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DIG Launches Three-Year Global Program to Help Pro-Poor Urban
Organizations Increase Their Capacity and "Find their Voice"
The Development Innovations Group (DIG) designed and has been
implementing URBIS in response to a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
request to explore how the Foundation could (1) support capacity and
strategic growth of on-the-ground pro-poor organizations and (2) help
organizations representing poor urban populations “find their voice”—that
is, decisively improve their ability to influence policies and decisions
affecting planning and development in urban settings. As a learning
laboratory, URBIS will carry forth a dual agenda: (1) It will seek to develop
best practices in capacitating pro-poor urban innovators; and (2) it will help
the Foundation understand how a facility such as URBIS could potentially
scale up and lead to successful replication of effective pro-poor urban
capacity initiatives beyond the six or seven cities URBIS currently targets.
URBIS will be implemented over a three-year period from September 2007
to September 2010. The program will seek to strengthen the capacity and
strategic growth of carefully selected pro-poor organizations in at least six
cities, most of which are in Asia and Africa. The program is designed to be
implemented in three phases: (1) a preliminary diagnostic phase, which
comes to closure as we write this report; (2) a program design phase; and
(3) an implementation and dissemination phase.
The initial phase of the URBIS program has been intense and productive.
The Gates Foundation and DIG signed a contract mid-September 2007. By
October, DIG had designed Pre-diagnostic and City and NGO Diagnostic
tools. Over a three month period, teams of two DIG staff and associates
were deployed to Casablanca (Morocco), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania),
Chennai (India), Jakarta (Indonesia), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Ho Chi
Minh City (Vietnam), São Paulo (Brazil), Mombasa (Kenya) and Kigali
(Rwanda). By mid-December, DIG completed diagnostics in those nine
cities, focusing on understanding which issues were most important to the
poor and what mechanisms they used to voice their needs vis a vis their
local government representatives. In each city, we identified key
organizations representing the poor (organizations we refer to as “Urban
Innovators”), and met with local government officials and civil society actors
to discuss planning and development processes. Through these meetings,
we were able to gauge the extent to which the city incorporated the practices
and knowledge of the poor into formal civic planning procedures. We also
looked at the relationship between the government and non-governmental
organization (NGOs) and community based organizations (CBOs),
Based on the findings from these rapid diagnostics, DIG has now launched
the first wave of capacity building with pro-poor organizations in Casablanca
(Morocco); Mombasa (Kenya); Phnom Penh (Cambodia); and São Paulo
(Brazil). Further, we identified Chennai (India) as a city in which DIG plans
to implement URBIS, but where we will need to conduct more work to select
appropriate partners and subsequently refine the capacity building strategy
most appropriate to partners needs. Finally, DIG is evaluating
implementing URBIS in Luanda (Angola), Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Abidjan
(Ivory Coast).
Should you have specific enquiry about the program, please contact
Marianne Carliez, DIG Senior Program Officer and URBIS Program
Manager, at mcarliez@developinnovations.com.
Please continue to visit our website for frequent updates on our URBIS
program.
Organizations Increase Their Capacity and "Find their Voice"
The Development Innovations Group (DIG) designed and has been
implementing URBIS in response to a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
request to explore how the Foundation could (1) support capacity and
strategic growth of on-the-ground pro-poor organizations and (2) help
organizations representing poor urban populations “find their voice”—that
is, decisively improve their ability to influence policies and decisions
affecting planning and development in urban settings. As a learning
laboratory, URBIS will carry forth a dual agenda: (1) It will seek to develop
best practices in capacitating pro-poor urban innovators; and (2) it will help
the Foundation understand how a facility such as URBIS could potentially
scale up and lead to successful replication of effective pro-poor urban
capacity initiatives beyond the six or seven cities URBIS currently targets.
URBIS will be implemented over a three-year period from September 2007
to September 2010. The program will seek to strengthen the capacity and
strategic growth of carefully selected pro-poor organizations in at least six
cities, most of which are in Asia and Africa. The program is designed to be
implemented in three phases: (1) a preliminary diagnostic phase, which
comes to closure as we write this report; (2) a program design phase; and
(3) an implementation and dissemination phase.
The initial phase of the URBIS program has been intense and productive.
The Gates Foundation and DIG signed a contract mid-September 2007. By
October, DIG had designed Pre-diagnostic and City and NGO Diagnostic
tools. Over a three month period, teams of two DIG staff and associates
were deployed to Casablanca (Morocco), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania),
Chennai (India), Jakarta (Indonesia), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Ho Chi
Minh City (Vietnam), São Paulo (Brazil), Mombasa (Kenya) and Kigali
(Rwanda). By mid-December, DIG completed diagnostics in those nine
cities, focusing on understanding which issues were most important to the
poor and what mechanisms they used to voice their needs vis a vis their
local government representatives. In each city, we identified key
organizations representing the poor (organizations we refer to as “Urban
Innovators”), and met with local government officials and civil society actors
to discuss planning and development processes. Through these meetings,
we were able to gauge the extent to which the city incorporated the practices
and knowledge of the poor into formal civic planning procedures. We also
looked at the relationship between the government and non-governmental
organization (NGOs) and community based organizations (CBOs),
Based on the findings from these rapid diagnostics, DIG has now launched
the first wave of capacity building with pro-poor organizations in Casablanca
(Morocco); Mombasa (Kenya); Phnom Penh (Cambodia); and São Paulo
(Brazil). Further, we identified Chennai (India) as a city in which DIG plans
to implement URBIS, but where we will need to conduct more work to select
appropriate partners and subsequently refine the capacity building strategy
most appropriate to partners needs. Finally, DIG is evaluating
implementing URBIS in Luanda (Angola), Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Abidjan
(Ivory Coast).
Should you have specific enquiry about the program, please contact
Marianne Carliez, DIG Senior Program Officer and URBIS Program
Manager, at mcarliez@developinnovations.com.
Please continue to visit our website for frequent updates on our URBIS
program.
Supporting organizations involved in slum upgrading
Helping poor urban communities secure better sanitation
DIG Launches Global Program to Help Pro-Poor Urban Organizations
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Tel/Fax: + 961-1-746595
USA: 4330 East West Highway, Suite 1150
Bethesda, MD 20814
Tel:1 (301) 664-9644; Fax 1 (301) 664-9645
Lebanon: Gefinor Center Bloc D301-1,
Clemenceau Street, Beirut
Tel/Fax: + 961-1-746595
Copyright 2005: Development Innovations Group
Engaging the private sector in supporting pro-poor urban agenda
Disseminating best practices in urban capacity building