IMPACT OF URBAN PARTNERSHIP FOR POVERTY REDUCTION (UPPR) PROJECT: A CASE STUDY ON WARD NO. 35 OF...

2nd International Conference on Advances in Civil Engineering 26 –28 Dec, 2014 CUET, Chittagong, Bangladesh Edited by: M.R.A.Mullick, M.R.Alam, M.S.Islam, M.O.Imam, M.J.Alam, S.K.Palit, M.H.Ali, M.A.R.Bhuiyan, S.M.Farooq, M.M.Islam, S.K.Pal, A.Akter, A.Hoque & G.M.S.Islam

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_

778

ID: SEM 031

IMPACT OF URBAN PARTNERSHIP FOR POVERTY REDUCTION

(UPPR) PROJECT: A CASE STUDY ON WARD NO. 35 OF

CHITTAGONG CITY CORPORATION

K. M. Rahman1*

& N. A. Hashi1

1 Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology,

Chittagong, 4349, Bangladesh.

*Corresponding Author, <[email protected]>

ABSTRACT

In urban area huge amount of poor people leads unsatisfied life. They are deprived from their basic

needs and other facilities. Urban poor is one of the major problem in developing countries. So Urban

Partnership for Poverty Reduction (UPPR) Project is run to reduce the urban poor. This paper has

examined the impact of Urban Partnership for Poverty Reduction (UPPR) Project which is executed

by Local Government Engineering Department (LGED). How this project is run and how much the

poor people is benefited from this project is necessary to identify. To examine the impact of this

project some project area is surveyed and get comparison between their present and past condition.

The data was collected by field survey and the findings show the change of their socio-economic

condition and livelihood pattern.

Keywords: Community Development Committee (CDC), Community Acton Plan (CAP), Local

Government Institution (LGI), Settlement Improvement Fund (SIF), Socio Economic Fund (SEF),

Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Fund.

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter.

However, poverty is more, much more than just not having enough money (ESIC, 2008-09). The

incidence of Poverty in Bangladesh is one of the highest in the world. Present scenario shows that

about one-third of its total population 31.5 percent are living below the poverty line (HIES, 2010).

The estimated population of CCC is about 2.7 million (about 562,500 households) among which

301,527 households are poor live in about 5778 poor settlements according to a primary survey

conducted in 2010 (CCC, 2011). These poor settlements suffer from lack of services and facilities.

Migration from rural areas is one of the driving force for increasing urban population. Government of

Bangladesh has taken different attempts to reduce urban poverty along with various development

partners. Urban Partnership for Poverty Reduction Project by UNDP is such kind of development

partner. This project is executed in 10 city corporations and 14 Pourashava of the country. The aim of

UPPR is to improve the livelihoods and living conditions of three million urban poor people

especially women and girls by 2015. It is expected that after the implementation of the project local

communities will be mobilized, living environment will be improved, income and assets of poor

people will be increased and pro-poor urban policies and partnerships will be supported at the national

and local levels.

Goals and Objectives

Chittagong is a very dynamic city in terms of commerce, industry, education, tourism, and port

facility. It attracts a wide range of poor and low income people from different rural areas which

accelerates the growing of poor settlements here. It is necessary to improve the socioeconomic

condition and livelihood pattern of these settlements. Urban Partnership for Poverty Reduction Project


______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_

779

(UPPRP) is run to improve the livelihoods and living conditions of three million urban poor people,

essentially women and girls by 2015. Evaluation of this project is important as impact of this project

will help to take more other steps of urban poverty reduction. Evaluating community planning and

implementation of basic infrastructures in poor community is the goal of this study. According to this

goal the objectives are to review the working procedure of UPPR project and to identify the

improvement and mobilization of the poor community.

METHODOLOGY

Two sources of data are used in this study classified as primary data and secondary data. As primary

data a reconnaissance survey has been conducted in the areas with a vision to build up an initial idea

about the study areas. Many areas have visited to know the past & present condition of the areas from

the people. The socio-economic maps prepared by the community people have used as secondary

data. The ward boundary map & related important data from CCC have also used for the report.

Finally a report have been written after analyzing and evaluating the condition as well as prospect and

potentiality finding.

Fig. 1. Location map of the study area

Source: UNDP, 2013

UPPRP WORKING PROCEDURE

Project development Methodology

The UPPR project methodology which is provided very scientifically by the authority shown in fig. 2.

This procedure is very effective and it is successfully run in the poor community.


______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_

780

Fig. 2. Project Development Procedure Source: UNDP, 2013

Community Development

First of all communities with at least 70-80 % poor families are selected through a survey. Maximum

one family member is allowed to be the representative of the community. Then, 20-25 representatives

from a group which is termed as Primary Group. Some primary group forms a CDC. There is no hard

and fast rule about the number of families to form a CDC. But 400 families are generally considered

as threshold families for a CDC. Some CDC forms a Cluster CDC. All Cluster CDCs are monitored

under a Town Federation Team. The following figure depicts the hierarchy of the community

development:

Fig. 3. Hierarchy of the Community Development

Source: UNDP, 2013

Phases of CAP Development

The Community Acton Plan (CAP) workshop proposed for UPPR would follow six phases of work

for development of a CAP.

Table 1: The phases of CAP workshop

Phase 1 Identification of

Community Assets

What are the community assets? This gives people a positive place to

start a plan.

Phase 2 Building A Community

Vision

A shared vision for the future to bring positive community change.

Phase 3 Identification and

Prioritization of Needs

and Development of

What are the ways and means to meet community needs? A strategy for

actions needs to take the whole community system into account. People

will use the understanding of how they have development and how


______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_

781

Strategies for Taking

Action

their community works to design strategies

Phase 4 Community Action Plan When all the pieces are pulled together, community will have a plan

that can serve to guide the planning processes within their community.

Phase 5 Preparation of Micro

Projects

The main result of a Community Action Planning workshop should be

the decisions to meet one or more of community’s needs through the

preparation of micro – projects. A micro-project is simply a specific

activity designed to solve a specific problem/need.

Phase 6 Monitoring Tracking and Reporting Progress – How is it working and what can we

learn?

Source: UNDP, 2013

CASE STUDY

Notun Bridge Bastuhara

Notun Bridge Bastuhara CDC has the accreditation no. of 151. There are total 293 families in the

settlement and total population is around 1700. The total cost of the work is taka 1,082,556.00. The

total number of children is 475 and the number of women is 594 get benefited from this project.

Before the formulation of Notun Bridge Bastuhara CDC the condition of this area was beyond

description. There were inadequacy of water supply, no provision for hygienic latrine, unemployment

problems and also many domestic violence of which women were the victims. But after the

implementation of the project the scenario of this community has been changed greatly. The

community people have become more self-reliant than before. As the development of CDC is done

through the contract Bastuhara CDC has submitted its second contract. There are two main sectors of

this project named Settlement Improvement Fund (SIF) and Socio Economic Fund (SEF). For the

implementation of this contract their financial support is needed. There are two accounts of CDC

which are supported by the community itself. One is Savings which is contributed by all the

households of the community and the amount is 50 tk per month and other is Operation and

Maintenance (O&M) fund which money is given by the beneficiary group of the community and it is

10 percent of SIF. The total amount of money in these accounts are given in the below.

Table 2: The account and their savings of Notun Bridge Bastuhara

Account name Total amount (BDT)

Savings 147550

O & M Fund 148000

Source: UPPRP, 2013

The total scenario of the community has been changed after the implementation of the contracts.

Rajakhali Beribadh

The accreditation no. of the settlement Rajakhali Beribadh is 150. There are total 319 families in this

settlement which received the benefits from this project. The total population is around 1850 of this

community. The total cost of the work is taka 708, 065.00. Total 423 children and 719 women get

benefited from this project. Rajakhali Beribadh is also a developed CDC like Bastuhara. The problem

of unhygienic latrine, inadequacy of water supply, unemployment problem, illiteracy problem,

Women empowerment have been solved to a great extent. The community people are now capable to

live an improved life. As Bastuhara Rajakhali Beribadh has bank account to support the

implementation of the contract.

Table 3: The account and their savings of Rajakhali Beribadh


______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_

782


Savings 125000

O & M Fund 112500

Source: UPPRP, 2013

Before the implementation of CAP, there were a number of problems in this area. Though all the

problems are not solved, the scenario has been changed after the implementation of the contracts.

Shanti Colony

The accreditation no. of this settlement is 212. There are total 274 families in this settlement and total

population is around 1820. The total cost of the work is taka 550, 296.00. All of the families of this

CDC benefitted from this work. Total 466 children and 702 women are the beneficiaries of this work.

Shanti Colony is a newly formulated CDC. So its improvement and fund is lower than previous two.

Shanti Colony is a poor community near Kornafully river. It is a low lying area without adequate

drainage facility. The condition of Shanti Colony is poorest among the three CDC. AS it is a new

CDC it will take time to be developed like the two CDC. The problems of this CDC is also similar to

other CDC. The procedure of development is also same. There are two accounts of CDC which are

supported by the community itself. The total amount of money in these accounts are given in the

below.

Table 4: The account and their savings of the community


Savings 55300

O & M Fund 50455

Source: UPPRP, 2013

The community people of Shanti colony is still suffering from different problems. From the first

contract they got hygienic latrine and tube well which were essential for their day to day life. But

there are also many infrastructures needed for proper development of the area.

FINDINGS

Notuna Bridge Bastuhara, Rajakhali Beribadh and Shanti colony these are the poor community in

different condition. Two are mostly developed and another one is under implementation. The major

findings are:

Table 4: The findings of the study

Notun Bridge Bastuhara Rajakhali Beribadh Shanti colony

· There are 60 twin pit latrine

used by two or three families

which reduces the tendency of

open defecation.

· There is a water reservoir to

mitigate the shortage of

drinking water.

· The community also has solar

light system which is helpful

for saving their expenses of

electricity.

· Bastuhara has mentioned of

constructing pacca drainage in

their second contract.

· There is a primary school for

· In Rajakhali Beribadh there

are also 60 latrines prepared by

the UPPR project.

· Beside tube well the

community people also get the

facility to use water from the

reservoir.

· The community people of

Rajakhali also have the

privilege of solar light.

· Rajakhali has pacca drainage

system which reduces

sufferings during rainy season

due to water logging.

· There is a primary school for

· As Shanti colony is in the

initial stage there are 15

latrines which are used by the

community people.

· There is a deep set tube well

with a reservoir is provided in

this area.

· In Shanti colony there is also

solar light system.

· The drainage system of Shanti

colony is in a very poor

condition.

· There is no provision for

primary school.


______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_

783

the community children in two

shifts.

the community children in two

shifts.

CONCLUSION

Bangladesh is a small country with a huge population. It has limited resources to serve its population.

Poverty is a part of day to day life of the people of Bangladesh. UPPR project has come out with such

solutions which can reduce poverty. The main theme of this project is changing the condition of the

poor people by their own involvement. People of the poor community under this project are very

conscious about their savings. They are now realize what life is and how to make it beautiful.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We express our profound gratefulness and gratitude to our respective teachers Muhammad Rashidul

Hasan, Associate professor; Gulshana Rashid Lopa, Asssiatanat professor; A.T.M. Shahjahan,

Lecturer and officials of UPPR project in Chittagong for their constant guidance, encouragement and

valuable suggestion to prepare this report. Also we express our gratefulness to our friends Adrita

Alam, Masuma Begum, Tandra Das, Rumky Dasgupta and Fatema Azim Chowdhury for their

supporting hand to complete the report.

REFERENCES

Chittagong City Corporation (CCC), 2011. Atlas of Poor Settlements in Chittagong City Corporation,

Dhaka: Centre for Urban Studies (CUS).

Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation, 2008-2009. What is poverty,

http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/esic/overview/content/what_is_poverty.html,

reviewed on 8 July, 2013.

Institute of development studies, 2007. Governance Screening for Urban Climate Change resilience-

building and Adaptation strategies in Asia: Assessment of Chittagong City, Bangladesh.

Ministry of Planning. 2011, Preliminary Report on the Household Income and Expenditure Survey

(HIES) 2010, Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), Planning Division, Government of the

People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

IMPACT OF URBAN PARTNERSHIP FOR POVERTY REDUCTION (UPPR) PROJECT: A CASE STUDY ON WARD NO. 35 OF...

Education

Transcript of IMPACT OF URBAN PARTNERSHIP FOR POVERTY REDUCTION (UPPR) PROJECT: A CASE STUDY ON WARD NO. 35 OF...