Programme description

Title: Urban development Nepal II
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Nepal
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Local Development (MLD)
Overall term: 2008 to 2011

Context

Slightly more than 15 per cent (3.6 million) of Nepal’s population live in the country’s 58 towns and cities, almost half of which are in the Kathmandu Valley (figures from 2008).  The municipal authorities are in no position to meet the technical and financial challenges of the rapid urbanisation process. Poorer population groups in particular are included only to a limited extent, if at all, and the supply of basic services to these groups is inadequate.

Objective

Nepal’s towns and cities become more efficient and make better use of the local development potential; the poorer population has better access to municipal services.

Approach

National and international consultants support and advise the municipal authorities in the areas of good urban governance, social inclusion/poverty reduction, urban development planning and strengthening the Urban Development Fund financed by KfW Entwicklungsbank.
Municipal employees receive in-service training on financial management, project planning and steering, and involvement of the population. Five towns and cities in different regions of Nepal act as centres of exchange and learning for municipal self-governance, promoted in collaboration with the DED (since January 2011: GIZ). The Centre for International Migration and Development (CIM) promotes the Urban Development Training Center, which offers formal training and upgrading for municipal employees.
Consultancy services are being provided to 21 towns and cities on how to prepare and implement urban poverty reduction strategies with involvement of the population.
A system to measure and evaluate the provision of urban services is being devised and introduced.

Results achieved so far

The creation of urban development plans in a participation-oriented process laid the foundation for appropriate, needs-oriented investment decisions that take account of the needs of poorer sections of the population too.

Implementation of the poverty reduction strategies has led to an improvement in the living conditions of tens of thousands of urban residents. The towns and cities involved now allocate part of their budget to implementing this approach.

The Urban Development Fund is a reliable, efficient institution used by the towns and cities involved to finance municipal infrastructure. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) place orders with the Urban Development Fund as a partner to finance new projects. Funding from the Urban Development Fund has been used to build urban infrastructure facilities such as bus stations, schools and clinics.

The system to measure and evaluate the provision of municipal services has led to an improvement in the quality of services in most of the towns and cities since it was introduced by the partner ministry in 2008.