Process Mapping Disclosing Actors and Citizen Participation ...

Process Mapping

Disclosing Actors and Citizen Participation in Awassa, Ethiopia Final Report

Author: Jan Fransen, IHS

An Alliance to Make Cities Work for the Poor as well.

Process mapping: disclosing actors and citizen participation in Awassa ii

Table of contents Table of contents ..........................................................................................................ii

Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. iii

Acknowledgements .....................................................................................................iv

Preamble .......................................................................................................................v

1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................1 1.1 Objective of the study ..............................................................................................................1 1.2 Methodology............................................................................................................................2 1.3 Action research: improving channels of participation ..............................................................4

2 Institutional framework .......................................................................................5 2.1 Phase 1 (until 1991): centralised government .........................................................................5 2.2 Phase 2 (1990s): decentralisation with a rural focus ...............................................................5 2.3 Phase 3 (2000-): cities as engines of growth...........................................................................6 2.4 Conclusion: more space for participatory development?.........................................................7

3 Development in Awassa........................................................................................9 3.1 Ethiopia ...................................................................................................................................9 3.2 Summary city profile ................................................................................................................9 3.3 City Development Strategy 2004-06 (CDS)........................................................................... 14 3.4 Analysis of the CDS............................................................................................................... 17

4 Stakeholders and their role................................................................................19 4.1 Regional government ............................................................................................................ 19 4.2 Local government .................................................................................................................. 20 4.3 Grassroot organisations ........................................................................................................ 23 4.4 NGOs .................................................................................................................................... 25 4.5 Private sector......................................................................................................................... 27 4.6 International development assistance ................................................................................... 29 4.7 Conclusion............................................................................................................................. 31

5 Current participatory channels.........................................................................32 5.1 Opportunities ......................................................................................................................... 32 5.2 Challenges ............................................................................................................................ 32 5.3 Description of channels of participation ................................................................................. 33

6 Conclusions and recommendations...................................................................36 6.1 Conclusions........................................................................................................................... 36 6.2 Recommendations................................................................................................................. 36

Annex 1: List of respondents Annex 2: Bibliography

Pictures on front page: Top participation during a community meeting of van de Leij Foundation Left Main street of Awassa Right Weavers association, supported by Awassa city council All pictures taken by Jan Fransen, IHS

Process mapping: disclosing actors and citizen participation in Awassa iii

Abbreviations ACDA Awassa City Development Association CBDSD Capacity Building for Decentralised Service Delivery CBO Community Based Organisation CDC Community Development Committee CDS City Development Strategy CoC Chamber of Commerce CRDA Christian Relief Development Association DGIS Directorate General Development Cooperation (Netherlands Government) EU European Union GDP Gross Domestic product GTZ German Development Cooperation IHS Institute of Housing and Urban Development Studies LDC Local Development Committee LED Local Economic Development MFI Micro Finance Institute NGO Non Governmental Organisation PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper PSCAP Public Service Delivery Capacity Building Programme RLO Resurrection and Life Aid Through Development (NGO) SDPRP Sustainable Development Poverty Reduction programme SESP SNV Ethiopia Southern Portfolio SMME Small Micro and Medium Scale Entreprises SNNPRS Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State UNDP United Nations Development Programme

Process mapping: disclosing actors and citizen participation in Awassa iv

Acknowledgements It has been an enriching experience for me to study participation in Awassa. The excellent contacts of Cordaid and IHS opened the doors of respectively the NGO’s and Government. It provided a look into the kitchen of local organisations in Awassa and their collaboration. It also enabled me to learn more about Ethiopia, a country that fascinates me with its unique culture, friendly people and moderate climate. The alliance of Cordaid, Habitat Platform, DGIS and IHS provides a best practice of stakeholder participation and partnership itself. It illustrates how public, civil and private organisations can unite in order to provide a comprehensive overview of urban development. I am happy that the experience has been expanded to Nairobi and hope that it will lead to future collaboration and a better understanding of urban development. This study is the result of the support and work of many people. I would like to first mention Carley Pennink of IHS, who started data collection and then handed over to me. Dr Michael Demissie, Almaz Haile Selassie and Sosena Demissie of DAS Engendered Development Consultants assisted me in data collection and provided wonderful company. In Awassa, I would particularly like to thank Ato Legesse Haile, Mayor; Ato Gebre Meskel Challa, Deputy Mayor; Ato Haile Mekuria, Head Regional Trade, Industry and Urban Development Bureau; Ato Timiteous, Deputy Head; and all other managers of the government, NGO’s, CBO’s and private sector organisations that I met. In Addis Ababa I would particularly like to thank Ato Gutema Bulcha, Director UDCBO; Ton Haverkort, (Ex) Director SNV Ethiopia; Dr Matthaeus Horst and Nikolas Beckman of GTZ; Jannette Moritz of UNDP; Roland Sims of SNV; and Tewodros Tigabu, Habitat Programme Manager. I met many other people who also contributed to the study. It was wonderful to work with the team of Cordaid, DGIS, Habitat Platform and van de Leij Foundation. My special thanks go to Wassie Azashe and Marloe Dresens of Cordaid, Tjeerd Grimmius of van de Leij Foundation; Omer van Renthergem of DGIS; and Ron Spreekmeester and Wil Prins of Habitat Platform.

Process mapping: disclosing actors and citizen participation in Awassa v

Preamble This report has been prepared by an alliance of Cordaid, Habitat Platform, DGIS and IHS. The alliance aims to assess and strengthen urban participatory planning and to assist African municipalities in preparing proposals for Cities Alliance. Awassa was assisted in preparing a proposal for a City Development Strategy. Cities Alliance describes City Development Strategies as follows (2004). "In order to confront the challenges posed by the unprecedented rate of urban growth and increasing urban poverty, cities need to plan ahead in order to make more informed choices about the future and the need to act now. A city development strategy supports cities in this critical decision making process and is focused on implementation. It is an action-plan for equitable growth in cities and their surrounding regions, developed and sustained through participation, to improve the quality of life for all citizens. The output of a city development strategy includes a collective city vision and a strategic action plan aimed at policy and institutional reforms, increased economic growth and employment, and implementation and accountability mechanisms to ensure systematic and sustained reductions in urban poverty." Reality has learnt that many cities particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa lack capacity to launch a CDS in consultation with its stakeholders (DPU 2002). This has resulted in a limited number of fundable proposals for Cities Alliance. The mentioned alliance decided to combine efforts to assist African cities in this respect. In first instance, the support focuses on Awassa (Ethiopia) and Nairobi (Kenya)1. The process of assistance is as follows. In first instance, a situational audit of cities is conducted. A stakeholder and institutional analysis maps processes in urban development and poverty alleviation in order to unveil the legal and institutional environment for participation, the capacity of actors and their formal and informal networks. The audit results in concrete ideas for improved impact on urban poverty, particularly for Cordaid’s partners. The audit is part of a broader Cordaid-IHS alliance, for which audits have been conducted in Recife (Brazil) , Lima (Peru), Younde (Cameroon), Tinana (Albania), Awassa (Ethiopia) and Nairobi (Kenya). More cities will follow. Overall, the audits aim to assist local actors and to derive generic conclusions and recommendations on urban stakeholder and popular participation. It is felt that after a long period of piloting participation in urban development, sometimes applying innovative and daring methods, it is time to assess successes and failures across cities and countries. Second, the results of the audit will be discussed with the local partners, in order to create awareness of the strengths and flaws of participation and to develop a plan of action to overcome weaknesses. The plan of action comprises the development of a proposal for Cities Alliance to develop a City Development Strategy, as means to improve stakeholder participation, create synergy between development efforts and build capacity of the actors and their networks. The local partners will be assisted in this endeavour. In the end, the assistance aims to contribute to an institutional set-up, capacity and a concrete proposal for the development and/or implementation of a City Development Strategy.

1 Awassa and Nairobi were selected in consultation with Cordaid’s partners, DGIS, Cities Alliance, City Councils, Habitat Platform, Cordaid and IHS.

Process mapping: disclosing actors and citizen participation in Awassa

1

1 Introduction

1.1 Objective of the study

This report assesses the existing channels of participation through which NGOs, CBOs and the private sector influence urban decision-making and urban management in Awassa, the regional capital of Southern Nation, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS) in Ethiopia. The objectives are two-fold: to provide input into a discussion with the stakeholders on strengthening participatory processes and to provide a starting point for the development of a proposal for Cities Alliance applying a channel of participation in Awassa. Writing a proposal for Cities Alliance requires participation of all stakeholders, which tends to be weak in African cities (City Alliance evaluation report). Strengthening participatory processes is thus a first step in writing a proposal for Cities Alliance. Participation is defined as the process whereby the community, directly or through civil society organisations, shares influence and control over decisions, actions and required resources to improve their living and working conditions. Stakeholder participation is the participation of organisations. The study focuses on the role of residents, businesses, NGOs, CBOs and the Chamber of Commerce in municipal decision-making and management in Awassa. It assesses the legal and institutional environment and the capacity of the actors to participate and ongoing participatory processes. While the study briefly looked at the relationship between civil society organisations2 and civil society itself, it has not as such assessed the representativeness of the organisations. Neither has it evaluated community-based projects of NGO’s. By the same token, the study assessed the level of decentralisation and the legal and institutional environment, but has not studied the role of regional and central government in detail (see figure 1). Geographically, the study is focused on Awassa. Results of the study can not be generalised to other Ethiopian cities, but the applied methodology might be appropriate to improve urban participatory processes. Figure 1: linkages between partners

Bold lines and boxes indicate the focus of the study

2 Civil society organisations are defined as non governmental and non profit making organisations that represent residents or businesses or aim to support residents or businesses. In Awassa, they comprise NGO’s, CBO’s, religious organisations involved in development activitiies and the Chamber of Commerce.


2

Local government

Local NGOs

Businesses Private sector association

CBO’s

Cordaid

Residents Regional and national government

1.2 Methodology

The study conducts an institutional analysis and process mapping. The institutional analysis assesses the role and capacity of each actor in participatory processes and obtains insight into the relevant institutional frameworks and legal environment, key actors and stakeholders and the relationship between them. The process mapping exercise highlights channels of participation, including those affecting allocation of resources and identifies results achieved. It looks at social and political processes over time, which stakeholders are involved and how they react to the processes and decisions (direct and indirect interest, open and hidden agendas). Research questions Municipal Policy: Which are the most important ongoing policies for the urban poor? How are these policies developed and implemented? Participation: What are the legal and institutional frameworks and what results can be observed? Which municipal policies and programmes are strengthening popular participation and the empowerment of NGOs, CBOs and other civil society organisations? Are they known to and reaching poor families? Are NGOs and CBOs well articulated to promote bottom-up approaches to participation? Are community organisations of the poor less important or cohesive today than two decades ago? If so what are the reasons and what can be done to remedy this deterioration? Stakeholder Analysis: What are the strengths and weaknesses of the partners? What is the ability and willingness to participate in urban governance? Are there coherent movements of CBOs and NGO’s (such as federations) struggling for a common goal (e.g. water supply or jobs)? Partnerships and Stakeholder Agreements: Are there positive and negative partnerships to be reported? Why?


3

National and International Relations: What is known about ongoing programmes financed/supported by funding agencies from Ethiopia and abroad that complements or duplicates CORDAID’s current efforts? City Alliance and city development strategies: What criteria set by the City Alliance do partners have to meet in applying for funds? Are they capable of meeting these? How can partners set up a process to build consensus on ‘demand’ during the proposal submission process? How can the uneasiness in forging relations be dealt with, in this period and during the implementation of the city development strategy? Do the (local) government, NGOs and CBOs have the capacity to develop proposals, and to implement a city wide initiative? What support has to be given and actions have to take place to establish and execute such a process? How can capacities and awareness be built so that CORDAID’s partners make better use of current and future opportunities to access donor funds?

Research design The research comprised key informant interviews at national, regional and local level (see figure 2 and annex 1), analysis of secondary data (see annex 2) and a meeting with donor agencies and a workshop with all stakeholders. The interviews were semi-structured, using checklists. Many respondents were interviewed at least twice to complete and countercheck data. Data was collected during three

missions (November 2003 and April and May 2004). The workshop presented the draft results, allowing feedback and discussion on follow-up.

Figure 2: Meeting the Women Entrepreneurs Association, Awassa

The study team met key stakeholders in Addis Ababa and Awassa. Data was collected through open interviews, using checklists.


4

Figure 3: number of respondents Institution No of respondents National NGO’s 5 CRDA (NGO network) 3 NGO’s in Awassa 6 CBO’s 5 Chamber of Commerce 3 Private sector 1 National government 4 Regional government 3 Awassa city council 3 Sub city and Kabelle level 2 Donor agencies 6 Total 41

1.3 Action research: improving channels of participation

The study went beyond merely assessing the present situation and continued to assist in improving channels of participation. An Awassa City Development Alliance and NGO Forum were established and supported by local and international organisations. The report will briefly describe their actions taken, but it is too early to assess their performance. While improving channels of participation, constraints and opportunities for participation became visible enriching the study.


5

2 Institutional framework This section provides a brief historical overview of the institutional and legal framework in Ethiopia.

2.1 Phase 1 (until 1991): centralised government

In 1977 the infamous military Derg regime with Mengistu as its chairman replaced the imperial state. The period was characterised by centralised governance based on a repressive communist regime. From its onset, its legitimacy was challenged by EPRP agitating for democracy. However, many of its members, particularly students, disappeared during the ‘red terror’ in the period 1977-78. The government structure was repressive, which was particulary felt at the local level. Controlled unions, associations, chamber of commerces and other organisations were established, while land and industries were nationalised. The problems of repression were compounded by famine and economic collapse in the period 1984 to ’88, when Ethiopia became associated with hunger and civil war in the international media. NGO’s and in particular international NGO’s filled the gap left by government and became relief agents focusing on food supply and food for work. The legacy of this period is strongly felt in Ethiopia today. Many people associate local government structures with oppression and look at associations and other organisations as puppets of the government. Civil society and the private sector are weakly developed, whereas the NGO’s are still in the process of moving from relief to development. The arm of the Government is long, as is particularly felt in their control of land (see later). The legacy of this period thus seriously impacts on the opportunities for genuine participation of civil society and the private sector in the public domain.

2.2 Phase 2 (1990s): decentralisation with a rural focus3

When the EPRDF came to power in 1991 it proclaimed a decentralized form of government and developed a constitution that made the country a Federal Democratic Republic. According to the new Federal Constitution, Ethiopia is made up of nine ethnically defined regional states. The federal capital Addis Ababa and the special administrative region of Diredawa fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government. The government structure has three official tiers – federal, regional, and woreda and at a lower level an administrative level called ‘Kabele’. The nine regional states themselves have come up with their own constitutions over the past decade. Thus the country has taken a dramatic change in terms of its traditions of governance. This legal framework has enabled more participation of the regional states in matters that concern them. However, the role of cities remained limited as is illustrated in the quote below:

“Despite the massive decentralization initiatives, both national and regional constitutions remained silent about cities. The fate of cities could only be indirectly inferred from the constitutional provision that states that the people of Ethiopia shall exercise self-rule at the lowest level. The neglect of cities was compounded by the rural oriented Agricultural Development Led Industrialization development strategy of the government, which did not

3 From Fransen J. and A. Zigeye, 2003


6

acknowledge the contribution of cities to rural development and the development of the country in general. Rather cities were tuned to fit into the rural orientation context or managed like rural areas’ (Abay Tsehaye, July 2002 in Fransen J. and A. Zigeye, 2003).

In this period, development was primarily government-led, while the culture of centralised top-down decision-making remained. The EPRDF remained by far the biggest political party, with strong party structures at national, regional and Woreda level. Many argued that EPRDF used government land ownership as leverage for farmers to vote for them – a common practices in new democracies. NGO’s remained primarily relief-oriented with a rural focus, though they made a move towards more developmental activities. NGO’s were hardly involved in advocacy and lobbying; their activities were project focused, often at micro-level. Main reasons for the project focus were the restrictive law governing NGO’s, weak capacity of government in emergency relief and the traditional focus of NGO’s on emergency relief, which remained a key activity for NGO’s due to recurrent drought and hunger (Gebreselassia, 2003). Development thus remained the legacy of the government with EPRDF at the steering wheel.

2.3 Phase 3 (2000-): cities as engines of growth

As the Agricultural Development Led Industrialization development strategy did not manage to bring development and reduce poverty, the government drastically reviewed its policy by emphasising the importance of cities as engines of growth and the virtuous nature of the urban-rural linkage. This was heralded in the Second Five Years Program of Peace, Democracy and Development of the EPRDF which sets an objective “to enhance the role and contribution of urban centres towards economic development and therefore to improve living conditions of their residents” (EPRDF 2000). The change in policy was accompanied by a massive decentralisation process in which cities became legal entities. Amhara National Regional State led the way in 2000, with a city proclamation that gave municipalities’ legal personality and management autonomy. Later on others joined the reform movement, with SNNPRS as one of the latecomers in April 2003. All regions have come up with similar city proclamations whereby the governance structure of municipalities will include a council, a mayor and a mayor’s committee. The council will be the political body responsible for legislative and policy formulation functions. The executive function is structured of two bodies: a mayor’s committee comprising of a cabinet and a mayor presiding over the cabinet and municipal management team headed by a municipal services manager. The mayor is responsible for the overall executive functions in the city while the municipal services manager and his team is responsible for managing municipal services like land, infrastructure, waste management, utilities provision, etc. The municipal services manager reports to the mayor. During the reform process, the capacity of city councils -particularly in larger cities- improved significantly. Many functions were upscaled and better qualified staff were employed. Good governance (transparency, participation, accountability) was at the core of the urban reform process. The new city proclamations in the four developed regions and the city charter of Addis Ababa have unambiguously reflected this. This has therefore called for concerted participation of urban residents and civic associations in the development of cities. Some, like the Addis Ababa City Administration, have even put up bureaus responsible for civil participation and mobilisation of mass organisations. It is expected that civil society will be instrumental in areas like poverty


7

reduction, neighbourhood development and neighbourhood cleaning4. By the same token, public-private partnership is widely promoted allowing more room for the private sector in urban development. Yet, we must realise that cities function in a traditionally top-down organisational structure, in which public servants are primarily expected to implement orders from their boss, city officials wait for decisions from regional government and the regional government waits for decisions of national government. While the reform process has set a process in motion towards a more performance-oriented attitude, changing an organisational culture takes time. Not only institutionally, but also legally the environment for participation is somewhat improving. The recent Law for NGOs, which defines their role, is an important step and signal that NGOs are taking on a crucial and legal role in development (Government of Ethiopia, 2003). It allows the set up of forums and networks (these have been illegal and many have been disbanded in the past), a fact that will allow for groups to organise and participatory processes to occur more easily. Nevertheless, the law is regarded by many as being oppressive, adding requirements that bury NGOs in additional bureaucracy. This is clearly illustrated in the following quote:

‘Once again the … sweeping power to dissolve and cancel permits and liquidate NGOs on grounds that are illusive … has the biggest chilling effect on the independence of the sector’ (Herouye 2003).

Due to these legal limitations, activities of NGOs remain firmly within the boundaries set by government. Lobbying and advocacy hardly developed. The increased emphasis on decentralised urban development and participation of civil society organisations is reflected in an exceptionally large number of donor programmes on urban development. They take place within the context of the Sustainable Development Poverty Reduction Programme (SDPRP/PRSP) and the Millennium Development Goals. Quite a few programmes aim to create capacity of city councils, yet donor agencies complaint that ‘ we talk a lot, but nothing happens’. Many donor programmes appear to be stuck in the centralised government bureaucracy, with limited funding reaching city councils. A missing link is capacity building of civil society organisations and the private sector. These have very little experience in working with (local) governments and thus the push for decentralised ‘good’ governance remains by and large donor-driven and centralised (donor agencies are based in Addis Ababa). Yet, the interest of NGO’s in good governance is increasing, as is clearly reflected in the recent urban development strategy of CRDA and interest of some NGO’s in Awassa in the City Development Strategy (Gebreselassie T, 2003).

2.4 Conclusion: more space for participatory development?

In recent years, the government has decentralised to city level and continues to decentralise to sub-city level creating opportunities for local democracy and participation. While mayors and councillors have not yet been elected in all regions, elections are likely to take place within a few years. This move towards local democracy should be viewed within the context of a country with a short democratic history dominated by one political party.

4 Training needs assessment for leaders in emerging municipalities, June 2003.


8

Participation features high in policy statements and laws at national, regional and local level. Donor agencies actively push for participation and a stronger civil society. As such, space for participation increases. Yet, trust in the government and in particular the local government level is questionable due to the repression of the Kabeles during the Derg regime. Capacity at the lower levels of government is very limited. The question, as in any decentralisation process, is whether higher levels of government – both political and administrative – are willing to surrender influence to city councils and whether city councils are willing to share influence with NGO’s, CBO’s, residents and businesses. Space for participation is also affected by a not yet mentioned phenomenon: the isolation of Ethiopia. Geographically Ethiopia is isolated from its neighbours by deserts. Being landlocked since the independence of Eritrea further reduces opportunities for (trade) relations. Politically Ethiopia was isolated during the Derg regime, whereas development aid stopped once again during the war with Eritrea. Culturally, Ethiopia is unique with hardly any similarities with its neighbouring countries or indeed any other country on the world. Due to the isolation, most Ethiopians lack international exposure and are unaware of international trends in governance and participation. As Ethiopia has a history characterised by autocracy, we can’t expect Ethiopia to suddenly reorient itself towards a participatory and democratic society; it will first have to develop the attitudes, knowledge and skills.


9

3 Development in Awassa This section describes Ethiopia and Awassa, after which the Awassa City Development Strategy will be presented and discussed.

3.1 Ethiopia

“Ethiopia with approx. 65 million inhabitants is one of the poorest countries in the world with a per capita GDP of 100-120 US$ and an average life expectancy of 45 years. Infection with HIV is growing and has reached more than 10% of all adults (even up to 30% in urban areas). Ethiopia’s economy is based on agriculture, which accounts for half of its GDP, 85% of exports and 80% of total employment.” (Pfeiffer, 2003, p4). The urban population accounts for about 16%, with a high urbanisation rate of 5.8%. Addis Ababa is by far the biggest city, with around 3 million inhabitants. The next ten cities, including Awassa, house 100,000 to 200,000 inhabitants each.

3.2 Summary city profile

Awassa, the capital of the Southern Nation, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS), was founded in 1960. It is located 275 km south of Addis Ababa in the Rift valley, along Awassa lake. It is a pleasant but poor city with approximately 115,000 residents. Economically the city is dominated by the public sector. Administratively it became an independent legal entity as late as 28 April 2003. Since that date, Awassa is registered as a city. The amount of statistical and reliable information available on Awassa is limited, which is unfortunately reflected in this section. Population Awassa has a population of about 115,000 with a growth rate of 6.7%% (1995 census, in city council, 2003; Anteneh A, 2004; Pfeiffer, 2003). It is the centre of different religions and tribes, which has created tensions in the past. It is rumoured, for instance, that in the past preferential treatment has been given to the Sidama, the dominant tribe, in the allocation of land in Awassa. Cities in SNNPRS have a high percentage of migrants (47%), comprising primarily poor people in their teens from with the region, which is likely to have resulted in more a fragmented urban civil society. Migrants tend to be lowly educated, young and poor (Anteneh A,, 2004, p 6-10).

Figure 4: Awassa in statistics Sources: city transitional administration 2003; Anteneh A 2004 Population 113,942 (1995 census) Growth rate 4.8% - 5% Migration 46.6%(18.8% recent migrants) Vulnerable groups 48,988 (ca 30%) (2003 data) Unemployed: 25,312 (15.76%) Street children: 6,378 Orphans: 1,572 Beggars: 2,378 Commercial sex workers 3,879 Elderly: 4,780 Disabled: 2,733 Formal economy 2,318 businesses (retail 942; services 956; industry 154; wholesale 260; agriculture 6) 27% owned by women Informal economy 5,515 businesses (sex workers 1,500; cart drivers 1,290; street vendors 600; food selling 690; fishers 100, saloons 106; tailors 100; most others in petty trading) 65% owned by women Employment no statistics Health 1 health centre (no hospital) 17 private clinics 1 general medical practitioner for 18,138 residents 1 health officer for 108,828 Education Enrolment rate at primary schools in ‘ 01/02: girls 42%, boys 58%. Drop our rate: girls12%/ boys 8%. 16 kindergartens 15 primary/presec. schools 4 private colleges Debub University 60% coverage of primary education Water supply 95% gets potable water, partly from public taps Water shortages Library 1 Housing 50% private owned 17,995 people seek housing Waste collection 1 truck, 1 tractor, 16 containers 50% collected Sanitation Public toilets (septic tanks) No sewerage system Electricity 10% Drainage insufficient; flooding Land 45% vacant


10

Economic The major cash crop of SNNPR is coffee, followed by leather, spices, cotton, beans and fruit. A combination of drought and a sharp decline in international coffee prices resulted in a severe economic recession and increased poverty. In addition to poor rural infrastructure, this resulted in the underdevelopment of agricultural-led industrialisation in Awassa. Fishing in lake Awassa is according to the fishermen - who use traditional fishing methods - an economic marginal activity. Yet studies indicate a considerable potential (Anteneh A, 2004).


11

Awassa houses the regional government, regional services and a university, creating considerable public employment. The public sector is an important engine of the urban economy. Most of the formal and informal businesses are involved in trade and retail, catering the local and regional market. Formal industrial activities include food processing, such as grain mills, bakery and edible oil processing. However, it is at a low technology level, focusing on the local market. Coffee is not processed in Awassa. Tourism creates opportunities, but is as yet underdeveloped. Relatively poor standards of public services and infrastructure reduce tourism opportunities. The recently constructed excellent road to Addis Ababa has thus far hardly impacted on the urban economy. Awassa’s private sector is dominated by micro enterprises (less than 20,000 birr), particularly in the informal sector. A study in Addis Ababa concluded that 65% of the informal enterprises have an initial capital of less than 250 Birr (25 euro; UN Habitat, 2000). The most thriving informal businesses seem to be sex workers and (hand or horse) cart drivers, indicating that for many the informal sector is a survival strategy. However, the sector also includes food sellers, snack bars, vendors, saloons, tailors, fishers and others. The informal sector has very limited capital and low levels of

Figure 5: fishing in Lake Awassa – livelihoods under threat Fishing in Lake Awassa provides employment for 190 fishermen and 400 employees. Fishing is a marginal activity for the urban poor, whose livelihoods are threatened by depletion of the fishing stock: the capacity has reduced from 1,000 ton/year to 650. Main causes are silting of the lake due to deforestation (reducing oxygen levels in the lake) and overfishing. Fish is sold on the shore under unhygienic conditions: without refrigeration or washing fish is cut on stones, causing serious health hazards. The Awassa Bureau of Trade and Industry aims to address these problems, but lacks financial support.

Figure 6: low technology levels in the informal sector

This blacksmith produces farm tools, sold to government-owned farms, as a support mechanism offered by the Awassa Bureau of Trade and Industry


12

technology, with limited support mechanisms in place. The growth potential of the informal economy, it seems, primarily depends on the economic growth of Awassa, unless (national and international) export will be developed. It is not known which sectors of the informal economy have growth potential. Main constraints indicated by informal business (wo)men are lack of capital; limited demand; and no working place. Urban agriculture in Awassa in reasonably well developed, though it is primarily a survival strategy. Awassa city spreads out, with ample space for sericulture, horticulture and agriculture (Demissie M 2003). Awassa has economic potential, being located in the middle of an agricultural area, along a beautiful lake and on a recently renovated road to Addis Ababa. Poor urban governance has left the potential untapped. Awassa has the potential to become a catalyst for regional economic development. Existing urban-rural linkages are migration, markets, agricultural-led industrialization and the production of farming tools. Social The main problem of Awassa, as expressed in the City Development Strategy (Awassa City Transitional Administration 2003) and the UNDP poverty study (Anteneh A 2004), is poverty. About 50,000 people or over 30% of the city’s population live below the poverty line, most of them are food insecure (CSA, HICES, 2001 in Anteneh A, 2004). According to the statistics, urban poverty more than doubled from 2001 to 2003, most likely due to drought in the region. While the urban poor are scattered all over the city, most live in two of the seven sub-cities. The urban poor belong to the vulnerable groups, particularly female headed households, elderly, street children, handicapped and disabled, daily labourers, unemployed and beggars. They are economically destitute and socially marginalized. Their priority needs include food, shelter, medical care and employment opportunities. Coping mechanisms include begging and marginal economic activities, as well as support from traditional CBO’s (see next section; Anteneh A, 2004). While Awassa provides social services for the region, the standard of services is poor. Particularly the low school enrolment ratio is alarming, affecting the future potential of the region. The agricultural university is hardly involved in regional development and not seen as a development opportunity. Health services are free of charge, but difficult to access. A hospital, to cater the region, is constructed at the moment. Poor environmental conditions, such as flooding and lack of sanitation, result in water-borne deceases. HIV Aids is increasing, but statistics are not available. The security in the region, as stated above, is improving, but the risk of tribal conflict remains. Many people note the relative openness of Southern Nations and their willingness to accept new ideas. This is often considered to be a consequence of the many ‘nations and states’ living together. It resulted in an influx of development organisations in Southern Nations, finding an open and willing partner for development. Physical environment While the city has a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere, the standard of physical services is poor: the city has a severe housing

Figure 7: the dilapidated state of infrastructure in Awassa

The market in Awassa houses 330 registered businesses and 400 informal businesses. On market days it is visited by 4,000 t0 5,000 people. This picture illustrates the dilapidated state of infrastructure on the market. The city council wants to upgrade the market in order to boost the urban and regional economy, but lacks skills funds and skills to prepare the required documents to obtain funding.


13

shortage; solid waste is a key problem with only one truck which collects about 50% of the solid waste; water and sanitation facilities are of poor quality or absent in some of the poorer Kabeles; roads are in poor condition; only 10% of the houses have electricity; and poor drainage systems result in flooding. The building technology (clay and wood) and the traditional cooking method (wood stoves) result in deforestation and environmental degradation. Deforestation in combination with overfishing results in depletion of the fishing stock (see box).


14

Urban-rural linkages Awassa has an important regional function as the political and administrative capital of Southern Nations. It also plays an important social economic role, as remittances provide income for the rural hinterland and (informal) urban jobs function as a safety net for the rural poor. It is however questionable whether Awassa can be classified as the economic capital of Southern Nations. Due to the peculiar shape of Southern Nations, about half of the trade of the region is directly with Addis Ababa without passing through Awassa. Furthermore, another secondary city, Shishimane, is located 20 km from Awassa on the road towards Addis Ababa at a major road junction5. Shishimane has an important trade function. The economic importance of Awassa is thus limited to its direct hinterland, with the market in Awassa as its physical centre.

3.3 City Development Strategy 2004-06 (CDS)6

Awassa City Administration prepared its first CDS in the period October-December 2003. It comprises a brief profile of the city and office, stakeholder analysis, SWOT analysis, vision and mission statement, values, description of municipal departments, priority strategies, activities, human resource plan and an activity-based budget. This section will highlight key elements of the 59-paged document. Vision By 2015, Awassa will be an ideal centre for residence, industry and social services without poverty, with a maximum level of participation of development forces and good governance, with basic social, economic and administrative infrastructure. The vision thus focuses on poverty alleviation through the provision of basic services and good governance. The poverty focus may be an indirect affect of the participative poverty study conducted by UNDP at the same time. Mission (strategy) Protecting the environment of city dwellers by timely collection of revenues, participation of governments, NGOs, CBOs and residents and prompt and modern services. In a way, the mission statement provides for a strategy to work towards the vision. Values The values include honesty, good governance, gender equality and quality assurance. Priority areas The document lists 17 ‘priority strategies’, which are in fact priority problems. The CDS describes them in order of priority. They can be grouped in five priority areas: Small, medium and micro scale enterprise development Housing and shelter Municipal reform Social services Local economic development It is interesting to note that all priority areas have a distinct focus on urban poverty alleviation, in line with the vision of Awassa (see box). Due to this focus on poverty the CDS does not reflect

5 The fact that Shishimane is located in Oromia region creates administrative and political difficulties in treating the two ‘sister’ cities as one functional urban region. 6 Source: Awassa City Transitional Administration 2003


15

activities that aim to create economic development in a broader sense. For example, the city council allocates land for agriculture-led industries, such as coffee processing. This is expected to impact on the urban and regional economy, but as it lacks a poverty focus it is totally omitted in the strategic plan. By the same token, the City Council aims to upgrade the market place, which lacks even basic infrastructure and services. Again the prime objective is economic development and not poverty alleviation, hence it is not addressed in the strategic plan. Some success of these economic policies became evident in May 2004 however, when a multinational company decided to invest in an edible oil factory in Awassa, likely to create 300 jobs. In total, 8 new factories were established the last years.


16

Figure 8: Priorities according to the City Development Strategy, Awassa They have been grouped in priority areas to provide a better overview (source: Awassa City Transitional Administration 2003). Priority area 1: Small, Medium and Micro Scale Enterprise (SMME) development The following mentioned problems relate to SMME development: Priority 1 Lack of credit services for SMME’s Priority 5 Lack of work place for SMME’s Priority 6 Lack of market information Priority 9 Growing number of illegal businesses The objective of the SMME office of city council is to create 3,106 job opportunities in SMME’s. The following mechanisms are mentioned to address the priorities: Developing a revolving fund (micro credit); Improve repayment rates of micro credit; Training 2,000 operators, establish 10,000 self employed; advise and surveys (the plan also mentions extension services); Establish an information centre to share market information ; Rent land to SMME’s (the government has started allocating temporary sheds to street vendors, called ‘gullits’); Reduce the number of illegal businesses by 90% through workshops and inspection; Trade fairs. Priority area 2: Housing and shelter The identified priority areas are: Priority 2 Limitation of housing development Priority 12 Inadequate distribution of infrastructure The mechanisms to implement the strategy include the construction of 150 low-cost houses (of which 100 to be constructed by NGO’s), the allocation of about 5,500 plots for housing, organising housing (construction) associations, conducting a housing construction study and preparing standard designs. The council also aims to construct a 17 km asphalt road, conduct a road renovation study and a sewerage study. Priority area 3: Municipal reform Many mentioned priorities are linked to the ongoing reform process: Priority 3 Poor revenue Priority 8 Planning problems Priority 11 Failure to give society updated and accurate information Priority 13 Inadequate manpower Priority 14 Limitation to give modern and prompt financial services Priority 17 Slowness of manpower, finance and material These priorities are addressed as part of the municipal reform programme. Municipal performance and governance can also be improved as part and parcel of housing and SMME programmes, the first two priorities. Priority area 4: Social services Three priorities are mentioned, though the strategy also notes that it aims to increase school enrolment ratio to 80% and to improve access to health services. These are however not seen as priorities. Priority 4 Give prompt justice services to the society Priority 10 Limited participation of the society in health and education Priority 15 Limited participation of the society in sports and associations These priorities will be addressed by training security forces, realising the Justice Reform Programme, awareness creation, strengthening participation in schools, establishing youth sport clubs and training. Priority area 5: Local economic development In addition to SMME development, the plan lists priority 16 ‘Utilization problem of animal and fish resources’. Activities of the SMME department also include the following: Allocate and distribute about 8,000 hens, 1,000 sheep, 700 oxen and 42 milk goats; Vaccination of animals.


17

Budget allocation 2004-06 The budget for the priority areas is presented in table 3, while table 4 provides the full financial plan for city council7(in birr, exchange rate 8.9 to euros). The government budget for SMME development is close to euro 300,000 and for housing and infrastructure it amounts to euro 500,000. NGO’s and residents are both expected to contribute about euro 600,000 in total. About 30% of the local government budget will be spend on priority areas. Figure 9: Awassa budget on priority areas

Budget Sector Government Society NGO

SMME development 2,842,971 (20%) Housing and shelter 4,409,792 (31%) 600,000 4,678,000 Human resource development and participation at schools

4,790.540 (34%) 4,989,040

Justice system and participation in sports and association

2,105,390 (15%)

Municipal reform 2,956,891 (21%) 1,492,792 Total 14,319,835 5,589,040 6,170,792

Figure 10: Awassa budget 2004-06 Budget Budget line Government Society NGO

Salaries 42.9 mln Work expenses 13.6 mln Capital budget 13.5 mln 5.4 mln 8.2 mln Total 70.0 mln 5.4 mln 8.2 mln

3.4 Analysis of the CDS

This CDS was the first ever developed in Southern Nations and took place as the first round of CDS’s in Ethiopia. It was developed without preparing a thorough city profile; in fact one of the mentioned activities in the CDS is to study the social economic environment. As a result, the CDS primarily reflects the opinions of all stakeholders, but not the facts. The result of this approach is that the strategy is a wish list instead of a calculated, balanced and realistic plan. The key comment on the CDS is that the described vision of Awassa does not do justice to the unique features of Awassa and its hinterland. In fact one can argue that any city government would subscribe the vision of Awassa: which city does not want to be an ideal centre for residents and adhere to good governance? The question is: what unique features create such an ideal environment and bring all actors together? Should Awassa develop tourism around its lake, attract industries to process agricultural produce or become a knowledge-economy based on its university? How? These decisions will impact on the budget of Awassa and have not been made in the CDS. In informal discussions it became clear that city council decided to focus on agribusiness, which is not addressed in the strategy at all. The strategy has a consistent poverty focus, which is understandable as poverty was identified as the core problem. However, one can question the strategy to alleviate poverty. Can poverty in Awassa be alleviated based on the noted strategies or should economic development, tourism and investments come into the equation? This is a fundamental issue. For example, the Department of Trade and Industries provides silk worms and fruit trees to the urban poor. This

7 Differences between the two tables occur, as NGO’s and the society also contribute to non-priority issues, whereas expenses for municipal reform may include salaries and work expenses.


18

alleviates urban poverty and reduces vulnerability of households, which is commendable. But the impact on the economy is likely to be marginal and sustainability is questionable. The department does not focus its support on SMME’s with economic potential, quite in the contrary. While the CDS identifies distinct priority problems, their solutions tend to be isolated and sectoral. For instance, the solution of poor housing is the provision of houses and infrastructure. These infrastructure works have important economic and environmental impacts, which have not been considered8. It also remains unclear how and why SMME development will contribute to local economic development, considering the limited regional market for products and services of SMME’s and hence the dependence on agricultural production or the opening of new national and international markets. Since the CDS does not provide an economic analysis and lacks economic data, it is impossible to assess what the impact of the proposals is likely to be. Finally, various respondents noted that the government budget far outreaches its present income. This strengthens the impression of an unrealistic strategy. We should however realise that it is easy to criticise a strategy. Yet, the CDS does provide a useful starting point for development. Importantly, the strategy has legitimacy, as the partners, residents and businesses are committed due to their active participation in the process. This fact alone leads to the conclusion that the CDS should be accepted. The strategy identifies priority areas (housing, SMME and LED, etc) and notes the need for participatory development. Municipal reform has been linked to the CDS and municipal budgets have been reallocated to the identified to priority problems. Further strategies can be worked out in implementation plans for each priority area based on surveys/ city profiles. This provides a learning ground for the next CDS process, in three years time.

8 Two examples can be mentioned: (1) infrastructure construction creates employment and economic development. (2) at present most houses are constructed from wood, which results in serious deforestation. Alternative construction materials may have less impact on the environment.


19

4 Stakeholders and their role This section analysis the role of major stakeholders in urban management and development. It focuses on the role of stakeholders in economic development.

4.1 Regional government

According to the new Federal Constitution, Ethiopia is made up of nine ethnically defined regional states, with the power to elect their leaders and make policies and laws. Among others, regional governments developed City Proclamations, in which they decide the mandate and structure of city councils. Southern Nations was one of the last regions to develop the proclamation and as such benefited from experiences of other regions. While each region could thus develop its own administrative structures, reality is different: the mandate and structure of city councils are similar across all regions. This signals the underlying centrality that characterises Ethiopia. The Regional Government plays a pivotal and initiating role in urban development. The Regional Trade, Industry and Urban Development Coordination Bureau is in charge of urban and economic development. The main player in the field of urban development, the Urban Development Bureau, is understaffed but has considerably more capacity than city councils, particularly in smaller cities which lack the most basic capacity. Their advice tends to be followed up. For instance, the Bureau developed guidelines on preparing the City Development Strategy (based on national guidelines), which were implemented to the letter by every council in Southern Nations. As the regional government is housed in Awassa, the regional and local government work closely together, to the point of being entwined. Both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor were working for regional government before they were appointed.

NGO registration and coordination Government - NGO collaboration is described in the ‘guideline to collaboration among the regional government, community and NGO’s operating in SNNPRS’ (SNNPRS, 2002). According to the guideline, large projects (above 2 million Birr) are registered at regional level and smaller projects at zonal level (including Awassa). The guidelines are severe, including a registration period of one year only. Whereas all actors herald the relatively openness towards NGO’s in Southern Nations, some note that registration procedures hamper a critical attitude of NGO’s. It is worth noting that despite the relative openness, quite a few government staff view NGO’s as a waste of scarce resources (see section on local government). NGO coordination desks are established at regional and city level, but not at Kabele level where NGO projects operate9. The regional government aims to establish an government – NGO committee, but this has not yet materialised (SNNPRS, 2002).

Regional trade and industry The Regional Trade, Industry and Urban Development Coordination Bureau is responsible for both urban and economic development. It has a considerable influence on urban development and urban economic policies and practices. For instance, the Bureau is entitles to lease (urban) land to investors and assists investors in obtaining registrations and loans. The regional

9 At regional level, the Finance and Economic Development Coordination Bureau coordinates NGO’s.

Figure 11: National policy for SMME development

Sectoral focus Activity focus Clothing and tailoring; Metal work Wood work Construction material and services Leather Cotton Urban agriculture Cleaning and parking Packaging Food preparation

Micro finance; Training; Extension workers; Networking; and clustering


20

government thus maintains a strong say in urban land and urban economic development. Both take place in consultation with city council, seemingly without any conflict. Space to develop local economic policies in participation with all stakeholders is however severely limited by the strong regional influence, not to mention the influence of national economic policies. For instance, the national policy to support SMME’s is mirrored at regional and city level, with little attention to local differences (see box).

Conclusion National and regional government have a strong influence on urban management and development, despite being understaffed themselves. This heritage of centralisation limits opportunities for participation at city level. From a positive perspective, national and regional government provide much needed guidance and support to local governments.

4.2 Local government

Since City Council became an independent legal entity on 28 April 2003, it has been going through major reforms in order to become performance- and client oriented. The Regional Government appointed a qualified Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Heads of Departments. They in turn appointed qualified staff, though the number of qualified staff remains limited. For instance, the council employs only one engineer who just graduated from university. The newly appointed management team has established seven sub-cities (Kebeles) with 38 subkebeles, 166 menders and 333 severs. At these lower levels of government, Local Development Committees (LDC) were established, comprising elected community members with the task to mobilise the community, create awareness and mobilise community participation for minor works. The capacity at these ‘lower’ levels is severely limited. The new management team proves more open for NGO and community initiatives. For instance, the Mayor chaired a one-day workshop with NGO’s to obtain their support of the City Development Strategy and initiated an NGO-City Council forum to continue discussion. Unfortunately the forum has not met again. The mayor and other city council staff mentioned a recent GTZ funded water project as a best practice of participation among actors (see box). The Mayor also noted a project of the NGO ‘RLO’, in which the local government provided land, the private sector paid and the NGO and community constructed a market. Within city council, the task to coordinate development endeavours has been given to the Financial and Economic Development Committee. Significantly the committee only comprises council staff, illustrating that in the end the government decides on development in Awassa. The role of NGO’s is seen as contributing to the City Development Strategy within a framework set by government, at best NGO’s will be consulted in decision making. Opinions on NGO’s and CBO’s differ widely among government staff. During a workshop a participant noted that NGO’s misuse donor funding and spend all money on four-wheel drives. It was also noted that the role of NGO’s is to implement priorities set by government. This top down approach and mistrust, a heritage of the Derg regime, is also reflected in the registration laws for NGO’s, which allows government to withdraw registration of NGO’s.


21

Figure 12: A public-civil partnership The Millennium Development Goal project of GTZ funded a small-scale project to provide drinking water through a water container in a low-income Kebele in Awassa. The project was implemented in a partnership between various actors: GTZ provided funding to Mary Joy City council approved the project Awassa Town Water Supply Authority provided technical assistance for the construction Mary Joy managed the project and organised the community jointly with the Kabele Development Committee The community, through the Kabele Development Committee, provided free labour

Figure 13: Waiting for the city manager…..

Managers of Awassa City Councils deal with many routine activities, leaving very little time for participation with stakeholders and strategic decision-making. This indicates the interim stage of municipal reform.


22

When the shortcomings in collaboration with NGO’s were discussed with local government, the Mayor expressed interest to establish an Awassa City Development Alliance (ACDA) in which local government and representatives from civil and private sector discuss implementation of the City Development Strategy. The ACDA met various times, but in the process a major constraint became visible. Municipal leaders spend most time on routine activities; for instance, the city manager personally deals with land conflicts and has a long line of visitors outside his door at any time. It proved virtually impossible for him to find time to prepare and attend these strategic meetings despite his good intentions. Another mentioned problem in Awassa has been a high turnover rate of municipal staff (Anteneh A, 2004, p 5). This leads to the conclusion that the momentum for participation that exists is hampered by the continued need for municipal reform.

Awassa Bureau of Trade and Industry The Awassa Bureau of Trade and Industry has committed and qualified staff, proud of their achievements. They actively support individual SMME’s and households in establishing small-scale economic activities by providing basic equipment, housing and assistance in marketing and management. For instance, they provide fruit trees and silk worms to households. They assist an informal blacksmith to construct farm tools to be sold to government farms. They also provide a group of unemployed liberation army fighters with farmland (without any form of title deed and thus any motivation to invest). In line with national policies the bureau is particularly active in developing associations (see box). They would like to provide more assistance, but lack funds.

Figure 14: Action plan 2005 of the Awassa Bureau of Trade and Industry The action plans includes the following activities: Provide technical training to at least 2,000 operators Provide work places Provide workshops for metal and wood works Improve the market place Set up 10,000 self employed Provide a full package of support to 1,106 entrepreneurs Promote siriculture, horticulture and dairing Improve the fish market and processing City beautification programme

The plan in action….

The Bureau supports among others 89 women weavers and 34 men, who have been organised into an association selling traditional clothes. The Bureau actively assists the women and men by providing free housing, marketing support through government outlets and management of the association. The women and men were happy with the support provided. However, the impact on the urban economy is unclear. Awassa has a thriving home-based weaving industry, which now receives subsidized competition from government-supported associations.


23

The Bureau has good contacts with the Chamber of Commerce and Women Entrepreneurs Association, but they stress the limited capacity of these organisations. They do not involve them in their work, nor build their capacity. While the Bureau performs an important role, it has not (yet) made the move from being a provider of services to that of an enabler. It supports SMME’s, associations and households directly, instead of providing indirect support through private sector organisations, such as the Chamber of Commerce, micro-finance institutes or training centres. As a result, hardly any opportunities for participation exist and private sector organisations thus have a meagre role. This results in a vicious circle: as private sector organisations have little capacity the bureau provides services itself, which provides no motivation to establish or strengthen private sector organisations.

Conclusion The capacity and willingness of city council to involve the private and civil sector in urban development are increasing, but opportunities for participation are limited by the level of decentralisation, the attitude of some government staff towards the private and civil sector and the oppressive amount of routine activities that municipal leaders conduct. The case study of the Awassa Bureau of Industry illustrates the tendency of city council to provide services itself, instead of involving its partners in policy making and service delivery.

4.3 Grassroot organisations

At community level three kinds of organisations can be found. After discussing each separately, conclusions will be drawn.

Iddirs Iddirs are traditional saving groups for funerals. Everyone is a member of an Iddir, despite the fact that members have to pay a membership fee. Iddirs select their own leaders in public meetings. Being member of an Iddir is important for cultural reasons and provides a social network that assists members to overcome shocks and reduces vulnerability. Various respondents noted that Iddirs played a crucial role in survival during the Derg regime and contributed to peace in between the Derg and present regime. Iddirs have an ambiguous relationship with the government and NGO’s. They are afraid that the government takes their money and they lose their independence. It is their independence that allows them to play a fundamental role in Ethiopian society. Yet, many wish to become more developmental oriented, which is a government-dominated domain.

Figure 15: Public-civil partnership on waste management Anteneh A, 2004, p12 Mary Joy took the initiative to involve four Iddirs in solid waste collection. The Iddirs collect waste at the rate of 0.50 Birr service charge per sack and create environmental awareness, using four donkey cards. Iddirs appreciate the business and their contribution to urban sanitation. Municipal officials and community members also appreciate the initiative.

Figure 16: community meeting

The NGO ‘van de Leij Foundation’ organised a community meeting to discuss an integrated housing project with the residents.


24

Eight years ago, the Iddirs in Awassa established an NGO, called ‘Save the Generation’ that aims to create behavioural change on HIV/Aids. The NGO was a direct affect of the threat that HIV/Aids poses on the members of Iddirs and on their financial sustainability. By using the influential organisational structure of Iddirs, the NGO successfully fights HIV/Aids and provides an example on how Iddirs can play a more developmental role. The NGO works rather independently from other NGO’s and government (besides being registered) and obtains funds directly from donor-agencies. Recently, 104 Iddirs in Awassa have established an Iddir Association with a wider developmental mandate, supported by the NGO ‘Mary Joy’. While the Association has no financial means of its own, it represents all Iddirs and therefore all residents of Awassa. However, the association complaints of being ignored by local government and NGO’s – including Mary Joy – and is unclear of its own mandate.

Community Development Committees (CDC’s) NGO’s in Awassa routinely establish CDC’s for project implementation. CDC membership generally includes the Kebele administrator and representatives of Iddirs and associations, while the NGO functions as its secretary. They are thus better described as Project Committees representing key actors of a project, instead of community based organisations representing community interests. Involving key actors in the CDC is a strategy of NGO’s to obtain support from Kabeles in project implementation, as various NGO leaders noted. It illustrates the overprotective role that government plays in development. Some NGOs have established User Groups or other forms of community representation as sub-committees of the CDC. WCDO, for instance, assists the community to set up user groups for each of its project activities. NGOs spend considerable time and energy creating and strengthening CDC’s and their subcommittees. However, it is doubtful whether these organisations are sustainable, as they comprise an ad-hoc combination of representatives of local organisations. The legal status of CDC’s is unclear, hence NGOs are unsure if they can hand-over project equipment to CDC’s. Third, it is likely – and according to some NGO and CDC members even recommendable – for NGOs to work with the recently developed Local Development Committees instead, as they fall under the formal Kabele structure. This would ensure local government support and result in a more sustainable organisational structure.

Local Development Committees (LDC) Local development committees have recently –April 2004– been established all over Ethiopia, strongly pushed by the national government. This can be seen as a response to criticism of limited community participation at Kabele level (Antaneh A, 2004, p 11). Their objective is to mobilise the community to support developmental activities at Kabele level, reporting to Kebele and lower levels within Government. Each LDC comprises 15 members, selected by the community in a public meeting. Members include representatives of the Iddir and associations, whereas the Kabele administrator calls for the meetings and attends as a non-voting member. The opinions of stakeholders on Local Development Committees differ widely. Some see it as a tool for political control, whereas others regard them as genuine opportunities for participation in local development. Various respondents noted that Kabeles were tools of oppression in the passed Derg regime, which colours the opinion of residents. The fact that the Kabele administrator calls for meetings and attends meetings, is seen as prove of the political control


25

theory. One respondent said ‘when Kabeles call meetings, 25% of the residents attend; when an Iddir calls a meeting, 90% will attend’. On the other hand, many give the committees the benefit of the doubt. As one member stated: ‘as long as the committees have no money, it will be democratic’. Another member stated that ‘as a member I am unpaid. If it proves not viable I can easily quit’. Some NGOs consider using LDCs as their project implementation units, instead of their own CDCs. As one NGO leader stated: ‘using LDCs will give easy access to the support of Kabeles’. Many NGO leaders expressed willingness to capacitate LDC’s in order to increase their sustainability. Each LDC is expected to have a bank account, in which both the Local Government and the community contribute. Community contributions will be collected by LDC members, a process that was first used in Addis Ababa about ½ year ago. Critics note that residents have no choice but to pay, as the local government controls a major part of local land, houses and other resources. A major concern is that LDCs, as newly established committees, lack capacity to provide the services that local government and the community expect. It is questionable whether the community and local government are willing to contribute again if their first contributions have gone to waste.

Conclusions With the exception of Iddirs, all grassroot organisations have vertical dependency relationships with the government. Neither the ‘project committees’ supported by NGO’s nor the Local Development Committees provide the independence required to truly represent communities. I have not found any CBO that grew organically in order to jointly fight local problems. Iddirs are the only noticeable exception, but are primarily saving groups. Their dilemma is that they want to keep their independence yet become involved in development, in a government-dominated environment.

4.4 NGOs

Traditionally, NGO’s based in Awassa have a regional and rural focus. Droughts in 1973/74 and 1984/85 and – to a lesser extend – 2002/03 resulted in a focus on emergency relief. The past 10 years however, NGO’s moved towards long-term development activities, including urban poverty alleviation. By now, Awassa houses a relatively large number of small NGO’s, primarily focusing on community-based development at Kabele level. Most NGO’s agree on projects in community meetings after needs assessments at community level. The NGO’s have a good understanding of their Kabele(s) and their projects are well appreciated by the community. Contact with the government focuses on project implementation. Kabele administrators are members of Community Development Committees to ease the implementation process. The limited capacity at Kabele level is seen as a major constraint, but none of the NGO’s moved to build capacity of its partner indicating the strong project/output focus of the NGO’s. Cooperation with city council was only recently established, as the council had no formal role before April 2003. Coordination among NGO’s is weak, with each of them focusing on ‘their’ Kabele(s). The government policy to spread the NGO’s across Kabeles may have contributed to this lack of networking, though recent studies conducted by NGO’s conclude that the government does not attempt to dictate priorities or locations of NGO’s (Gebreselassie, 2003, p 47).


26

The only ‘NGO’ focusing on capacity building of regional government is SNV10. SNV decided to focus on Southern Nations in 2003. As an SNV representative explained: ‘Southern Nations is a relatively open community, possibly due to the fact that it comprises many ethnic groups. It has a dynamic and accessible regional government’. SNV is the only organisation in Awassa with experienced international staff in the areas of governance, participation and private sector development. CRDA, the Ethiopian network of NGO’s, opened a regional office in Awassa about 1 year ago, as part of a policy to increase networking at regional level. Their representative in Awassa is a dynamic young professional, who unfortunately receives very little support from its head quarters. The fact that he has no computer, a temporary office and hardly any advisory support limits his potential. He nevertheless moved ahead and organised a first meeting of NGO’s in Southern Nations. The objective is to establish a network of NGO’s, linked to an envisaged forum of all development actors at regional level, headed by the regional government. CRDA is keen to establish an urban committee within the network. CRDA, SNV and IHS jointly initiated a first meeting of the urban NGO Forum, to discuss the role of NGO’s in city-wide development with its other partners. Recently the CRDA represenative joint an international NGO, leaving Awassa again without NGO networking.

10 Officially SNV is not registered as an NGO in Ethiopia.


27

Figure 17: NGO’s working in Awassa

Name NGO Sectors SNV Southern Portfolio (SESP)

Capacity building at regional, woreda and Kabele level in Southern Nations, with a focuse on local governance, natural resource management and private sector development. SNV provides technical advise and training, but does not fund activities

Mary Joy Integrated community development, including infrastructure provision, housing, alternative technologies and saving and credit schemes

WCDO – Women Coordination development Committee

Integrated community development, including credit and saving associations

RLO – Resurrection and Life Aid through Development

‘Contribute towards bringing about improved quality of life and self reliance among disadvantages groups in its target areas’ (RLO, no date). Sectors are integrated community development, including housing and health.

Manna Child Care Child development SOS Kinderdorfer Child development Addis Development Vision Focusing on people with disabilities and SME

development Awassa Catholic Secretariat

Education and health by providing schools and primary health care

Save the children NGO established by Iddirs working on HIV/Aids People in need Rural education Tila WLHAA Association of women living with HIV Aids VOCA Organises rural associations. Considering to work in

Awassa. Medan Acts HIV Aids and income generation, primarily a rural focus Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association

Legal lobby group

NGO’s express that Local Government became more open for their ideas since decentralisation took place in 2003. They were content with the consultative process followed in the City Development Strategy and by-and-large felt that their input has been included in the strategy. However, they missed follow-up activities after the plan has been approved and expressed that government staff were over committed and therefore inaccessible. In the discussions it became clear that NGO’s in Awassa lack knowledge of and experience on city consultations and urban policy. None of the NGO’s expressed a vision on long-term urban development in Awassa and hence their potential contribution to the strategy was limited. The discussions illustrated their focus on solving immediate problems of their target group, the urban poor at Kabele level.

4.5 Private sector

This section discusses private sector representatives and support given to the private sector by banks and NGO’s.


28

Chamber of Commerce (CoC) The Chamber of Commerce has a dynamic chairman and deputy chairman, who both volunteer their time. The chamber is heavily under-resourced: they have no paid staff and lack basic office equipment. The CoC aims to increase its membership and provide basic services, ever since they re-established the Chamber of Commerce in 2000. In the past, businesses were obliged to be members of the Chamber of Commerce, which was not appreciated by the business community. When this rule was abolished in 1996, the CoC collapsed. Now the Chamber of Commerce re-emerged and has established a membership of about 200. The CoC is eager to provide training and business support, particularly for informal sector operators. They have provided some training to date, including courses on HIV/Aids at the working floor. They expressed the need for more information and studies on the informal sector to be able to provide better and more targeted services. They also expressed the particular problems of female entrepreneurs and their wish to work more closely with the Women Enterpreneurs Association. The CoC is as yet a marginal organisation. They express that the attitude of the government towards the private sector improved considerably. The new local government is more accessible and favourable towards the private sector. However, the CoC and government do not run joint activities or support each other’s activities.

Micro Finance Institutes (MFIs) Awassa has a number of banks, two of which provide micro credit in Southern Nations (Omo and Adama bank). Both are government banks applying the same interest rate (15%) and procedures. Access to micro credit is limited in Ethiopia, particularly for the poor and informal sector operators. MFIs tend to focus on the somewhat better off. A second note is that micro credit is not linked to business development services (MEDF 2001). In fact, it is worth noting that the target group of MFIs (middle income) and the Awassa Bureau of Trade and Industry differ resulting in a fragmented policy. Three NGOs11 provide saving and credit schemes within ‘their’ kabele. These schemes are integrated within the activities of the NGO, including some business development services, but are not linked to other actors and not registered as MFI’s. Chances to scale up are limited due to institutional and legal constraints, including limited capacity on micro credit and business development support within the NGO’s. They note that the government trusts the government banks, resulting in a monopoly position (see also MEDF 2001 and Gebreselassie 2003 (2)).

Business Development Support Business Development Support is hardly developed at all. Somme support is provided by Associations, whereas some NGO’s provide training and business development, particularly focusing on the urban poor (see also Gebreselassie 2003(2)).

Idirs and Iqqubs Idirs and Iqqubs are important financial players in Ethiopia: idirs deposit their considerable funds in the banks and Iqqubs are traditional Rotating Saving and Credit Association. Members of an Iqqub can be from the same neighbourhood, profession, workplace or ethnic background. ‘In 1995, the National Bank of Ethiopia estimated that Iqqubs mobilise at 8-10% GDP’ (Gesses D

11 Mary Joy, RLO and WDCO


29

and S Chane, 2002). This study did not find any linkage between Iqqubs and other players in urban development.

Associations Ethiopia has many associations, including Youth, Women and Fishers Associations, who represent groups of residents and businesses. The government has the policy to establish more associations along sectoral lines, such as the association of weavers who make traditional clothes (see section 4.2). In that discussion the dependency on local government was mentioned. Some respondents also noted high levels of political interference in the associations. As a result, it is unclear who the associations really represent. Various respondents were member of the CDC, Iddir, LDC and associations. This indicates that community leaders are involved in all grassroot organisations.

Women entrepreneurs association Southern Nations has a Women Entrepreneurs Association, established in the year 2000. With 500 members in Awassa alone (and 1,200 in Southern Nations) it represents an important segment of the informal sector. They have been trained on business development services by the ILO and have organised a few training courses and a trade fair. The chairlady and deputy chairlady are motivated by provide more and better services, but lack resources. The association has plans to work with city council, which is willing to provide land for female entrepreneurs. They note more openness of local government towards the private sector.

Conclusion Awassa lacks institutional capacity to support private sector development. The private sector is weakly represented. In fact, no actor represents the private sector or has an overview of economic activities in Awassa. Support services are at best fragmented and often absent, with limited coordination between the actors. Particularly the informal sector is weakly represented. As SMME development is the top priority of the City Development Strategy the lack of representation and limited level of capacity and coordination are disheartening.

4.6 International development assistance

An increasing amount of international programmes aim to develop cities and alleviate urban poverty. The World Bank programmes Capacity Building for Decentralised Service Delivery (CBDSD, World Bank 2002) and its larger successor Public Service Delivery Capacity Building Programmes (PSCAP) are by far the largest programmes, including a budget of above 170 million US$ for urban development. As their names suggest, they focus in first instance on capacity building of regional and local governments. The logical sequence of the programme is to first decentralise, followed by capacity building and finally to invest in services and infrastructure. Within Awassa respondents felt that the programmes were helpful, but did not as yet assist in tackling concrete local problems due to the initial focus on capacity building. As various people noted ‘they talk a lot, but nothing happens’. Respondents found it difficult to assess the importance of the programmes for local development, as no immediate support was offered for service delivery and infrastructure. Some understood the need to first build capacity to manage infrastructure projects, but many would prefer to ‘learn by doing’. It was also observed that funds remain in Addis Ababa, which city council has much more capacity and potential to influence decisions of donor agencies. GTZ and KFW noted these complaints and established an Urban Development Fund to provide assistance and funding for improved infrastructure and services in secondary cities. This fund, which is managed by the Urban Development Capacity Building Office of the Ministry of Federal Affairs, has only recently been established (end 2004).


30

Most international development assistance focuses on local governments, whereas international NGO’s support micro projects of NGO’s in Awassa. This leaves a gap in the middle: capacity building of intermediate organisations, such as the Chamber of Commerce, local NGO’s, CBO’s, human rights organisations, etcetera. These organisations play a pivotal role in city consultations and – in a broader sense – in local democracy. The EU is presently developing a Civil Society Fund to address this omission. International assistance in the field of the urban economy is largely ignored, with the exception of supporting Small, Micro and Medium Scale Enterprises. Economic projects tend to have a rural focus, which is understandable as 80% of employment is in agriculture. Urban projects focus on the traditional roles of local governments – service and infrastructure delivery – which is also understandable. However, the end result is that hardly any assistance is provided to create cities as engines of economic growth.


31

Figure 18: major urban international cooperation in Ethiopia and Awassa

Name programme Description Capacity Building for Decentralised Service Delivery (CBDSD, World Bank, 2002-2005)

The CBDSD aims to improve service delivery performance by building public sector capacity at federal, regional and local levels. The project commenced in 2002 and is completed in August 2005. This proposal links closely to CBDSD, by assisting to build capacity in local economic development. This received little attention to date. Support to date focused on capacity building.

Public Service Delivery Capacity Building Programme (PSCAP, World bank, 2005 onwards)

PSCAP aims to improve the scale, efficiency and responsiveness of public service delivery at federal, regional and local level, to empower citizens to participate in improving their local environment and to promote good governance and transparency. It includes six components, of which urban management capacity building is one. This proposal is complementary to PSCAP, as it focuses on two sectors (LED and housing) and on capacity building outside the government sector.

Capacity Building in Governance Programme Urban Development Fund (KFW, GTZ)

This includes a Millennium Development Goals project, technical assistance and housing project in Addis Ababa and the Municipal Management and Policy A euro 15 million fund has recently been established under the Urban Development Capacity Building Office of the Ministry of Federal Affairs. It aims to enable local governments to provide additional infrastructure and services corresponding to the needs of users and in particular low-income groups. These investments should be linked to CDS’s (Government of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia, 2004).

UNDP Conducted a poverty assessment in selected cities, including Awassa to develop an urban poverty alleviation programme

SNV Ethiopia Southern Portfolio (SESP)

SNV assists Southern Nations to improve governance and empower people, organisations and institutions by supporting the regional government and its partners through advice. They focus on local governance, natural resources and private sector development. SESP has a regional instead of an urban focus.

Support business organizations and their access to markets in Ethiopia, RNE (proposal)

The Royal Netherlands Embassy aims to establish a project to support value chains, based on selected agricultural products, in Southern Nations.

EU (proposals on training of municipal leaders and a civil society fund)

Considering to establish a Civil Society Fund for human rights and advocacy NGO’s Conducted a training needs assessment of municipal leaders to develop a programme to build capacity among municipal leaders.

4.7 Conclusion

Decentralisation has created more opportunities for actors to collaborate, but reality lacks behind. The local government has a tendency to operate on its own, whereas NGO’s tend to focus on down-stream micro projects. Private sector representatives and CBO’s are weak. International assistance takes place in Addis Ababa; its impact in Awassa is less than expected considering the magnitude of assistance provided.


32

5 Current participatory channels This section will first discuss opportunities and weaknesses for participation, after which existing channels of participation are analysed.

5.1 Opportunities

City proclamation Since April 2003, Awassa has a legal status as a city. The mayor, though not yet elected but appointed by the regional government, is in charge and has been enabled to develop policies and strategies and collect local taxes. The city council is reorganising and employing higher qualified staff. At Kabele level, Local Development Committees have been established in which citizens can express their needs and demands. The increased level of decentralisation and new management team create a unique momentum for development partners to shape urban management and development.

Reform process The reform process puts emphasis on a performance-oriented, responsive and decentralised government structure. The decentralisation process and the changes within the government structure towards more responsive governance, create opportunities for participation.

Willingness from all actors All actors are keen to contribute to the development of Awassa. Particularly the relatively new Mayor and Deputy Mayor have expressed their full support. Within NGO’s there is uneasiness about working upstream (with local government), as opposed to the downstream work. Yet, trust between partners is increasing.

5.2 Challenges

Decentralisation is not yet fully in place Decentralisation is an essential pre-condition of participation, as it delegates decision making to the lowest possible level, where participation is most feasible. However, the city proclamation was only enacted one year ago and understandably the decentralisation process is not yet completed. Major constraints are as follows: At Kabele level, the capacity of Awassa city council is very limited. Since Kebele administrations are the main contact person for NGO’s and a focal point of the newly developed Local Development Committees, this lack of capacity seriously hinders effective and efficient participation. The national and regional government strongly influence the new city councils. While support is necessary to deepen decentralisation and build capacity, it is clear that the regional level has a considerable say in local decision-making. Many government officials have a top-down decision-making attitude. Participatory processes require more action oriented and flexible planning models. The EPRDF has a strong political party structure, in which most political appointees at all levels participate.

Limited experience and capacity of all actors in participatory processes None of the actors have significant experience, knowledge and skills in participation at city level. While NGO’s have considerable experience in community-based projects, they lack experience


33

and capacity in upstream (policy oriented) activities. Yet, some NGO’s and particularly CRDA express interest in working upstream. For instance, CRDA considers establishing an NGO network; RLO has prepared a proposal to train Local Development Committees; and various NGO’s are members of the newly established NGO forum, where local government and NGO’s discuss implementation of the City Development Strategy. By the same token, local government lacks the experience and expertise, but expressed interest in participation. Limited time availability of municipal leaders is a main constraint.

Weak representation of the private sector and grassroot level organisations The institutional representation of businesses and residents is extremely weak (see section 4). As a result, channels of participation through stakeholders will leave out large segments of the society.

Limited trust between partners While the environment for participation is improving, a lot of mistrust exists between the actors, as can be noted from the following comments:

‘NGO’s misuse funds’ (comment by a government official during the workshop) ‘Kabele administration used to oppress inhabitants during the Derg regime’ The government can withdraw our (NGO) registration’

Legal environment: NGO registration NGO registration procedures and requirements limit the willingness of NGO’s to get involved into lobbying and advocacy.

5.3 Description of channels of participation

This section will discuss the channels of participation that exist in Awassa. None of the channels has been institutionalised. While policies promote participation, no policies or laws on participation exist yet.

Consultative process to develop the City Development Strategy Throughout Ethiopia, from the highest national to local level, government officials have been trained in strategic planning. This was followed by the preparation of city development strategies in all municipalities, cities and administrative regions throughout Ethiopia. In Southern Nations, each city followed more or less the same procedure, heavily supported by the regional government. It represents the first systematic attempt of developing a legitimate strategy by adopting various forms of participation, resulting in a City Development Strategy that has been accepted by most stakeholders. The process worked as follows: Community members were asked to provide input on their needs and demands at Kabele level At Kabele and city level draft strategic plans were prepared, assisted by the Urban Development Departments of the regional government. The draft City Development Strategy was discussed in a workshop with 700 residents and in a one-day workshop with NGOs Information on the strategy was disseminated through the (publicly owned) newspaper and radio. The possibility was given to comment through the Kabele structure. The strategic plan was revised and approved by the Mayors Committee


34

The process thus followed a three-pronged approach to participation: meetings at Kabele and city level; workshops with stakeholders and information dissemination via the media, with a procedure for comments. Most stakeholders were convinced that their ideas had been taken into account and that the strategy improved as a consequence, but none had yet studied the final City Development Strategy.

NGO – local government forum City council initiated the development of an NGO – local government forum, where five NGO representatives and local government met to coordinate the implementation of the CDS. The forum met once to date, chaired by the Mayor. In the meeting, city council aimed to redirect activities of NGO’s in line with the CDS. The initiative has to be applauded, but includes a number of weaknesses: The forum coordinates NGO activities, but does not – it seems – provide feedback to city council about its own implementation of the CDS. In other words: it does not provide a framework for participatory planning, monitoring and evaluation. Only five NGOs and CRDA are represented. It is unclear whether these NGO’s represent all NGO’s in Awassa or not. The Chamber of Commerce, Associations and Iddir representatives and other partners are not invited. This is a missed opportunity, as Local Economic Development features heavily in the CDS, yet the private sector is not consulted in the implementation phase. The mandate of the forum is unclear: is it an advisory committee on the implementation on the CDS or does it have a wider mandate? How often does it meet? What are the procedures? The forum has not met for the passed year and the initiative seems to have died quietly.

Development Coordination Committee City Council established a Development Coordination Committee, chaired by the City Manager and mandated to coordinate all development activities. The committee brings together the various departments of city council and its seven Kabeles, as well as the chairmen of the Local Development Committees (LDC’s). In line with this strategy, the regional and local government build capacity of the LDC’s and treats them as the only genuine channels of participation. Their full reliance of LDC’s gives fuel to the argument that LDC’s are government puppets and that – in fact – governments don’t want opposition and criticism. In a fierce discussion on channels of participation, the city manager at that time (replaced by now) strongly objected to any other forum to coordinate development or any additional membership of the committee, arguing that it would provide overlap and additional work for already overburdened municipal staff. Whereas these arguments are understandable, the committee excludes major players in development and limits coordination to local government efforts. Whereas coordination is of crucial importance, it does not provide an opportunity for development partners to participate.

NGO projects NGO’s have significant experience in community-based projects. They assess community needs in selected settlements and initiate projects to address those priority needs. These needs assessments and pilot projects provide a useful insight into community needs, which is unfortunately hardly used for local government policies and improved and targeted service delivery. Informally, some NGO’s (particularly Mary Joy and RLO) share information but no attempt has been made to interrelate available information among NGO’s or to network for increased impact and upscaling of activities.


35

Community participation in NGO pilot projects has been functional: it primarily aims to implement community-based projects. A very pragmatic stakeholder structure has been developed by most NGO’s, in which community leaders and Kabele leaders participate. Sometimes, user groups are set up to represent users of services provided by the project. Therefore, the community-based organisations do not aim to provide a forum for popular participation outside the scope of the project and do not (yet) provide a channel for popular participation in urban management and development.

Poverty study: working groups The UNDP has conducted an in-depth assessment of poverty in five cities, including Awassa. The report gives a good overview of poverty and can provide a valuable input into urban policies. It also provides an action plan, which was agreed in a workshop with all stakeholders. In each city, committees have been set-up to translate the action plans into proposals that will be presented during a national workshop. These proposals will be used by UNDP to establish an urban poverty alleviation programme. The process is very participative and will potentially result in proposals that are supported by the major stakeholders in each city. Unfortunately, the working groups established in Awassa are ad-hoc and have not yet met. Being ad hoc, they do not work towards a sustainable channel of participation.

Awassa City Development Alliance (ACDA) Based on the NGO Forum and the working groups established by UNDP, the Mayor initiated the ACDA. The ACDA comprises representatives of city council, NGO’s, private sector and CBO’s (Iddir Association and Local Development Committees). The ACDA was given the specific assignment to prepare implementation arrangements in the area of housing and local economic development. With considerable assistance, the ACDA prepared concrete project proposals for low-cost housing and local economic development. Both projects aim to strengthen participation in these areas.


36

6 Conclusions and recommendations

6.1 Conclusions

Ethiopia is at a turning point. Over the last four years, city councils across Ethiopia have become legal entities and decentralisation to city level has become a fact. Slowly, more capacity is developed at decentralised levels to respond to the increased responsibilities. Both the legal and policy environment have become more conducive for civil society participation in urban development. Yet, reality lacks behind. The decentralisation process is still ongoing and day-to-day work is characterised by centralised tendencies. Donor agencies complaint about bureaucracy at the national level. In Awassa, participation in urban policies is a new concept for all actors and no channels of participation have been institutionalised as yet. NGO’s focus on pilot projects, while the association of Iddirs and Chamber of Commerce complaint about limited requests for their advice and services. In such an environment, it is unrealistic to expect wonders from newly established channels of participation in the short run. It however also provides a unique opportunity to shape urban development and management through participation. The City Development Strategy of Awassa provides a starting point for joint development initiatives. For the first time ever the main actors agree on the development priorities. The fact that the plan has its weaknesses is not an overriding concern; it provides an opportunity for learning and improvement, which can start during implementation. The major concern is that its implementation is not coordinated, monitored and evaluated in a participatory manner. For instance, the implementation plan is prepared by city council without further consultation. An encouraging first step was made in establishing an NGO –local government forum, but its membership, structure and mandate has not carefully been considered. If the committee would provide a forum for participatory information sharing, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, an important step would have been made to maintain the momentum and commitment of all actors. But local government seems to have chosen another direction: it established a Development Coordination Committee within city council that monitors development based on inputs from Local Development Committees. Whether this system will work depends on the future functioning of the LDC’s. The council is – for good reasons – ambiguous about yet another forum (NGO-local government forum) to monitor development. Yet, it may be the best strategy to maintain commitment from the development partners and obtain feedback from civil society through various mechanisms12. Functioning feedback mechanisms are in the end the only way to assess municipal services and improve governance in the long run. For NGO’s, it will provide an opportunity to scale up activities.

6.2 Recommendations

Strengthening channels of participation The City Development Strategy has successfully been prepared through a number of channels of participation: community meetings at Kabele level, meetings within an (informal) NGO forum and information provision through the media. This combination is, considering the relatively weak civil society and private sector, the most appropriate way forward for development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the CDS. The fact that is has been applied successfully once has set a precedence indicating local support.

12 It would be worthwhile to also consider other monitoring and evaluation tools to assess residents opinion on municipal services.


37

The different channels can be strengthened as follows: Awassa City Development Alliance (ACDA) This forum builds on the NGO-local government forum and the working groups established by UNDP. It has been mandated to prepare proposals on Local Economic Development/ Small Micro Scale Enterprise Development and Housing. The first proposal will be submitted to Cities Aliance. The second proposal will be managed by Van de Leij Foundation and co-funded by Cordaid. By jointly preparing project proposals the Alliance will be strengthened. Preferably, the mandate of the forum should be expanded to become a monitoring and evaluation forum, advising city council on implementation of the CDS. Such an expanded role would also allow for successful NGO experiences to be taken on board by local government. While strengthening the NGO forum, due consideration should be given to its representativeness of NGO’s, CBO’s and the private sector. NGO Forum CRDA, the NGO network, organised a first meeting of NGO’s and private sector representatives to network to share information and lobby for good governance. In the meeting, NGO’s agreed on their representation in the ACDA. Strengthen the LDC’s LDC’s are likely to play an important role in the future. However, they require considerable strengthening to become a useful channel of participation for the CDS at local level. This will require considerable training as well as full involvement of LDC’s in the project cycle of the Cities Alliance proposal and NGO projects. Yet, the limitations of the LDC’s should be considered, by strengthening other channels of participation at the same time. The proposed resident contributions to LDC’s are risky, as long as LDC’s lack capacity and their independence has not yet been proven. I would recommend piloting resident contributions and development activities by LDC’s on a small scale first. Legalising channels of participation In the long run channels of participation can become legally enforced. Laws may stipulate consultative requirements before City Development Strategies and laws are passed etcetera. However, Ethiopia does not yet have sufficient experience with participation to decide on legal procedures.

Building capacity of actors An important precondition to strengthen channels of participation is capacity building of the key actors. By involving the actors in writing proposals for Cities Alliance and van de Leij Foundation, we can build capacity on project preparation, partnerships and participation and on the topic of the proposal.

Figure 19: Awassa City Development Association in action


38

Special attention should be given to building capacity of NGO’s, the Chamber of Commerce, associations and the association of Iddirs. CRDA can play an important role by creating an NGO network to capacity building, allow information sharing, lobbying and advocacy, and upscaling of activities. All actors lack international exposure and insights into various forms of participation. NGOs NGO’s in Awassa offer small-scale pilot projects. Very little attention has been given to city-wide programmes, strengthening community participation in urban management and development, networking and lobbying. As a result, they tend to work in isolation and have significant impact on small groups of the urban poor. Both the government and the NGO’s consider the running of pilot projects as the core business of NGO’s. NGO’s should consider working upstream, influencing policies that affect on large groups of poor in addition to improving the lives of a few. They should also empower the urban poor by giving them a voice. They can contribute to building a strong civil society, which is a precondition for democracy and development. The CRDA urban development forum came to the same conclusions and developed comprehensive recommendations (Gebreselassie 2003). Private sector Strengthening organisations that represent the formal and informal economy is crucial in building the institutional thickness that is required to develop the economy of Awassa.The government has a tendency to develop the private sector by itself, running the risk of developing a private sector dependent on the government. Strong private sector organisations can change this trend. Government The government is going through major decentralisation and reform processes. It takes time, but is likely to improve local service delivery and legitimacy. However, the government should open up even more to its partners. A government that enables its partners to work effectively can achieve more.

Proposal for concrete assistance The City Development Strategy (CDS) of Awassa is worth supporting. This support should focus on strengthening the implementation strategy in its priority areas: local economic development and housing. This support can be provided in two projects, which will provide concrete services and infrastructure and also build capacity and channels of participation. They will provide best practices on the development and implementation of a CDS, with a focus on local economic development and housing. Cordaid has made a bold move by supporting the establishment of housing and local economic development projects in Awassa. Both projects aim to assist NGO’s to develop city-wide programmes in close collaboration with city council and it partners, linking closely to SNV’s portfolio of capacity building on local governance, natural resource management and private sector development. Joinly they can become a catalyst of participatory local development.


39

Annex 1: List of respondents

Addis Ababa

Surname First name Job title Company Tel/ email Akerboom Hans First secretary Royal Netherlands Embassy 251 1 711100 Alemayehu Ato Abebaw Operation Officer World Bank Alemu Dereje Expert ILO Women Entreperneurs

Development and Gender Equality (WEDGE)

251 1 444232 [email protected]

Anglo Program Head Marry Joy Awlachew Sr. Serkalem Program Head,– HIV/AIDS Marry Joy Bantirgu Akalewold Networking inf CRDA 251 1 650100 Beckmann Nikolas GTZ municipal management

development programme 251 1 653198 [email protected]

Bonsu Kwaku osei Sen expert ILO EAMAT 251 1 444409/ 513633 Bulcha Ato Dereje Head – Networking, Policy

Research & Advocacy, CRDA

Bulcha Gutema Director UDCBO 251 1 655549 Fors Martina Political attache EU 251 1 612511 Giya Ato Ginjo Head – Urban Development

Forum CRDA

Haverkort Mr Ton Director SNV Ethiopia Hiruy Minas Executive Director Hope enterprises 251 1 553102

[email protected] Horst Matthaeus Programme coordinator GTZ/CBG Capacity Building in

Governance Programme 251 1 420245/ 403569

Mai

Mr. Gerard Head German Technical Cooperation on Municipal Management

GTZ

Mamo Tsedale Head City Managers Office Addis Ababa Messele Ato Wendwose Children Support Social

Promotion Marry Joy

Metcalfe Jon Advisor of Minister Ministry of Federal Affairs 251 1 539720 urbanmanager @jonmetcalfe.com

Mogus Sahle mariam Director Alliance for Development 251 1 1667633 Moritz Janette UNDP 251 1 515177

[email protected] Raadschilder Hans First secretary RNE Ethiopia +251 1 711100

[email protected] Sims Roland Local government adviser SNV 251 1 654386 /7 / 9 Tegegne Ato Andu-Alem General Secretary Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce Tigabu Tewodros Habitat programme

manager UN Habitat Ethiopia 251 1 444007

Tsgie Head Women in Self Employment (WISE) Wondimaghen Ato Girma UDCBO Workneh Abraham Addis Ababa University


40

Awassa

Surname First name Job title Company Tel/ email Abebe Gete Member Community Project Committee, Mary Joy Abuhay Shumiye City manager City municipality 251 8 114171 Afework Solomon Chairman Chamber of Commerce 251 6 206051/ 206184 Aklilu Wodimu Staff Awassa Micro Enterprise and Industry

Desk

Amare Yared Deputy Chairman Awassa Chamber of Commerce Ambaye Astair Member Women Entrepreneurs Association Amede Berhanu Community Project Committee, May Joy Assafa Samuel Project manager Save the Generation (NGO) Assye Ermias Manaqer RLO 06 208586 Eshete Engidaye Vice Chairlady Regional Women Entrepreneurs

association

Azaj Yisihak City Manager City Council Begashew Atute Member Kabele Development Committee Belachew Bezuayehu CRDA/ van de Leij Foundation Challa Gebre Meskel Deputy mayor City municipality 06 203356 Dalecho Tadelech Head Regional investment bureau 251 6 203300 Damena Wolde Gabriel Member Kabele Development Committee Eneyew Tegest Co-ordinator Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association

(EWLA) Branch Office

Eshete Engedaye Vice dir Women entrepreneurs ass. 551778 Gebreigziabhu Belay Member Kabele Development Committee Gebru Dr. Elias Pastor Southern Evangelical Church Fellowship Getahun Mulu Assistant of Mayor Awassa City Council Giorgis Hailu Tekle Manager Dashen Bank Gizachew Amha Head Awassa Agriculture and Cooperative

Desk

Habtemariam Kortawi

Tariku Endale

Mermber Member

Awassa Chamber of Commerce

Haile Ato Legesse Head MSEs Co-ordinating Department in the City Administration

Jana Father Catholic secretariat 06 202398 Kebede Tadele Development Head Addis Ketema Sub-City Keti Mamo Head Regional NGOs Co-ordinator

Department

Mamo Atelelech Member Community Development Committee Mekuria Haile Head Regional Trade, Industry and Urban

Development Bureau

Muleta Basha Gabissa Iddir Association Necha Takele Head Regional Urban Development and

Housing Department

Negash Amsale Chairperson Regional Women Entrepreneurs Roba Tesema Fote Regiuonal Micro and Small Trade

Industrry Bureau

Seyoum Tilahun Interim Manaqer Mary Joy 06 204705 Tegegn Masresha Iddir Association 06 204705 Teklemariam Mekuria Haile Trade Industry and Urban Development

Coordination Bureau 203961

Timiteos Deputy Head Regional Trade, Industry and Urban Development Bureau

Wanders Jackson Governance adviser SNV 203368 208417 -18 [email protected]

Wolde Legesse Mayor prouicional city administration 06 206745 Workneh Teodros Coordinator Wcdo 06 205867 Various Members Local Development Committees

Associations


41

Workshop participants


42

Annex 2:Bibliography Anteneh A, a.o. (2004), Secondary cities: urban poverty participatory action research initiative. Volume 1. Awassa. City profile and action plan. UNDP, Addis Ababa, unpublished. Awassa City Transitional Administration 2003, Strategic Plan 2004-2006. Awassa, unpublished. Awassa Municipality 2003, List of informal sector providers, unpublished. Cities Alliance 2004, www.citiesalliance.org (Oct 2004). Demisssie M 2003, Alternative economic opportunities and urban agriculture in Awassa, unpublished. DPU 2002, Cities Alliance. Independent evaluation. An assessment of the first three years, Development Planning Unit, University College London, London. Fransen J and A Zegeye 2003, Training needs assessment for leaders in emerging municipalities, UDCBO and EU, Addis Ababa. Gebreselassie 2003 (2), Poverty Reduction through enterprise development: the changing role of NGO’s, Micro Enterprise Development Forum, Addis Ababa Gebreselassie 2003, opportunities and challenges of Ethiopia’s rapid urban growth, CRDA, Addis Ababa Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 2004, Urban Development Fund. UDF Operational Manual, unpublished. Gessese D and S Chane 2002, Micro enterprise cooperative development, Micro enterprise development forum, Addis Ababa, unpublished. Government of Ethiopia 2002, A proclamation to provide for non-governmental organisations. Herouy B 2003, Commentary on a proclamation to provide for Non-Governmental Organisations, unpublished. MEDF 2001, Problems and prospects on NGO run micro credit/enterprise development schemes. Micro Enterprise Development Forum, Addis Ababa, unpublished. Pfeiffer 2003, Ethiopia Urban Development Fund. Revised Programme Study, unpublished. RLO (no date), Overview of RLO, unpublished. SNNPRS (2002), Guideline to collaboration among the regional government, the community and NGO’s operating in the SNNPRS, unpublished. Street Vendors Taskforce 2000, a study on the major problems and possible solutions of street vendors in Addis Ababa, unpuiblished.


43

UN Habitat 2000, An overview of urban poverty in Addis Ababa, Federal Republic of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, unpublished. UNDP 2004, Secondary cities: urban poverty action research initiative, unpublished. World Bank 2002, Project appraisal document on a proposed credit in the amount of US$26.2 million equivalent to the federal republic of Ethiopia for the Capacity Building for decentralised service delivery Project, World Bank Africa Regional Office. World Bank 2002 (2), Ethiopia. The Woreda studies, World Bank Ethiopia office.

Process Mapping Disclosing Actors and Citizen Participation ...

Documents