or the governments they represent. ADB makes no representation concerning and does not guarantee the source, originality, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any statement, information, data, finding, interpretation, advice, opinion, or view presented.

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ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABBREVIATIONS ivEXECUTIVE SUMMARY v

I. INTRODUCTION 1

II. BACKGROUND TO CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN COLOMBO 3

III. PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN CMC AND CSOS 7

IV. PARTNERSHIP IN ACTION 10

V. ACHIEVEMENTS 15

VI. LESSONS LEARNED 17

VII. STRENGTHENING PARTNERSHIP – FUTURE DIRECTIONS 19

Annex I 20Annex II 23Annex III 26

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ABBREVIATIONS

ACHEO Assistant Chief Health Educational Officer

CBOs Community Based Organizations

CDCs Community Development Councils

CHEO Chief Health Educational Officer

CMC Colombo Municipal Council

DFID Department for International Development

DNGOs Developmental Non-Governmental Organizations

HCDC Housing and Community Development Committee

HH Household

HIs Health Instructors

LASDO Local Area Sustainable Development Observatory

LG Local Government

MEIP Metropolitan Environmental Improvement Programme

MHP Million Houses Programme

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations

NHDA National Housing Development Authority

PRIMUSS Participatory Improvement of Under-Served Settlements

RC Report Card

TOs Technical Officers

TUGI The Urban Governance Initiative

UBSP Urban Basic Services Programme

UDA Urban Development Authority

UMP Urban Management Programme

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

WG Working Group

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ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Half the population in the City of Colombo are living in low-income settlements which arefamiliarly known as slums and shanties. Most of the settlements, according to municipal

legislations, are considered illegal, but the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) has improvedthese settlements by introducing several pro-poor programmes in the past two decades. Suchhave included the provision of basic amenities and improved access to secure land tenure.

The CMC used community-based participatory approaches which saw the organiza-tion of families in poor settlements into community-based organizations called CommunityDevelopment Councils (CDCs). By the late 1980s, there were over 600 CDCs registered withthe Colombo Municipality. However, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have notplayed a significant role in the provision of basic amenities and in the improvement of urbanlivelihoods. Several welfare-oriented NGOs have been working with selected low-incomecommunities in the city but their contribution has been inadequate to address the complexissues related to poverty and urban governance.

The Sevanatha Urban Resource Centre, a local NGO, has been working closely withthe CMC and CDCs over the past 10 years. Sevanatha is an organization engaged in strength-ening CDCs and promoting participatory approaches for sustainable urban livelihood devel-opment. The CMC, in collaboration with Sevanatha, carried out a city-wide survey in 2002 toassess the poverty situation in low-income settlements in Colombo and the delivery of munici-pal services to these communities. The survey recognized that urban poverty is a multi-dimen-sional phenomenon that covers all aspects of livelihood including capital assets, legal pro-cesses and institutions.

Sevanatha successfully adapted the Report Card Method to conduct the survey. Itdefined levels of poverty by using 20 variables and 80 indicators. Members of CDCs partici-pated in the consultation process of the development of the poverty report card, the actualimplementation of the survey at settlement-level, and in the interpretation of data. The out-come of this survey is the ‘Poverty Profile – City of Colombo’ (February 2002). It is a documentwhich highlights the poverty situation of low-income settlements in Colombo based on care-fully defined determinants of poverty. It was found to be an effective method to highlight theproblems as well as the positive experiences of people—enabling the measurement of levels ofcommunity satisfaction with services provided by the Municipality. The survey has created auseful database for the Colombo Municipality and influenced CMC staff to work in partner-ship with civil society organizations and be responsive to the needs identified through a par-ticipatory process.

This report looks at changes taking place in local government that are enabling civilsociety organizations to collaborate in efforts to reduce urban poverty. It discusses, in particu-lar, the ongoing partnership-building experience between the Colombo Municipal Counciland the local NGO Sevanatha.

ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING

RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOR

IMPROVED SERVICE DELIVERY IN COLOMBO

I. Introduction

Colombo, a harbour-based city built by colonial rulers, has been the capital of Sri Lanka forseveral centuries. It experienced a rapid influx of people during the 1950s when the

country had a high demand for export-oriented agricultural products. However, since then,the population has been growing at a very low rate. The population growth rate is currentlyless than one per cent per year. It is significantly below the national population growth rate of1.2 per cent. Colombo’s residential population, according to the 2001 census, was 640,240.The city’s administrative area is a relatively small 37.32 sq. km. A large number of the workingpopulation of the city reside in and around its suburbs and travel to the city daily. It providesservices for a population of one million including its daily floating population of 400,000. Overthe past 20 years, the growth of the suburbs of Colombo has been faster than that of the capitalcity. Though the population growth in the city is low, the rapid growth of its suburbs has meantthat the city has had to cater to the large suburban population who make use of the services thecity offers.

The problems of the low-income communities of Colombo, however, have not been asacute as those of their counterparts in other South Asia countries. Low-income communities inthe city have been living mainly in two types of settlements called slums and shanties. Slumsare old residential quarters built by private landowners for the purpose of renting them out tomigrant workers who were working mainly in warehouses located around the Colomboharbour. Shanties have been built by squatters who are part of the migrants to the city as wellas the overspill population from existing slum communities.

Since 1980, three major surveys have been carried out in Colombo to identify loca-tions and living condition of poor urban settlements1. Different types of low-income settle-ments are scattered in the city of Colombo. They are now called Under-Served Settlements(USS) and have the following characteristics:

i. Basic services available only for common use or inadequate for individual familyrequirements.

ii. Residential plots of households vary in size but are, on average, smaller than thelegal plot sizes acceptable to the planning authorities.

iii. The majority of families do not have proper legal titles to their land lots.iv. Over-crowding, high density and unhygienic living conditions are visible.v. The majority of people are daily waged labourers engaged in activities of the

city’s main establishments such as the port, industries, the railway, city markets,the municipality and other formal and informal establishments.

1 a. Slum and Shanty Survey by UDA -1980b. Enumeration Survey Results by Sustainable Township Development Program – 1998c. Poverty Profile - City of Colombo - 2002

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According to the Slum and Shanty Enumeration Survey carried out in Colombo bythe Urban Development Authority (1980) nearly half the city’s resident population were livingin slums and shanties. Since then, several innovative policies, programmes and new institu-tions were created for the provision of basic amenities and improvements to living conditionsin poor urban areas.

The Urban Basic Services Programme (UBSP)2 and the Million Houses Programme(MHP) implemented during 1980-1989 were two major programmes through which people inslums and shanties were motivated to form Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) so thatcommunities could be better involved in shelter upgrading. Some important enactments werepassed to grant secure land tenure for slums and shanty dwellers. Water supply and sanitationconditions were improved by projects implemented at city scale. The CMC was encouraged toestablish decentralized institutional structures3 to ensure community participation inprogramme design and implementation.

The impact of these programmes in urban development and on the living situation ofthe poor has been significant as most low-income households in underserved settlementswere granted tenure rights and basic amenities.

Despite these initiatives taken by the government institutions as well as the Munici-pality, it was found that the qualitative improvements in many urban poor settlements in Co-lombo were not substantial. In the analysis of the urban sector in Sri Lanka, it has been high-lighted that this situation has come about due to the macro-level urban issues prevailing in SriLanka for a long period. Major issues identified are: inappropriate city planning, proceduraldelays to provide secure land tenure for the poor, lack of access to the city’s network infra-structure by the urban poor, and limitations for improving the livelihood processes of the ur-ban poor4. At the macro level, urban issues have been looked at as more technical and physicalplanning problems. Now the CMC is inclined to look at most urban issues as results of lack ofpolicies and strategies for poverty reduction at city-level, and bad governance practices.

In the above context, the purpose of the paper is three-fold:

a. To discuss the status of civil society organizations in building partnerships withurban local authorities in the delivery of municipal services;

b. To share the experience on partnership-building between the CMC and a localNGO called Sevanatha in Colombo; and

c. To draw some important lessons learned from partnerships built between localgovernment and CSOs and the participatory survey methods used by the CMCfor poverty analysis.

2 UBSP was assisted by UNICEF3 Sevanatha , Community Development Councils in CMC, 1999.4 Poverty Profile – City of Colombo, 2002.

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II. Background to Civil Society Organizations in Colombo

Due to changes in government, political leadership, and priorities in nationaldevelopment in the early 1990s, the emphasis on state sponsored participatory urban

development decreased and most organized communities in low-income areas were ne-glected. They no longer had the benefit of long-term shelter and infrastructure improvementprogrammes guided and supported by the government. A few international NGOs5 who wereworking on urban upgrading programmes were also not active in the expansion of theirprogrammes in Colombo and other major towns in the country. Professionals who were look-ing for alternative approaches to address urban issues realized the need for developmentalNGOs who could mobilize the urban poor and resources available for livelihood improvement.

This section of the paper focuses on the background to civil society organizations(CSOs) in the Colombo Municipality. For the purpose of the paper, ‘civil society’ is defined as“an all-embracing term for voluntary associations between the state and individual citizensand their families. As such, the definition includes non-governmental organizations, non-profit associations, and informal organizations addressing public interest issues and self-helpgroups and associations”6. According to a study7 carried out in 1992 there were two types ofCSOs engaged in livelihood improvement activities in poor areas of Colombo. These were:

a. Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) andb. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

a. Community Based Organizations (CBO)

One of the interesting characteristics of the under-served settlements in Colombo isthat the poor in these settlements are organized into different community organizations. Dur-ing the 1980s the CMC established Community Development Councils (CDCs) as grassrootsorganizations to assist in the implementation of the Urban Basic Services Programme. A CDCis comprised of elected office bearers as a committee of 5 to 10 members who are drawn fromthe residents of low-income settlements. Field staff attached to the Public Health Departmentof the CMC assist communities to form CDCs and register them with CMC. Formally estab-lished CDCs are linked to the municipal health and shelter improvement programmes.

The National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) further mobilized the CDCsfor the implementation of the Million Houses Programme (MHP) from 1985 to 1990. As theMHP aimed for a citywide urban upgrading programme, communities in almost all low-in-come settlements in Colombo formed CDCs either with the help of CMC or by themselves.CDCs became a recognized organization for local-level shelter improvement under the MHP.This included settlement enumerations, holding Community Action Planning (CAP) work-shops for land regularization, house building and infrastructure construction, housing loandisbursement and loan recovery activities. CDCs have worked as a link between community

5 Redd Banna and US/UK Save the Children.6 Diana Mitlin, Civil Society and Urban Poverty Overview of Stage One City Case Studies, The University of

Birmingham, November 2000.7 K.A. Jayaratne, Urban Environment Management through Community and Non-Governmental Organizations,

1992.

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members and government to make people aware of assistance available from governmentprogrammes.

The Public Health Department of the CMC has been providing advisory supportthrough its field staff to communities to form CDCs according the CDC constitution prepared bythe CMC, and train the main officer-bearers on leadership aspects and CBO management. TheCMC delivers its public health services to the urban poor mainly through CDCs. As a result ofthese activities, the number of CDCs active in the CMC grew up to 620 by the end of 19988.

The Housing and Community Development Committee (HCDC) was created at themunicipal level in order to get CDCs involved in decision-making processes for the formulationof housing programmes. HCDC is a committee that is comprised of all heads of municipal depart-ments, officials from other government departments involved in urban housing, and CSO repre-sentatives including NGOs and CDCs. The Mayor chairs the HCDC that meets every month.Development programmes and issues related to housing, community development, and liveli-hoods of the poor are discussed and decisions are made at the HCDC meetings. This is the onlyCMC committee chaired by the Mayor for which CDCs can make representations. Elected rep-resentatives (Municipal Councillors) have found the monthly HCDC meetings useful because itprovides an opportunity for them to have a dialogue with members of CSOs and policy makers.Every Mayor who was elected to the CMC since 1987 has continuously conducted monthlyHCDC meeting because they see the advantage of an institutional set-up that enables the CMCto regularly discuss issues related to the poor with CSO representatives.

It has been observed that by the late 1990s a large number of CDCs had collapsed.According to the Poverty Profile of the City of Colombo (2002), only 126 of the 1614 settlementssurveyed had properly functioning CDCs. It was noted that 67 per cent of the poor urbansettlements did not have CDCs at the time of the survey. Studies have shown several reasonswhy CDCs in Colombo have been inactive at settlement level:

i. CDCs were set up by the government and not owned by the people. Many viewthem as the representatives of the CMC.

ii. The CDC leadership was often weak. They sometimes acted as gatekeepers,controlling access to government officials. As a result the community distrustedsome of them.

iii. When the CDCs were an integral part of an ongoing government programme,there were high levels of involvement. However, once people’s immediate needshad been met, and when the CDCs could no longer manage to raise funds, inter-est waned.

iv. CDCs gained a party political identity because of the association with govern-ment-sponsored programmes like the Million Houses Programme. As a result,other political parties regarded them with suspicion.

v. Local politician felt threatened because when CDCs were effective; the CDCschallenged their legitimate role as elected representatives as well as the tradi-tional lines of patronage and dependency.9

8 Nick Devas, Urban Governance and Poverty – Lessons from a study of ten cities in the south. University OfBirmingham, UK, June 2001.

9 Nick Devas, Urban Governance and Poverty – Lessons from a study of ten cities in the South. University OfBirmingham, UK, June 2001.

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ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

CDCs are not the only CBO active at grassroots level in Colombo. According to thePoverty Profile of the City of Colombo, the community savings and credit programme is avail-able in 173 low-income settlements10. Micro credit organizations at community level contrib-ute directly to the livelihood improvements of their members but their involvement in settle-ment upgrading and municipal service delivery is still very limited. As these groups have builttheir federation citywide and nationwide, they have the potential and institutional capacity toact as a municipal service provider at community level.

b. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

In the past few decades NGOs as actors in the development field have been visiblemore in rural areas than in urban in Sri Lanka. NGOs can be defined as “professional, non-profit and non-membership intermediary organizations that are independent of the state andwhich undertake a range of activities in order to further development objectives”11. In SriLanka NGOs are categorized according to their size, area of specialization and geographicalcoverage12. It was estimated in 1992 that there were about 2,000 registered NGOs in SriLanka in both rural as well as urban areas. When compared with the level of development inthe country, it can be seen that this number has not changed very much even today. Thegrowth of NGOs in Sri Lanka has reflected the balance of the rural and urban developmentpattern. After independence (1948) more development activities of the country took place inrural areas—until the 1980s, NGOs in Sri Lanka were more involved in rural development. Inthe late 1980s, the focus of global development was on the Environment and Sustainable De-velopment. Therefore, there was a greater demand for donor-supported projects and NGOs towork on environmental issues. After 20-years of civil war in the country, donor support is atpresent mainly available for reconstruction, resettlement and rehabilitation of the war-affected North and East region of the country. Local as well as international NGOs in thecountry are now concentrating their work more on rehabilitation activities in these areas.

The study on Urban Environmental Management through Communities and NGOshad identified 17 NGOs working in community development programmes in Colombo. Thecase study carried out in Colombo as part of the global research project on Civil Society andPoverty13 has identified 26 NGOs working in the city on issues related to poverty and urbangovernance. These NGOs can be classified into two broad categories according to their orga-nizational objectives:

i. Charity / welfare oriented NGOsii. Developmental (Professional) NGOs

NGOs in Sri Lanka are registered either as charities with the Social Services Depart-ment of the central Government or as non-profit limited liability companies with the Registrar

10 Poverty Profile - City of Colombo, Colombo Municipal Council, 2002.11 Diana Mitlin, Civil Society and Urban Poverty Overview of Stage One City Case Studies, The University of

Birmingham, November 2000.12 Jayaratne, 1992.13 Diana Mitlin, Civil Society and Urban Poverty Overview of Stage One City Case Studies, The University of

Birmingham, November 2000.

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of Companies. Most NGOs work on issues related to the urban poor in selected settlements.These settlements are mostly shanties located in city ’s marginal lands like railwayreservations, canal banks and waterlogged low-lying areas. NGOs are generally consideredas charitable organizations because the majority of them work with the socially disadvantagedsectors in the society like school dropouts, women, elderly people, drug addicts etc. Therefore,they have limited opportunity to participate in city planning and municipal service deliveryfunctions. Those NGOs who work in the CMC area generally take a project-oriented approachto addressing issues related to water, sanitation, gender, environment pollution, disaster miti-gation, education, early childhood development and urban livelihoods. These projects arefunded by donors and not by the government. These NGOs generally do not work with CDCsformed by the CMC but form CBOs from the target community based on project objectives:women groups, children’s clubs, savings groups, youth clubs, hawkers’ associations etc. TheCMC also receives some support from international charity NGOs like the Lion’s Club, theRotary Club, and Save the Children to carry out public awareness campaigns for public healthissues and environment improvement.

Developmental NGOs (DNGOs) are mostly formed by professional groups as a re-sponse to the community needs and demand created by donor agencies from time to time ondifferent development issues such as population, environmental degradation, homelessness,poverty, HIV-AIDS, corruption, and war. Some NGOs have initiated development work withthe support of central and local government programmes. NGOs are also contracted to carryout community mobilization activities in development projects funded by internationaldonors.

There are a few professional NGOs that advocate changes in municipal planning andadministration systems and carry out action-oriented, people-centred development and re-search on critical issues such as poverty reduction, urban transport, solid waste, and gover-nance improvements. They act as intermediaries of development programmes between thegovernment and the community organizations.

Sixteen NGOs14 are currently registered with the CMC with its new “PartnershipPromotion Programme (PPP)”. This was started by the CMC in 2003 on a proposal made bythe current Mayor. The Municipal budget allocated Rs.25 million for women’s developmentactivities for 2003. In order to utilize this money for the needy in Colombo, PPP invited propos-als from NGOs working in the CMC area. Under this programme, the CMC has allocatedmoney for six NGOs to engage in activities such as childcare, family health, community enter-prises, training and environmental sanitation in poor urban areas. This is the first time theCMC has allocated ratepayers’ money to use the services of NGOs for community develop-ment activities.

14 Information collected from PPP Secretariat - Colombo Municipality, 2003.

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ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

III. Partnership Between CMC and CSOs

Basic services are provided to residents of Colombo by the CMC as well as the centralgovernment and the private sector. A major portion of the CMC annual budget (which is

based on annual taxes paid by the Colombo residents) is spent on the provision of servicessuch as health facilities, roads maintenance, drains and sewerage, solid waste, welfare, recre-ation infrastructure and services

The key departments in the CMC involved in service provision are Public Health andEngineering. The functions of these departments are decentralized to six municipal districtoffices within the CMC area. While the municipal district health officer is in charge of theprovision of preventive and curative health facilities, the district municipal engineer is re-sponsible for new constructions as well as maintenance of municipal roads, drains, the sewersystem, and collection, transportation and final disposal of waste.

The CMC was not allowed to spend its revenue received from ratepayers for the pro-vision of services for slum and shanty dwellers because they were considered as illegal settlersaccording to the municipal law. With the intervention of government programmes like UBSPand MHP, services of low-income settlements in Colombo have improved. These programmeshave brought reforms to existing laws to grant ownership to slums and shanty dwellers. Thishas removed the constraints that CMC had in the past for the provision of services to the city’spoor. The Municipality currently allocates a sum of Rs.2.5 million per year per council mem-ber to be utilized for service improvement in underserved settlements. In addition, funds allo-cated for other municipal services are available for service provision in low-income settle-ments. Unfortunately, the CMC has not developed a system to allocate its resources on a pri-ority basis so that the most deprived and poorest people in the city could benefit. Moreover,services enjoyed by the people are not assessed in terms of quality and levels of user satisfac-tion. Service improvements are done mostly on the demand of council members and commu-nity leaders. The Municipality as well as donor-funded projects tend to improve the servicelevels of settlements that have fewer legal (land ownership) and physical (land condition)constraints. This process has resulted in the further marginalization of the very poor commu-nities by development projects aimed at reducing urban poverty.

Sevanatha was first established in 1989 by a group of professionals and active com-munity leaders who were involved in urban upgrading programmes initiated by the govern-ment in the CMC. Sevanatha recognized that urban development is a partnership arrange-ment. It needs to identify key stakeholders and their role in the development process. It needsto consult them and build partnerships for holistic development.

Presently, Sevanatha acts as a national NGO in Sri Lanka in the field of participatoryurban development. Stages of its evolution as a national NGO can be seen in two periods. Firstfrom 1989 to 1997, when Sevanatha worked as a local level NGO and carried out its activitiesmainly in Colombo in the following fields:

i. Community Organizationii. Promotion of Participatory Planning and Development Approaches (Community

Action Planning)iii. Promotion of Partnership Building among CBOs, Local Government, NGOsiv. Promotion of the Urban Resource Centre - Knowledge Management and Net-

working

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v. Testing of Participatory Approaches in Community Infrastructure, Solid WasteManagement, Urban Upgrading, and

vi. Research, documentation, information and training.

Sevanatha expanded its activities from 1998 into other urban areas. As a nationalNGO, it has been promoting participatory development approaches for urban poverty reduc-tion and acting as a National Partner Organization to develop City Development Strategies formunicipalities in the Colombo Metropolitan Region. Sevanatha is currently involved in acommunity-based urban waste management programme in 13 municipalities. The organiza-tion has developed its long-term development strategy based on a set of principles to haveimpacts in four key result areas:

i. Promotion of sustainable CSOs;ii. Creation of sustainable livelihood means for the urban poor;

iii. Active citizen participation in urban development processes; andiv. Improved community and local government working partnerships.

Since its inception, Sevanatha has been working with the CMC advocating for aclose institutional relationship between community organizations and the Municipality. In allits activities, Sevanatha has been working as an intermediary. In the early 1990s, the organi-zation carried out several community-based environment improvement projects in selectedlow-income settlements. Sevanatha, on the request of CDCs, prepared Community ActionPlans (CAP) in order to find short- and long-term solutions for issues identified by the people.

This was a new experience for communities as well as the CMC because it was anattempt by an NGO to find solutions to problems related to basic services in poor urban areas.The Sevanatha strategy to solve these problems was based on community organization andlocal resource mobilization. Within a short period, CDCs in several low-income settlementshad improved their environmental sanitation by building individual toilets and improvingwater supply and drainage systems15. Sevanatha has been continuously supporting CDCs interms of technical guidance and building links between CDCs and other support agencies thatare responsible and have resources for improving the living conditions of the urban poor.

Sevanatha believes that partnership between the community and CMC is importantbecause in the long run the sustainability of urban livelihoods depends on a responsive andaccountable local government system. The CMC offered membership of its Housing andCommunity Development Committee (HCDC) to Sevanatha as an NGO partner due to itsinvolvement in community organization and urban upgrading. This was an important step forSevanatha to build its relationship with all the departments in the CMC as well as to presentits independent views to the mayor and council members regarding the situation of municipalservice delivery to urban low-income communities.

15 Community Managed Sewer System - Gajabapura and Bo-Sevana Settlements - Sevanatha , 1994

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ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Sevanatha has been able to build credibility with the CMC because of:

i. Its long-term vision to carry out activities to build an effective partnership be-tween the CMC and CBOs to achieve sustainable livelihoods rather than carry-ing out a few donor-funded projects,

ii. Application of participatory approaches and methods such as CAP and the Com-munity Contract System in community development,

iii. The role that it plays as an intermediary between CBOs and CMC

The CMC appreciated the advocacy role played by Sevanatha to empower communityorganizations to have proper access to land and basic urban amenities and to decentralize servicedelivery functions to CMC district offices and to organized civil society in the CMC area.

In view of the above context, Sevanatha was recognized as the partner organizationof the Urban Management Programme (UMP) for the City Consultation Project in Colombo inthe year 199816. The broad objectives of the project were poverty reduction, environmentalmanagement, municipal service delivery, and good governance.

The Municipality appointed a Working Group to monitor the activities of UMP inColombo. Sevanatha, as the partner organization, assisted the CMC Working Group to iden-tify key stakeholders and conduct consultation sessions with selected stakeholders on issuesrelevant to the UMP. One of the important outcomes of the UMP City Consultation processwas the identification of various issues related to the livelihoods of the urban poor and theparticipation of various stakeholder groups in urban management. It was highlighted thatcommunities in poor urban areas in Colombo were organized through the intervention of pastdevelopment programmes in the city, but the approaches used for livelihood improvementwere ad-hoc and uncoordinated. The CMC had taken the traditional welfare approach and theprogramme related to poverty reduction had been departmentalized with little cross-depart-mental working relationships17. The key stakeholders who participated in the UMP City Con-sultation made the following recommendations:

i. To develop new working relationships in order to build the capacity of the orga-nization and community groups;

ii. To develop a more strategic and integrated approach to poverty reduction acrossthe city; and

iii. To develop participatory approaches for urban livelihood development.

In order to develop an integrated and participatory approach for urban poverty re-duction, the CMC and Sevanatha developed a pilot project called Urban Poverty Reductionthrough Community Empowerment. This project is being implemented in Colombo since2001 with external financial support18. One of the major tasks of the pilot project was to de-velop a participatory approach to identifying and assessing the poverty situation of all settle-ments identified as low-income and under-served in Colombo.

16 UMP was supported by UN Habitat17 Fahmy Ismail, Currently Implemented Collaborative Programs in the City of Colombo, UMP City Consultation

Proceedings, 199918 Department for International Development (DFID) of the UK government

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IV. Partnership in Action – Poverty Profile using the Report Card Method

Rationale

Three surveys carried out in Colombo by state agencies in the years 1978, 1987, and1997/9819 came up with the identical figure that approximately half the city’s population wereliving in poverty. This was in a context where the population growth rate of the city had fallensignificantly from 1.24 per cent in 1971 to 0.46 in 2001. For the CMC in particular, the fifty percent figure posed a difficult problem: Why did the settlement upgrading initiatives from the1970s have such little impact? The surveys had used methods of enumeration that lookedmainly at the physical aspects of settlements and the delivery of municipal services. The CMCdid not have a clear definition for urban poverty and reliable accurate data on the povertysituation in Colombo. As a result, the poor have often been neglected in municipalprogrammes.

The CMC recognized the need to investigate ‘levels of improvement’ achieved bypoor communities in Colombo to better understand the situation of urban poverty and effortsneeded to address it. The production of a comprehensive and up-to-date Poverty Profile forColombo was identified as a critical requirement. The Profile would be the basis of the UrbanPoverty Reduction Program of the CMC.

Special features of the report card methodology

The Working Group then set out to develop a participatory methodology to enable amore accurate assessment of the realities of the urban poor. It chose to adapt the Report Cardsdeveloped by the Urban Governance Initiative (TUGI)20 as the basic method of the survey. AReport Card (RC) as a participatory survey tool has been used in many countries for differentpurposes. It has been used mostly to capture people’s feedback on the quality of public ser-vices experienced by them.21 It has been used to highlight problems or positive experiencesfaced by people and thereby measure their satisfaction with the delivery of public services.22

Service providers can also use the Report Card as part of self–assessment of their own perfor-mance. TUGI introduced the Report Card method in ten cities in Asia in 2000. Sevanathafield-tested the cards in the Colombo and Kandy municipalities to assess levels of communitysatisfaction of housing and shelter programmes. The CMC believed that the system wouldfacilitate the assessment of the considerable number of services and programmes carried outby the Council.

The report card system developed by Sevanatha for poverty analysis of Colombo hasseveral features. As a first step, twenty variables were identified to define the poverty situationof under-served settlements in Colombo. (See annex two). They are:

19 Slum and Shanty Survey of CMC by UDA – 1978, Low Income Housing Survey by CMC – 1987 and Low IncomeHousing Survey by REEL - 1998

20 TUGI is a regional project supported by UNDP21 Public Affairs Centre (PAC) Bangalore, India.22 Public Service Delivery – Social Indicator, Centre for Policy Alternative – 2003.

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ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

1. Land-ownership of the settlement2. Ownership of occupancy3. Nature of the housing unit4. Water supply5. Water availability6. Availability of toilets7. Sewerage system8. Availability of electricity9. Solid-waste collection

10. Condition of main access roads11. Inner access roads12. Availability of telephone facilities13. Source of income14. Receipt of ‘poor relief ’ assistance by families15. Women-headed families16. Functioning of CBOs17. Coverage of CBOs18. Access to a community centre19. Coverage of Community Savings & Credit Programmes20. Qualification for rate payment

Each variable was measured by four indicators. An indicator is an important factor forthe comparison of levels of service-provision between now and then, or the situation of a low-income settlement at the time of the survey and the future. Indicators can be qualitative aswell as quantitative. Four indicators attached to each variable are arranged in a descendingorder of service levels or the situation. In the case of Colombo, the poverty situation of the low-income settlements has been measured using 80 indicators (20 variables x 4 indicators). Re-sults of these indicators were grouped into four common assessment levels. They are: Verygood, Good, Poor and Very Poor (See annex two).

How the survey was conducted

The survey was conducted in all 1,614 settlements identified through available sur-veys and the CMC database of urban poor communities. Seventy-one Health Instructors,thirty-nine Technical Officers of the CMC, seven project officers of Sevanatha, the six districtleaders of CDCs, CDC leaders, and community members participated.

The steps followed in carrying out the Report Card Poverty Survey are as follows.(Details of the study process is given in the annex – one.)

i. Introduce the Project to the Mayor, Council Members and Staff.ii. Develop Criteria to assess Poverty in Low Income Communities

iii. Training Municipal staff to carry out the participatory survey using the indicatorlist

iv. Carrying out the Community Surveyv. Analysis of Survey Data

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vi. Sharing the Preliminary Survey Findings with the Communitiesvii. Dissemination of Study Findingsviii. Formulate poverty reduction strategy, Action Plan, and Pilot Projects

The role of Sevanatha in the development of the Report Card

Sevanatha played an important role from the initiation of the poverty survey to theformulation of the poverty reduction strategy and implementation of pilot projects for testingthe proposed strategy.

First, Sevanatha’s role was important as an effective communicator. Sevanatha con-ducted several workshop sessions with the Working Group of the project to introduce the keystakeholders to the sustainable livelihoods approach to reducing urban poverty. The Mayor,Councillors, officials and CDC members were also introduced to the use of the Report Card asa survey tool.

Sevanatha’s role as researcher in the development of the Report Card for the povertysurvey was also important. Understanding the dynamics of urban poverty in Colombo re-quired a new approach. In order to adopt the Report Card for the poverty survey, Sevanathacarried out literature surveys for identifying the appropriate variables and indicators for defin-ing the urban poverty situation in Colombo. Preliminary interviews for the development of theReport Card were conducted with the Mayor, Councillors, officials, and community leaders.Sevanatha took the lead role in the preparation of guidelines, the updating of the settlementslist, and the organization of field survey teams for the administration of the citywide ReportCard survey.

The role played by Sevanatha as a trainer was critical throughout the process. First,it was realized that survey had to be completed within a short period because the situations inurban areas change rapidly. The recruitment of new personnel for a citywide survey would beexpensive. It also takes a longer period for new people to understand the situation of under-served settlements in Colombo. Field staff of district offices of the CMC underwent a two-daytraining session on the conceptual understanding of poverty based on different approachesincluding those hitherto used for defining urban poverty. Field-testing of the Report Card bymunicipal staff was carried out to make them familiar with the application of the Report Cardmethod of data collection.

Finally, Sevanatha and the Project Working Group disseminated the preliminary pov-erty survey data to community members and other stakeholders. This was carried out districtby district to get their perceptions of the survey findings. The Poverty Profile of Colombo Cityis a working document. Sevanatha and the CMC developed the strategic framework for urbanpoverty reduction. Livelihood improvement activities are being carried out in 20 of the poorestsettlements selected from the poverty survey in Colombo

Some key findings and results:

A key finding of the survey was that the assumption that 50 per cent of Colombo’spopulation were poor or living in slums and shanties was incorrect. It was evident that low-income communities in Colombo were in different levels of deprivation. The poverty surveycategorized under-served settlements into four groups.

13

ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• The very poor settlements constitute about 10 per cent of all settlements surveyedand need immediate attention for improvement.

• Department for International Development (DFID) of the UK governmentPoor settlements that can be identified as under-served are about 40 per cent.These settlements still need considerable improvements.

• The category of good settlements which are already upgraded settlements that donot need major improvements constitutes about forty per cent of the total settle-ments surveyed.

• Very good (Fully-upgraded) settlements which do not need any further assis-tance are about 10 per cent.

The survey clearly showed that a large number of urban poor settlements had beenimproved during the past few decades. However, there were many aspects of urban povertythat had to be addressed to enable their integration to the formal city structures and institu-tions. Some of the basic issues highlighted include:

• Only twenty-three per cent of families have legal rights to their land. However,sixty six per cent are living on land owned by state. Therefore, it is easy for govern-ment to provide land titles for many in underserved settlements in Colombo.

• About half the families have freehold and leasehold rights. Forty per cent of fami-lies hold user permits issued by state sector agencies who own the land. Therefore,many poor families in underserved settlements are not under eviction threats.

• Seventy per cent of the houses were constructed with permanent building materi-als. Due to the pro-poor policies implemented by the government in the lasttwenty years, people have improved their houses even without proper legal titlesfor their land.

• Only two per cent of families do not have drinking water within the community.Sixty- seven per cent have easy access to water including individual water con-nections.

• Only thirty-three per cent of families have individual toilets. About sixty-five percent use common toilets. The balance two per cent do not have toilet at all.

• Properties of seventy-one per cent of families in underserved settlements havebeen identified by the CMC as qualified for paying municipal rates. Recognitionby the CMC of households in underserved settlements through the issue assess-ment has raised community expectations for improved access to land and moti-vated people to improve their housing by themselves.

• About ninety-one per cent of families have a regular source of incomes from theformal sector, self-employment, and informal sector activities. Nine per cent of thefamilies do not have any source of regular income.

• Only seventeen per cent of families have access to community savings and creditfacilities.

• There were no community-based organizations functioning in sixty-seven percent of the settlements.

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• Therefore, it was evident that only ten percent of families in underserved settle-ments in Colombo are the very poor who need immediate attention for livelihoodimprovements.

Community Perceptions on Urban Poverty

Community members in selected low-income settlements participated in the design-ing and pilot- testing of the report card survey formats. All communities participated in thesurvey. The survey results and the issues of urban poverty were reviewed at community fo-rums held in the city. In these forums, community members were keen to know the level ofassessment of their settlements, whether it is a fully upgraded or good, poor or very poor.Communities who were in the categories of ‘fully upgraded’ generally expressed the view thatthe survey findings were correct; they did not need any further assistance from the state ex-cept title deeds. They needed the Municipality to end the categorization of their settlements inmunicipal documents as ‘low-income’ / ‘underserved’ or ‘upgraded’ shanty settlements. Theywanted the municipality to treat their settlements as normal and to include them into themunicipal assessment list. Communities who were in the category of very poor were alsohappy because now that the municipality had recognized them as the very poor they expectedtheir settlements would be included in the urban upgrading programmes. The Poverty Profileoutlined some of the main characteristics and community concerns based on the sustainablelivelihoods framework. (See annex three)

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ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

V. Achievements

The preparation of poverty profile for city of Colombo in a partnership arrangementbetween CMC and a NGO is a great achievement. The Poverty Profile has 20 variables to

define urban poverty, and indicators to measure levels of deprivation. It identified criticalareas related to urban poverty, and assessed levels of improvement achieved by communities.It is, essentially, a resource that would facilitate good governance by local authorities. The useof the report card system for the survey was in itself an exercise in good local governance. Theprofile has been distributed to all stakeholders in the field of urban development in Sri Lankaand elsewhere. They include civil society, the public and private sectors, and donor and inter-national organizations. Within a very short period the Poverty Profile has brought about somesignificant impacts:

• The preparation of the profile, in effect, helped build an effective partnership be-tween the CMC and CSOs. The collaboration helped ensure that the survey wasconducted efficiently and without delays. It also enabled the training of local au-thority staff to carry out a consultation process that was essentially participatoryand took into account community perspectives. It seems that CMC is now tryingto gain a broad understanding of the concept of ‘partnership’ for an activity likepoverty reduction. It is an understanding of roles of different stakeholders and thesharing of responsibilities for sustainable livelihood improvement. The CMC,under the PPP, is inviting more NGOs to engage in service provisions areas wherethey can perform better.

• For the first time the CMC has a comprehensive database on the poverty situationin Colombo. It has improved access to information at all level on the nature ofpoverty in Colombo. Heads of department at the CMC have begun using the pro-file as a reference for planning and managing their activities. Designing of twomajor donor-funded projects has been done based entirely on the information inthe Poverty Profile. The Director in charge of the solid waste management divisionof CMC took immediate actions to collect waste from 91 settlements identified asareas where a waste-collection service is not available. Similarly, other depart-ments of the CMC have taken actions for service improvements: for strengtheningof CDCs by the Public Health Department, to make community centres availablefor the use of low-income people by Department of Play Grounds, to improve thebasic infrastructure in very poor settlements by CMC district officers.

• Municipal Councillors use it as a reference document to understand the situationof underserved settlements in Colombo. They have used the poverty profile as atool for targeting the poor in municipal programmes and allocating municipal re-sources in a rational way. As the poverty profile indicates that there is an imbal-ance in allocation of funds and service provisions - the Mayor and Council Mem-bers are considering introducing the participatory budgeting system being suc-cessfully implemented in Brazil. This system will develop procedures for jointdecision-making by the community and the CMC in the provision of services. Inother words, elected members and the bureaucracy are changing their attitudesand becoming more responsive to the needs of the poor.

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• Community organizations use the profile as an information guide to understandthe poverty situation of their own settlement and to compare it with that of othersettlements in the city.

• Urban administrators, politicians and policy-makers have begun using it to trans-late community needs into practical action plans.

• The identification of the poorest settlements in the city has enabled the allocationof resources from various programmes to improve the livelihoods of people on apriority basis.

• The report card system has enabled the quantitative assessment of service andlivelihood improvements within the Municipality

• The report card developed to assess urban poverty in Colombo has already beenused as a training module. TUGI is using the Poverty Profile of the CMC as asuccessful case study to promote the report card methodology for good gover-nance in Asian cities.

• The partnership built between the CMC and Sevanatha and the use of the ReportCard method for poverty analysis have been able to change the mindset of bureau-cracy and politicians for targeting poor in municipal development programmesand to allocate municipal funds in a more rational way.

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ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

VI. Lessons Learned

Partnerships are effective when local governments are prepared to change procedures andinstitutional set ups in order to accommodate CSOs for development work. Local govern-

ment systems are not adequately ‘modernized’ to take CSOs as partners and share responsi-bilities in service delivery and urban poverty reduction programmes. The CMC andSevanatha have built partnerships to improve the livelihoods of the poor over a period oftime—with the CMC introducing new institutional structures like the CDC and the HCDC.

Even in this context, local government is gradually changing and willing to workwith NGOs whose activities are within a broad framework of development. Municipal bureau-cracy has started to work with NGOs who have a long-term strategic vision in urbandevelopment.

Information plays an important role in making local government responsive and ac-countable to the needs of the citizen. Improving access to information on the nature povertyhas changed the mindset of officials and councillors of the CMC. As accurate and reliableinformation is available at all levels, the poor are targeted in the municipal programmes. Re-sources are allocated more judiciously.

There is a need for better and accurate information on urban poverty—not just dataon income or expenditure data but also information that permit a better understanding of themulti-faceted and differentiated nature of poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion. The waythat the report card system has been adopted for urban poverty analysis in Colombo has pro-vided a vast amount of information, for the use of various stakeholders, on the multi-dimen-sional nature of poverty.

Effective partnership between NGOs and Local Governments is another importantaspect of good governance. It is not easy to build a long lasting partnership between NGOsand local government because many NGOs take a project-oriented approach when address-ing urban issues, and local governments often suspect NGOs’ interest in community empow-erment and livelihood development. NGOs could build better partnerships if their work isbased on a long-term vision that does not conflict with city’s development programmes. NGOsmust also make information on their work available to councillors and officials.

Community participation at every stage of the report-card survey was important forthe validation of the data as well as work that will use the data as a basis. In carrying out thecitywide poverty survey, it is important that survey administrators should have informationavailable with them about the CBOs that are in operation in the municipal area. In order to getaccurate data, it is necessary to educate CBO leaders in low-income settlements on the pur-pose of the survey, survey methodology and the benefits that low-income communities wouldhave in the future as a results of the survey.

As the methodology for the survey was simple and straightforward it was easy for allstakeholders to be active participants.

Indicators for report cards must also include quantitative indicators so that clear com-parisons could be made with past and future situations. This also means politicians; bureau-crats and donors take the survey seriously.

Indicators should reflect the multi-dimensional aspects of poverty. In Colombo, forexample, income poverty and consumption poverty tend to be minimal. However, povertyexists in urban settlements in varying levels and vulnerable situations differ from one commu-

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REGIONAL SEMINAR AND LEARNING EVENT ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND PRO-POOR SERVICE DELIVERY

nity to another. Defining urban poverty by using different determinants based on the assets -physical, financial as well as social and human - has identified these situations clearly.

The presentation and publication of the survey outputs in an interesting and easilydigestible format and its widest possible distribution has been a means through which com-mitment and involvement in poverty reduction initiatives has been obtained. Results of thepoverty survey in Colombo have been published in the English language as well as the locallanguages (Sinhala and Tamil) so that all stakeholders are not only aware of the situation butare also able to use the information for the formulation of programmes related to urban devel-opment and poverty reduction. Making the information widely available is a way to securesupport and cooperation from different stakeholders.

NGOs who have a long-term vision can play multiple roles as a partner in local de-velopment. Participatory and community-based approaches used by NGOs in communitydevelopment have mobilized both local government and CBOs for building effective partner-ship for local development. At the settlement level, NGO are better at mobilizing communitiesfor improving their livelihood processes and activities as they believe that poverty reductioncan be done through community empowerment and promoting self-help mechanisms. NGOshave increased municipal awareness of the local needs—getting different stakeholders en-gaged in citywide surveys and improving access to information. NGO are working to makeCBOs independent from government and donor dependant projects. As a result of NGOs’community mobilization processes CBOs capacities have been strengthened and enabledthem to become more functional and diversified in their development activities.

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ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

VII. Strengthening Partnership – Future Directions

Partnership between local government and CSOs is not mere collaboration for delivery ofmunicipal services to the poor. It is an institutional arrangement for sharing power, re-

sources and responsibilities between policy makers and civil society. Partnerships in local de-velopment work when NGOs have commitments and long-term strategic vision for develop-ment. Local governments must create institutional space for CSO participation. Stakeholderparticipation at different levels of local government is necessary for sustainable development.Therefore, local government needs to formulate policies and procedures for creating institu-tional arrangement for facilitating CSOs participation in local development.

Members of CSOs should not be considered as mere recipients of municipal servicesor sub contractors to deliver some services under the supervision of officials. NGOs and CBOsplay an important role in local development programmes in municipalities. New proceduresmust be institutionalized to recognize CSOs and share certain municipal responsibilities be-tween authorities and CSOs. Procedures need to be developed to recognize members of CSOsas partners who have some authority to influence the decisions taken by councillors and bu-reaucrats.

There are several ways that members of CSOs can influence to improve the servicedelivery functions of local authorities and build effective partnerships with them. One is theuse of participatory survey methods on a continuous basis. NGOs committed to local develop-ment can play the role of intermediaries to link communities and local authorities. Throughparticipatory surveys, citizens’ views on municipal service delivery and development workscan be articulated in a systematic way to influence decisions taken by councillors and officials.Professional NGOs should be used to conduct participatory surveys like report cards to bringthe citizens’ views to the notice of decision makers on a regular basis.

The Report Card Method used in Colombo has shown that it can be used for severalpurposes: to obtain the views of the people on the quality of services delivered by the CMCand to assess poverty in underserved settlements. It is, essentially, a resource that would facili-tate good governance by local authorities. Local authorities need to take steps to build effec-tive partnerships with CSOs to enable them to take part in the continuous monitoring of per-formance improvement.

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REGIONAL SEMINAR AND LEARNING EVENT ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND PRO-POOR SERVICE DELIVERY

Step

Step One

Introduce theProject to theMayor and the Staffof CMC

Step Two

Develop Criteria toAssess Poverty inLow IncomeCommunities

Step Three

Training ofMunicipal Staff toCarryout theParticipatory SurveyUsing the IndicatorList

Activity

1.1 Project briefing to theMayor

1.2 Project Presentation toHeads of Departments atan Institutional Develop-ment Meeting

1.3 Project Presentation toDistrict Level Staff ofCMC

2.1 Collection and Review ofLiterature

2.2 Prepare Draft List ofIndicators

2.3 Obtain Comments ofWorking Group Members &Relevant Stakeholders onthe Draft Indicator List

2.4 Consultation on ImprovedDraft List of Indicators

3.1 Two Days Training essionsby Sevanatha for DistrictOffice Field Staff held (eachday, the morningsession to understand theuse of indicators, afternoonsession to field test andfeedback presentations)

Participants

· UMP South Asia RegionalOffice Reps.

· Deputy Municipal Commis-sioner (PS)

· SEVANATHA Staff

· Mayor· Commissioner· Deputy Municipal

Commissioner (PS)· Heads of Departments – CMC· Sevanatha Staff

· Mayor· Commissioner· Deputy Municipal

Commissioner (PS)· Heads of Departments of CMC· District Office Senior Staff· Working Group Members -

CMC· Sevanatha Staff

· Sevanatha Staff· Working Group - CMC

· Sevanatha Staff· Working Group - CMC

· Working Groups - CMC· Professionals· Municipal Staff· Community Leaders· Sevanatha Staff

· District level Staff of CMC· Working Group Members -

CMC· Deputy Municipal Commis-

sioner (PS)· Sevanatha Staff

· Health Instructors (HIs)· Technical Officers (TOs)· Senior District Office Staff· Working Group Members· Sevanatha Staff

Output

· Official approval by the Mayor· Agree on appointing three

Project Coordinators

· Project awareness by Heads ofDepartments

· Identified the members to theProject Working Group (WG)

· Project awareness amongdistrict level officials

· Commitment for projectactivities at district level

· Gathered relevant information

· Draft list of indicators prepared

· Improved draft list of indicators

· Agreed on a final list ofindicators

· Familiarization of the use ofindicators in community survey

· Understanding on participatorytechniques for field work

· Team spirit building among thefield staff of Public HealthDepartment (HIs) and theEngineering Department (TOs)

Annex – 1Key Steps of the Study Process

21

ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Step

Step Four

Carrying out theCommunity Survey

Step Five

Analysis of SurveyData

Step Six

Sharing thePreliminary SurveyFindings with theCommunities

Activity

4.1 Updating the List of LowIncome Communities inColombo

4.2 Allocate Communities tobe Surveyed among HIs andTOs at Municipal WardLevel

4.3 Carrying out ParticipatorySurvey in Communities

4.4 Random check ofSurveyed/CompletedIndicator List

5.1 Categorization of DataSheets on Ward andDistrict Basis

5.2 Computer Processing ofData

6.1 Sharing of Informationat Community Meetings

6.2 Sharing Information at aMini Consultation (citylevel)

Participants

· Public Health Department· GIS Unit of CMC· Sevanatha Staff

· District MOH· District Engineer and other

Staff· CHEO· ACHEO

· HIs & TOs· Community Leaders· Sevanatha Staff

· Assistant Chief HealthEducation Officer (ACHEO)

· District Engineers· Sevanatha Staff

· ACHEOs· CHEO· District Engineers· HIs & TOs· Sevanatha Staff

· Sevanatha Staff

· Community Members (men,women, children)

· HIs & TOs· ACHEOs· Local Politicians· Sevanatha Staff

· Community Leaders· HIs & TOs· District Level Municipal

Officials· Heads of Municipal

Departments· Working Group Members· UMP Regional Office

Representative· Sevanatha Staff

Output

· Updated community list

· Agreed on work allocation

· One completed indicator list foreach community

· Assured reliability of the data/verified data lists

· Ward and district level data filesprepared

· Analytical data on communities· Identified categories of

communities based on levels ofdevelopment

· Verified the information oncommunities

· Identified issues of poverty andpossible strategies

· Reached community agreementon survey findings of Districts 3& 4 communities

· Community views on povertyreduction strategies discussed

Annex – 1Key Steps of the Study Process (cont’d.)

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REGIONAL SEMINAR AND LEARNING EVENT ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND PRO-POOR SERVICE DELIVERY

Step

Step Seven

Dissemination ofStudy Findings

Step Eight

Poverty Strategy,Action Plan andDemonstrationProjects

Activity

7.1 Preparation of the PovertyProfile

7.2 Preparation of a VideoDocumentary of the StudyProcess

7.3 Colombo CityConsultation

8.1 Poverty Strategy forColombo

8.2 Develop Action Plan andDemo Projects

8.3 Implement Demo Projects

8.4 Monitor, Document &Disseminate ProjectExperiences

Participants

· CMC· Sevanatha Staff

· CMC· Sevanatha Staff

· Community· Municipal Councilors· CMC Staff· Representatives of National

Level Agencies· Professionals· Donor Community Reps· NGOs· Private Sector· Sevanatha Staff

· Community· CMC· Sevanatha Staff· Relevant Stakeholders

· Community· CMC· Sevanatha Staff· Stakeholders

· Community· CMC· Sevanatha Staff· Stakeholders· UMP Funding Agencies

· Community· CMC· Sevanatha Staff· UMP

Output

· Draft Poverty Profile ofColombo

· Video documentary

· Final version of the City Profile

· Poverty Strategy developed

· Local area Action Plans prepared

· Community based demoprojects prepared andimplemented

· Best practices· Print and electronic documents· City wide benefits to urban poor

Annex – 1Key Steps of the Study Process (cont’d.)

23

ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

Land Ownership of the Settlement

1.1 Owned by occupants1.2 Municipal Land1.3 Government owned land1.4 Private owner’s land

Type of Ownership of the Occupancy

2.1 Freehold ownership2.2 Leasehold2.3 User permit2.4 Illegal occupancy

Nature of Housing3.1 75% permanent with over 50% two story or more3.2 75% permanent with over 50% single story3.3 75% Semi permanent3.4 Temporary

Water Supply (over 75% coverage)

4.1 Individual connections4.2 Common stand posts/tube wells etc with easy access (1 per less than 10 HH)4.3 Common stand posts/tube wells etc with limited access (1 per over than 10 HH)4.4 Not available within community

Water Availability

5.1 Receiving water for 24 hours with adequate supply5.2 Receiving water for 24 hours with limited supply5.3 Receiving water for 12 - 24 hours5.4 Receiving water for less than 12 hours

Availability of Toilet

6.1 75% individual toilet available6.2 Common toilet with easy access (1 per less than 25 people)6.3 Common toilet with limited access (1 per more than 25 people)6.4 Not available within community

Sewerage System (over 75% coverage)

7.1 City’s main sewer network connected7.2 Common soak pit with access for cleaning7.3 Individual soak pit with access for cleaning7.4 No proper sewerage system

Electricity for Private Use

8.1 Available with street lights8.2 Available without street lights8.3 Not available but main line is near to the settlement8.4 Not available, main line still not come to the area

05040201

05040201

05040201

05040201

05040201

05040201

05040201

05040201

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Annex IICriteria for Prioritizing the Urban Low Income Settlements in City of Colombo

No Indicator Grade Assessment

24

REGIONAL SEMINAR AND LEARNING EVENT ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND PRO-POOR SERVICE DELIVERY

05040201

05040201

05040201

05040201

05040201

05040201

05040201

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Municipal Solid Waste Collection Service

9.1 Available, regular (daily/once in two days), house to house collection9.2 Available, regular (daily/once in two days), collection by communal bin9.3 Available, no regular collection9.4 Not available

Condition of Main Access Roads

10.1 Tarred with proper side drains10.2 Tarred without proper side drains10.3 Gravel10.4 No proper access road

Type of Inner Access Roads

11.1 Tarred/Paved with well maintenance with proper side drains11.2 Tarred/Paved with poor maintenance without proper side drains11.3 Gravel11.4 No proper access road

Availability of Telephone Facility

12.1 Available for over 15%12.2 Available for less 15%12.3 Not available but main line is near to the settlement12.4 Not available, main line still not come to the area

Type of Employment

13.1 Over 50% families with permanent employment13.2 Over 50% families with self employment13.3 Over 50% families no regular employment13.4 Over 50% families are unemployed

No of Families who Receive Public Assistance

14.1 Below 10%14.2 10% - 25%14.3 25% - 50%14.4 Over 50%

No of Single Women Headed Families

15.1 Below 10%15.2 10% - 25%15.3 25% - 50%15.4 Over 50%

9.0

10.0

11.0

12.0

13.0

14.0

15.0

Annex IICriteria for Prioritizing the Urban Low Income Settlements in City of Colombo

(cont’d.)

No Indicator Grade Assessment

25

ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Functioning of CBOs (coverage of CBO membership)

16.1 Functioning with more than 75% families16.2 Functioning with 50% - 75% families16.3 Functioning with less than 50% families16.4 No CBOs available

Level of CBO Functioning

17.1 Functioning as per constitution17.2 Functioning irregularly17.3 Not functioning17.4 No CBOs available

Access to a Community Center

18.1 Available with easy access18.2 Available with limited access18.3 Not available within the settlement but easy access18.4 Not available within the settlement but limited access

Coverage by Community Savings and Credit Programmes

19.1 Over 50% families19.2 25% - 50% families19.3 Less 25% families19.4 Not available

Payment of Rates to the Municipality

20.1 Based on individual property20.2 Fixed rate for the settlement20.3 Temporary identification number, Rates not paid20.4 No number, NO rate payments

05040201

05040201

05040201

05040200

05040201

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

Very GoodGoodPoor

Very Poor

16.0

17.0

18.0

19.0

20.0

Annex IICriteria for Prioritizing the Urban Low Income Settlements in City of Colombo

(cont’d.)

No Indicator Grade Assessment

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Annex IIICommunity Perception on the Results of Report Card Survey

Natural Assets

• People recognize their land lot as being the single most important asset.• There is considerable community demand for freehold rights to their land.• People are prepared to pay for land if they were given the freehold rights of land.• The livelihoods pattern of the people is shaped by locational advantages (markets,

workplace, industries, marginal lands for urban agriculture).• Seasonal flooding and poor drainage are natural factors that have serious implica-

tions for community vulnerability.

Physical Assets

• Most people recognize the importance of investing in their own house as a securesource of income (renting of rooms, use for small enterprises etc.).

• The urban poor prefer to enjoy individual amenities (i.e. water, toilets) and showtheir interest to pay for individual services.

• People perceive improvement of amenities in the community as a measurer ofsocial recognition.

• Community leaders have taken initiatives to tap the external resources (i.e.through local politicians) to improve the amenities of their community.

Human Assets

• A majority of the urban poor consider lack of opportunities for improvement ofskills and a secure source of income being a major cause of their poverty.

• The lack of opportunities to engage in ‘socially acceptable’ livelihood means haspushed a majority of youths, men and women to drug addiction, alcoholism andother anti-social activities

• There is an increasing demand for unskilled labour, particularly for women, but atlower pay rates than for men.

Social Assets

• People have recognized the importance of forming community organizations tobetter negotiate with the authorities for the improvement of their communities.

• Ethnic and religious differences did not pose concerns of the urban poor in com-munity development work. However, political divisions seem to act as a majorimpediment for their development.

• Social exclusion of a majority of poor due to lack of recognition by formal sectorinstitutions has made them more vulnerable.

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ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• People lack faith in the institutions and officials that are meant to provide servicesto them primarily due to a poor relationship between them.

• People are aware that institutions responsible for providing services have not de-veloped systems and procedures that would facilitate the delivery of such services.

• Community organizations are not genuinely recognized for planning and devel-opment of the city.

Financial Assets

• A majority of the urban poor rely on money lenders for emergency credit due tolack of access to the formal banking system. Recognizing the above limitationscommunity savings and credit societies have been formed by a section of the poor.Women have played a leading role in this process. However, these programmeshave covered a only a small portion of the urban poor as yet.

• People have demonstrated their entrepreneurial skills by utilizing every availableopportunity to earn a living within the existing constraints.

• People have not been able to make adequate savings because of their expenditurepattern and high living expenses.