URBAN PARTNERSHIPS FOR POVERTY REDUCTION Progress … · Table 1: Outcome level performance against targets 8 Table 2: Distribution of empowerment threshold for leaders, members who

UPPR Progress Report July- Dec 2014

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URBAN PARTNERSHIPS FOR POVERTY REDUCTION Lifting three million people out of urban poverty and integrating them in the cities of Bangladesh

Progress Report: July - December 2014

Reinsert graphic/photo


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Contents

Key Results 5

1.0 Outcome Livelihoods Sustainably Improved 8

1.1 Reducing Multidimensional Poverty 9

1.2 Improving Settlement Living Conditions for Urban Poor 9

1.3 Promoting Women's Empowerment 10

1.4 Promoting Programme Sustainability and Policy Influence 10

2.0 Output 1 Mobilization 12

2.1 Progress towards Outputs 12

2.2 Strengthening Community Structures 13

2.3 Community Action Plans and Sustainability 13

2.4 Capacity building 14

2.5 Community Housing Development Fund and Development Town Federations 14

2.6 Institutionalizing Community Structures 14

2.7 Institutionalizing Community and Ward Level Planning 15

3.0 Output 2 Settlement Improvement Fund 16


3.2 Co-financing and Contract Completion Rates 17

3.3 Improved Access to Water 17

3.4 Improved Access to Sanitation 17

4.0 Output 3 Socio-Economic Fund 18


4.2 Contracts Awarded and Partnerships 19

4.3 Nutrition 21

4.4 Savings and Credit Schemes 21

5.0 Output 4 Policy and Advocacy 23


5.2 Tenure Security and Housing Finance 24

6.0 Output 5 Project Management 25


6.2 Audit Recommendations and Financial Monitoring 26

6.3 Sub-contracts and Partnerships 26

6.4 Mutual Accountability Unit 26

6.5 Value for Money Assessment 26

6.6 Research, Evaluation and Learning Unit 27

7.0 Lessons Learned and Going Forward 28


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List of Tables

Table 1: Outcome level performance against targets 8

Table 2: Distribution of empowerment threshold for leaders, members who save and non-savers 10

Table 3: Output level performance against targets 12



Table 6: Partnerships signing memorandum of understanding 20




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RESULTS SNAPSHOT Key indicators and findings from July to December 2014

Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Comparative performances of sampled 12 towns in 2013 and 2014

For detail results repot visit www.upprbd.org/ projectrpts.aspx

Access to Services 2014 Women Empowerment Study Results 2014

Access to Finance NEW STUDIES & ADVOCACY MATERIAL

Dec 2013 Dec 2014

6.8 million

8.1 million

5.8 million

6.9 million

*Savings and credits are taken in BDT. Exchange rate used 77.15

HH members in CDCs

with access to improved

water source

84% HH reached

70% planned

HH members in CDCs

with access to improved

latrines

87% HH reached

70% planned

Lo

an

s

US

D

Sa

vin

gs

US

D*

Urban Change

Blog

"Settlement Living

Condition Index“ report

Women Empower-

ment Study 2014

"The right to be safe and

healthy" Report 2014

"Multi-dimensional

Poverty in Bangladesh" Report 2014

Value for Money Report


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Executive Summary

This report reviews progress of Urban Partnerships for Poverty Reduction (UPPR)

Project from July to December 2014. Overall, significant progress was made towards

delivering expected outputs and meeting project targets.

First, progress is evidenced by a reduction in poverty from 33 percent in 2013 to 23

percent in 2014, as indicated by the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) in twelve

UPPR towns and cities. The MPI evidenced significant advancement in nutrition: the

percentage of nutrition deprived households fell from 68 percent in 2013 to 12 percent

in UPPR supported towns and cities in 2014.

Furthermore, according to the Settlement and Living Condition Index undertaken by

UPPR in 2014, there was at least 10 percent increase in the availability of three basic

services - water, sanitation, and infrastructure conditions - in more than half of the

households adopting the Community Development Committee models. Notably,

improved access to water has been reported by 84 percent of households surveyed in

2014 (Settlement Improvement Fund Study 2014).

Second, UPPR continued to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.

According to the Women’s Empowerment Scorecard conducted in 22 UPPR towns and

cities, nearly 90 percent of 2,700 community development committee women members

were rated with a score of above 40 (moderate to high empowerment). This score

measure indicators across various dimensions of women’s empowerment in the areas of

economic conditions, agency, personal development, social status and group

participation. Women’s leadership in poverty alleviating schemes and organizational

activities, coupled with training and apprenticeship grants for women, were key success

factors.

Third, a strong focus on community empowerment and town level federations was

integral to strengthening community structures and sustainability of UPPR

interventions. All 23 UPPR towns formed community federations and two of these were

officially registered with municipal authorities, making them eligible for state financing

and oversight by government departments. Recognizing their important role, the local

government has provided office space to these federations in all towns. The federations

have implemented initiatives on improving infrastructure and services for the urban

poor. Notably, 75 percent of the salaries of the community facilitators which was

previously funded by UPPR, are now funded by Local Government Institutions

(through community federations) – contributing further to project sustainability.

Major progress was also made in increasing community investment and stimulating

wealth generation through the community managed credit schemes. This is evidenced

by an increase of 8 percent in the value of outstanding loans from community savings

groups during the second half of 2014 (UPPR Database 2014).

Fourth, UPPR continued to improve tenure security and housing conditions in selected

settlements through the Community Housing Development Fund. The fund supported

tenure security and housing improvement for over 300 households. It enabled the


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communities to invest over USD 1 million in models of tenure security which include

resettlement on government owned land with long term lease arrangements e.g. 99 years

and onsite upgrading of land already owned by communities.

Finally, the on-the-ground successes of UPPR have contributed to a solid government

commitment for development of a new national urban programme to cover all nine

million urban poor across the country. The programme is intended to build on the

experiences gained during the implementation of UPPR, as well as on the lessons

learned and recommendations developed through the project. Consequently, UKAid,

UNDP and the government have extended the UPPR project until 31 August 2015.

While continuing to deliver on the originally identified project outcomes, this extension

provides an opportunity for consolidation of lessons for the future national programme.


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1.0 Outcome Livelihoods Sustainably Improved

Significant progress was achieved on improving livelihood and living conditions of the

urban poor, specifically in the following areas: 1) reducing multidimensional poverty 2)

improving settlement conditions 3) promoting women’s empowerment 4) promoting

programme sustainability and policy influence. Such progress was evidenced by a series

of tools undertaken by UPPR such as the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), the

Women’s Empowerment Scorecard (WES), the Settlement Living Condition Index

(SLCI) and policy instruments influenced.

Outcome: The livelihoods and living conditions of three million poor and extreme poor

people living in urban areas, especially women and children, have been sustainably

improved.

Table 1: Outcome level performance against targets

Indicator Target in 2013 Achieved by

December 2013

Target by 2014 Achieved by

December 2014

Indicator 1. % of beneficiary households multi-dimensionally poor by multidimensional poverty index

(MPI). Average % (intensity) of deprivations among beneficiary households multi-dimensionally poor by

MPI

Multi-dimensionally

poor 38.8% 33.3% 38.1% 23.5%

Intensity of deprivation 47.5% 47.4% 46.8% 40.3%

Indicator 2. % of poor settlements in community development committees reporting at least 10%

improvement in water and sanitation and infrastructure conditions *

- - 60% 51.3%

Indicator 3. % of empowered women by the community developed participatory women’s empowerment

scorecard

55% - 60% 89.2%

Indicator 4. Key policy instruments influenced: a) Two annual urban targets of Sixth Five-Year Plan met;

b) High level Ministerial Committee for Bangladesh Urban Forum formed; c) Permanent Secretariat for

Bangladesh Urban Forum established; and, d) Percentage of Pillar 6 targets of UNDAF achieved **

Two annual targets met Yes Not Available Yes Not Available

High-level Ministerial

Committee Yes Yes Yes Yes

Permanent Secretariat Yes Yes Yes Yes

% Pillar 6 targets met 30% - 40% -

* According to SLCI study, which measured changes in the living conditions of a sample of poor settlements in 22 cities and towns

between 2010 and 2014, significant progress was made in three sub-indexes (water, sanitation, and infrastructure conditions). The

improvements were primarily in areas of water and sanitation and the provision of drains and footpaths, which are core areas of

UPPR intervention, based on community demands. However, less progress was made on street lighting and water management,

which are not core areas of UPPR operation.

** Because of unavailability of data from ministry, the GED/Planning Commission is no longer reporting on these targets on the 6th

5 Year Plan. Further, UNDAF mid-term outcome evaluation, which is being undertaken this year, is expected to provide us with the

data on the UNDAF Pillar 6 targets. These data, once available, will be integrated in the UPPR final report.


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1.1 Reducing Multidimensional Poverty

To better measure progress on multi-dimensional poverty in 2014, UPPR undertook

another multidimensional poverty study which sampled 1,194 households in 12 towns.

The study, which compared progress since the previous study in 2013, noted a decrease

in percentage experiencing multidimensional poverty from 33.3 percent in 2013 to 23.5

percent in 2014. The intensity of poverty in the sample households also decreased from

44 percent in 2013 to 40.3 percent in 2014. The most significant advancement was

observed in the nutrition indicator. In 2013, over 67.6 percent of sample households

were considered nutrition deprived whereas this dropped to 12 percent in 2014. A

combination of factors, including improved data collection contributed to this

significant shift as well as the launch of UPPR’s nutrition programme in late 2013.

Additional findings indicate that access to cooking fuel and sanitation facilities are

major areas for necessary improvement with 75.4 percent of households lacking access

to quality cooking fuel and 59.5 percent households continuing to share latrines.

1.2 Improving Settlement Living Condition for Urban Poor

According to a Settlement Living Condition Index (SLCI) study undertaken by UPPR in 2014,

51.3 percent of settlements under the community development committees reported at

least 10 percent improvement in water and sanitation and infrastructure conditions. The

index sampled a total of 2,479 settlements from the 22 towns with divisional

representations. It measured change in water, sanitation, and infrastructure facilities in

poor urban settlements. According to the index, three out of four settlements (76.8

percent) reported improved scores (0 percent and above) in the water and sanitation

indicator from the baseline, while two out of three settlements (66.4 percent) reported

improvement (0 percent and above) in the infrastructure indicator. These scores were

found statistically significant as evidenced by two tests applied by the study: Wilcoxon

signed rank test and the Mann-Whitney U-test. Both of these indicated a significant

(p>0.001) positive difference between settlements receiving support from UPPR and

settlements receiving no support.

The Community Housing Development Fund (CHDF) served as an innovative model,

which successfully contributed to the continuous improvement of tenure security and

housing in selected slums. CHDF is a fully established and sustainable town level

institution, which arranges loans and housing development for community members.

The fund supported tenure security and housing improvement for over 300 households.

In addition, it enabled the communities to invest over USD 1 million in models of

tenure security. CHDF applies different models of tenure security including 1)

Resettlement on government-owned land with long-term lease arrangements (e.g. 99

years); 2) Land readjustment of private owners’ land where mid-term lease

arrangements have been entered into; 3) On-site upgrading in communities’ own land;

and 4) On-site upgrading on land owned by LGI/organizations. Preparation to undertake

similar activities in another nine towns is underway.


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1.3 Promoting Women’s Empowerment

UPPR continued to have a targeted focus on gender equality and women’s

empowerment.

According to the women’s empowerment scorecard conducted in UPPR towns, nearly

90 percent of community development committee women members were rated with a

score of above 40 (moderate to high – across indicators covering various dimensions of

women’s empowerment in the areas of economic conditions, agency, personal

development social status, and group participation). Women’s leadership in poverty

alleviating schemes and organizational activities, coupled with training and

apprenticeship grants for women, were key success factors. As corroborated by the

study, the leadership of women promoted through UPPR has been a key factor in the

growth of savings.

The study sampled 2,700 women in 22 towns and cities, across three categories: 1)

leaders 2) members who save; and 3) non-savers. Each dimension carries equal points

i.e. 20 points to construct a total of 100 points. Through consultation with the

community members, the study set the scale from 0-100 points, where scoring 80-100

points is considered ‘high empowerment’; 60-79 points is considered ‘good progress on

empowerment’; 40-59 points is considered ‘moderate progress on empowerment’; 20-

39 points is considered ‘limited progress on empowerment’; and 0-19 points is

considered ‘low empowerment’.

The results show that 10.8 percent of respondents scored less than 40 on the index, a

third of the population had made moderate progress, scoring between 40 and 59 on the

index (34.7 percent) and 54.5 percent attained either good progress or higher levels of

empowerment, scoring between 60 and 100 points. A total of 98 percent of leaders, 55

percent of savers, and 16 percent of non-savers within the community attained this

moderate to high levels of empowerment. Across the entire sample, 89.2 percent of

women achieved results indicative of similar levels of empowerment (See Table 2).

Table 2: Distribution of empowerment threshold for leaders, members who save and non-savers

Empowerment status Leaders and

members

who save

Members who

save

Non-savers Overall sample

Low empowerment (0-19) 0.0% 0.1% 2.9% 0.8%

Limited progress (20-39) 0.2% 5.8% 26.5% 10.0%

Moderate progress (40-59) 1.8% 39.1% 54.6% 34.7%

Good progress(60- 79) 21.7% 43.8% 15.3% 31.2%

Higher empowerment (80-100) 76.4% 11.2% 0.7% 23.3%

1.4 Promoting Programme Sustainability and Policy Influence

To establish enhanced community structures and ensure programme sustainability,

strong emphasis was put on community empowerment and strengthening community

federations. In collaboration with Local Government Institutes (LGIs), federations were


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officially registered and their roles were recognized by the respective municipal

authorities. All 23 UPPR towns formed community federations and two of these

officially registered, making them eligible for state financing and oversight by

government departments. Recognizing their important role, municipal authorities also

arranged office space in all 23 towns for the corresponding federations. The community

federations have implemented initiatives on improving infrastructure and services for

the urban poor. Notably, 75 percent of the salaries of the community facilitators which

was previously funded by UPPR, are now funded by LGIs (through community

federations), contributing further to project sustainability.

The Bangladesh Urban Forum is a broad-based stakeholder platform promoting

dialogue and actions to address urban poverty issues. Since its official launch in

December 2011, it has become one of the most important national development events

with high level policy and knowledge sharing. A second national conference is due to

take place this year (the first conference was held in December 2011) against a

backdrop of dynamic development in Bangladesh. The timing of this event is linked

with the drafting of the national urban sector policy, and other key future policies for

sustainable and inclusive urbanization, including contributing to the process of planning

for the upcoming 7th

five year plan. These processes are spear-heading the

implementation of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda.


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2.0 Output 1: Mobilization- Urban poor communities mobilized to form

representative and inclusive groups and prepare community action plans

Table 3: Output level performance against targets

Indicator Achieved by

Dec 2013

Achieved

from Jan-Jun

2014

Achieved

from July-Dec

2014

Target by

2014

Achieved by December

2014 against the total

target

Indicator 1.1. # of households (HHs) in supported low-income settlements socially mobilized into

primary groups

# HH in community

development

committees (CDCs)

816,000 -2,995 0 700,000 813,005

# HH in primary group

(PGs) 624,491 -3,839 -391 525,000 620,652

% HH in PGs 76.5% - - 75% 76.3%

Indicator 1.2. % of decision making positions in community structures (CDC, cluster and federation) held

by extreme poor and poor women and those women from vulnerable and socially excluded households

% by extremely poor

& poor women 91% -* -* 85% 91%

% by vulnerable and

socially excluded

women

12% -* -* 10% 12%

Indicator 1.3. % of CDCs with a first community action plan and repeat plan

First CAP 97% 0% -* 90% 97%

ReCAP 73% 2% -* 60% 100%

Achieved

from July-Dec

2014

Target by

Mar 2015

Achieved by Dec 2014

against the final target

Indicator 1.4. # Of clusters participating in the ward level planning pilot that are aligned towards

boundaries and registered with the appropriate authority**

5 10 19

Indicator 1.5. # of towns participating in the ward level planning pilot that have developed climate change

resilience strategies**

4 4 4

* Progress against this indicator is only measured as a current total

** New indicator to measure progress on activities to be implemented in the extension phase

2.1 Progress towards Output

As illustrated by table 3, significant progress was made in output 1. All targets were met

and exceeded. The target number of households to be mobilized into primary groups

and covered by community development committees (CDCs) was already surpassed in

2013. Therefore, a focus during this reporting period had been on strengthening these

community structures.


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2.2 Strengthening Community Structures

In 2014, all key community structures had already exceeded the targets. Hence, a key

focus during this reporting period was on enhancing decision making positions. All

community development committees conducted surveys and documented UPPR

supported asset lists under the settlement improvement and socio-economic fund. Each

committee town federation and local government institutions’ slum development unit

are compiling lists at town level for effective pro-poor planning and policy purposes.

Community development committee federations employed more than 500 community

facilitators (CFs) and paid 75 percent of their remuneration, amounting to BDT 9

million (USD 116,850), from income derived from savings and credit group activities.

Town federations are paying 100 percent of the facilitators’ remuneration from January

2015.

These federations have successfully established offices in 19 local government

institutions. This has allowed for effective collaboration with local authorities on pro-

poor support and partnerships, and better linkages with agencies in providing

community services. An outstanding example of success is in Sirajgonj, where a

community-government partnership has implemented water and sanitation projects in

50 schools. Further stories of successful pro-poor partnerships include: In 12 towns

federations have organized campaigns on violence against women by mobilizing

resources locally; Four federations have used community housing development funds

for partnerships with land tenure and housing groups to the value of USD 900,000, as a

grant for housing improvements; 19 towns completed urban vulnerability assessments

and selected 20 wards for integrated ward level planning to the value of USD 1.3

million. Communities raised 15 percent of these funds, while local government

institutions with support of the capacity development teams allocated a further 20

percent. The remaining 65 percent was disbursed from the UPPR settlement

improvement fund.

2.3 Community Action Plans and Sustainability

Community development committees continue to revisit their community action plans.

In the first half of the year, a total of 1,919 completed repeat plans. By the end of 2014,

all 2,583 community development committees completed repeat action plans.

Similarly, UPPR continued to focus on the implementation of the Joint Action Plans

(JAP) which were developed with inputs from communities, LGIs and UPPR town

teams.

These plans set out priorities in each of the 23 cities/towns for ensuring sustainability of

UPPR interventions. Moreover, to ensure implementation of the joint action plans, each

of the cities/towns formed a capacity development team consisting of 5-6 members

from local government institutions, federations and project staff. The UPPR provided

training to all members for implementation of action plans. The capacity development

team are working actively with community leaders to strengthen community

organizations and partnerships. Some achievements of the teams include events

mentioned before such as the continued employment of Community Facilitators and the


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establishment of 19 CDC Federation offices in LGI premises. Other achievements

include the sharing of evidence of successful poverty reduction initiatives. Importantly,

federations regularly attend District Coordination Committee (DCC) meetings, Town

level Coordination Committee (TLCC) meetings and other forums such as business

association meetings. The purpose of these activities is to direct the attention of policy

makers and service providers towards pro-poor services and planning.

2.4 Capacity Building

UPPR continue to place significant emphasis on building skills and capacity of

community members and LGI staff. In this reporting period, over 17 knowledge sharing

workshops and training sessions were organized. Over 1,045 community members and

LGI representatives were equipped with knowledge and skills on 11 issues related to

urban poverty reduction and sustainability of UPPR initiatives including Integrated

Ward Level Planning, Sustainability of UPPR, Policy and Institutions for Inclusive

Urban Governance, Orientation and Social audit Committee and Purchase Committee,

Leadership and Team Building, Project Development and Management and Computer

Training for CRC Facilitators.

2.5 Community Housing Development Fund and Development Town Federations

The capacity of the town community development committees and federations as well

as the community housing development fund committees continues to be strengthened.

Learning sessions were organized for 135 key leaders from 23 federations and 12

community housing development fund committees at the Rural Development Academy

providing increased skills in leadership, project design and management. As part of

developing capacity at grassroots level, town teams conducted training for their

community leaders and members together with local government staff and

representatives. In town teams, 970 training sessions were organized to train over

30,000 women and 5,000 men drawn from the communities. These training included

leadership development, savings and credit management, land tenure, action plans,

linkage building and organizational development and management.

2.6 Institutionalizing Community Structures

At the end of 2014, all 23 towns had formed federations; two of these were officially

registered, making them eligible for state financing as well as oversight by government

departments. Recognizing the important role of these federations, municipal authorities

in all 23 towns allocated office space for their daily operations. Federations have now

started to support community development committees and clusters in implementing

infrastructure improvements and associated financing in towns; a total of 20 settlement

improvement contracts are being implemented within 19 towns. Moreover, federations

are now providing oversight audit functions for the CDC structures such as Savings and

Credit Groups, advocating with LGIs for pro-poor planning and monitoring the

distribution of local government resources. Moreover, the community development


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committees and local government institutions are also gradually taking over

responsibility for paying salaries of community facilitators (CF). From July 2014, the

number of facilitators was reduced to 512 with 75 percent of these facilitators’ salaries

being funded by the communities and local government institutions, with the remainder

being covered by UPPR. The reduction of the CFs did not impact the performance of

the CDCs as CDC level activities overseen by the CFs were mostly limited to savings

and credit activities during this period. Therefore, CFs were able to oversee up to 5

CDCs from this period. From 1 January 2015, salaries will be fully financed by the

community development committees and local government institutions.

2.7 Institutionalizing Community and Ward Level Planning

Wards are created with the purpose of providing a more direct representation from the

local population through an elected councilmember. Following the formation of

federations, ward level planning aligning community planning with local government

development was adopted in a pilot scheme. This initiative was initially planned for

four towns: Barisal, Comilla, Bogra, and Chapai Nawabgonj. One in three potential

wards from each of the four towns was selected to conduct an urban assessment during

July-December 2014. During the initiative, the targets were surpassed and the ward

level planning was completed in 20 wards from 19 clusters. The following is a

representation of the process:

Furthermore, building on the successes of the ward level planning, four towns

(Chittagong, Commilla, Rajshahi and Sirajgonj) were identified and encouraged to

adopt specific actions to mitigate the consequences of climate change by devising their

own Climate Change Resilience Strategies. These actions were supported by UPPR

funding of BDT 5.4 million (USD 70,100) and included the construction of 332 metre

slope protections, 163 metres of drain slabs and 1,277 metres of footpaths.


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3.0 Output 2: Settlement Improvement Fund- Poor urban communities have

healthy and secure living environments.



Dec 2013

Achieved

from Jan to

June 2014

Achieved

from July to

Dec 2014

Target by

2014


2014 against the total target

Indicator 2.1. # of households (HHs) in supported low-income settlements to benefit from water facilities,

latrines, drain, and footpath

Water supply 213,811 31,645 1,435 195,433 246,891

Latrine 183,346 3,055 700 173,119 187,101

Drainage and

footpaths 441,461 28,646 25,474 400,225 495,581

Indicator Target in

2013 Achieved in

2013

Target in

2014

Achieved in 2014

Indicator 2.2. % of HHs members in CDCs with access to improved water sources

% 70% 66% 70% 84%

Indicator 2.3. % of HHs members in CDCs with access to improved latrines

% 70% 74% 70% 87%

Indicator 2.4. % of settlement improvement fund community contracts completed within 12 months of

commencement*

% 75% 66% 75% 91%

* Indicator 2.4 refers to the percentage of community contracts awarded during the calendar year which took less than 12 months to

complete

3.1 Progress towards Outputs

The UPPR continued ward level planning using an integrated approach for

infrastructure development in selected wards with climate change resilience being a

factor in the selection. All the targets were exceeded for all the four indicators: a total of

246,891 households received water supply, 187,101 a latrine and 495,581 of these had

improved access to drainage and footpaths.

During this period, UPPR disbursed over USD 1.2 million under 20 contracts to install

26 tube-wells and 14 community latrines. It also supported the construction of 29.9 km

of footpaths and 21.1 km of drainage systems, and set 2.4 km of water pipes to connect

with the water supply lines in 20 cities. Interventions were made in both areas under the

UPPR community development committees and outside these within the wards.


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3.2 Co-financing and Contract Completion Rates

During this period, local government institutions contributed 20 percent of the total

budget while the communities contributed 15 percent. As a result, the UPPR settlement

improvement fund provided 65 percent of the funds for the settlement improvement

activities, while the communities and local government institutions independently raised

35 percent of funds. For all settlement improvement fund activities, approximately BDT

60.1 million was funded by UPPR, while the communities and local government

institutions funded BDT 13.9 million and BDT 18.5 million respectively. In 2014, a

proportion of 250 of 334 contracts completed took less than 12 months. In 2013 and

2014, completion rate for all contracts was 92 percent.

3.3 Improved Access to Water

The 2014 settlement improvement fund outcome study assessed the proportion of

households with access to improved water and sanitation. Out of the 579 households in

the sample, 81 percent, reported that the UPPR tube-well was their primary source of

drinking water, compared to 63 percent in 2013. This contrasted with 16 percent that

did not use the tube-well as their main source and 3 percent that did not take ownership

of a tube-well.

For measurement purposes, the project developed an index to assess access to improved

water sources that included the categories of access, usage, collection times, safety and

scarcity of water sources. The index found that 84 percent of the sampled households

had improved access to water in 2014 compared to only 66 percent in 2013.

3.4 Improved Access to Sanitation

A second household survey of 598 families measuring their access to improved latrines

found that 519 households have received and are using the latrines. 64 percent of these

are using a twin pit latrine, 30 percent a single pit latrine and 6 percent are using a

community latrine. Over two thirds of the sampled households are sharing the improved

latrines with the majority having their own private latrine or sharing with fewer than

three households (mostly with relatives), which is the maximum number stipulated in

the project guidelines. Only 9 percent of households reported they were sharing with

more than three households. Additionally, UPPR also devised an index for assessing

access to an improved latrine. The index includes the following measures: usage,

around the clock accessibility, and functionality, accessibility during the rainy season

and privacy and safety of female users. The inclusion of privacy had a significant effect

on the proportion of households reporting improved access to latrines. When privacy

was included as a measure, the number of households who reported improved access

was only 34 percent in contrast to 87 percent who had reported improved access without

privacy as a measure. This is due in part to the fact that ensuring full privacy is

exceptionally challenging in the urban poor context. For example, facilities are typically

shared with other households in a high density area. Importantly, one of the key


18

findings of the study was that women reported that the facilities were locked and could

be used at any time, day or night, and were safe.

4.0 Output 3: Socio-Economic Fund- Urban poor and extremely poor people

acquire the resources, knowledge and skills to increase their income and assets.


Indicator Achieved

by Dec

2013

Achieved

in Jan-Jun

2014

Achieved in

July-Dec

2014

Target by

Dec 2014



target

Indicator 3.1. # of beneficiaries receiving skills development training and small enterprise block grant

Skills Training 61,136 4,098 0 64,897 65,234

Female Skills Training 44,521 2,688 0 38,938 47,209

Block Grant 108,688 7,370 0 115,921 116,058

Indicator 3.2. % of beneficiaries who found employment six months after apprenticeships and block grant

Skills Training 63% - - 60% 72.5%

Block Grant 93% - - 60% 85%

Indicator 3.3. # of children supported towards achieving their primary and secondary school certificates*

Total 109,727 1,419 0 95,883 111,146

Female 70,764 883 0 67,118 71,647

Female Primary 12,690 397 0 - 13,087 -

Male Primary 8,033 279 0 - 8,312 -

Female Secondary 26,445 486 0 - 26,931 -

Male Secondary 15,182 257 0 - 15,439 -

Indicator 3.4. % beneficiaries receiving iron and folic acid, deworming tablets and deworming

suspension**

Achieved

by Dec

2013

Achieved

in Jan –

Jun 2014

Achieved in

July - Dec

2014

Target by

Dec 2014



target

Pregnant women IFA 6,687 4,674 5,416 15,647 16,777

Adolescent girls IFA & DT 36,160 23,942 24,838 90,656 84,940 94%

Children under 5 DT 26,132 15,847 21,996 68,479 63,975 93%

Children under 2 DS 9,317 10,743 9,045 29,377 29,105 99%

Indicator 3.5. # and % of primary groups HH saving and having access to credit through savings and

credit groups

# HH in socio-economic

fund (SCGs) 388,978 5,831 4,282 262,500 399,091

% HH in SCGs 62% - - 50% 64%

* The breakdown by gender per primary and secondary school level has only been recorded in the log frame since 2012

** Indicator 3.4 Nutrition activities only commenced in October 2013. Activities for this indicator continue until December 2015


19

Indicator 3.6. % of socio-economic fund community contracts completed within 12 months of

commencement

Achieved

by Dec

2013

Achieved

in Jan –

Jun 2014

Achieved in

July - Dec

2014

Target by

Dec 2014



target

% 80% - 80% 80% 61%

Indicator 3.7. # of MOUs signed between the community and municipality with private sector entities to

provide training and employment opportunities in poor urban settlements***

# of MoU 2 4 4 8 10

*** New indicator to measure progress on activities to be implemented in the extension phase


The project has been working closely with Community Development Committees

(CDC) to ensure socio-economic fund grants were utilized in a timely manner and

verified by the relevant local authority with appropriate oversight. Notable

achievements were made in improving skills development, employment opportunities,

primary and secondary education for children and access to credit through savings and

credit schemes for the urban poor. Regarding indicator 3.6, due to top-down movement

for approval of a contract and after processing the top to down approval process through

the LGI and community, contract completion took longer than expected.

As illustrated in Table 5, targets were exceeded for 6 out of the 7 indicators. For

indicator 3.4 on nutrition, the three target groups: adolescent girls, children under 5 and

children under 2, achieved respectively 94 percent, 93 percent and 99 percent of the

target. It is to be noted that these nutrition activities which started in October 2013 are

ongoing in 2015.

4.2 Contracts Awarded and Partnerships

In 2014, substantial progress was made in addressing a backlog of outstanding contracts

awarded in previous years. The project ensured the completion of 1,461 community

contracts in the reporting period. At the end of 2014, a total of 7,946 socio-economic

fund contracts (99.9 percent) out of a total of 7,952 were settled or completed.

Completion rates within a 12 month period stands at 61 percent.


20

After meeting the project targets for the socio-economic fund, UPPR has been focusing

on alternative arrangements to provide support to the urban poor. This includes

establishing long term partnerships with the private sector for formal employment. In

this respect, UPPR sought to link demand from companies for skilled and semi-skilled

workforce with the supply of labour pool from poor urban settlements.

The following table lists the organizations with which UPPR has signed the MoUs and

the projected number of beneficiaries under each of these, as well as their time periods.

Table 6: Partnerships signing memorandum of understanding

Organization Number of

beneficiaries

Period of skills training

1 SPL and Tosrifa Industries Ltd. 500 4 November 2013-March 2015

2 Muslim Aid & Clifton Group 446 3 June 2013-March 2015

3* Classical Handmade Product Ltd. 300 1 February – March 2015

4 Plumbing Shop Owners Association 300 30 March 2014 – March 2015

5 Southeast Textiles Ltd. 520 20 March 2014 – March 2015

6* Land Mark Footwear Limited 300 1 February – March 2015

7 Skill and Productivity Ltd. (SPL) 320 3 March 2014-March 2015

8 DEBA 100 10 February – 2014 March 2015

9 BGMEA 60 1 November 2014-March 2015

10 Society for Unprivileged Families &

Solar Group

120 17 November 2014-March 2015


Solar Vision



Nippon Industries (Pvt.) Ltd.


Total Beneficiaries Covered: 3,046

* These two memorandums of understanding were not implemented.


21

From July to December 2014, four additional MoUs were signed and this led to the

increased coverage of training with existing partners. As of December 2014, a total 10

MoUs were signed, hence surpassing the target of eight. Out of all the signed MoUs

demonstrated in the table above, 2 initial agreements with Classical Handmade Product

Ltd. and the Land Mark Footware Ltd., were not implemented and this resulted in

cutting the training of 600 beneficiaries.

To date, areas for skills development training and employment include the ready-made

garments sector, computer services and operators, plumbing, sales, mobile repairs,

electronics, switch and cable manufacturing and solar panel production. All training

courses are three months in duration and a total of 1,026 beneficiaries have enhanced

skills and employability after completing training. The training was completed in the

following trade areas: RMG, Sales force, Plumbing, Computer Servicing, and Computer

Operators.

4.3 Nutrition

Significant progress has been made in nutrition support with 5,416 pregnant women and

24,838 adolescent girls receiving iron and folic acid tablets as well as de-worming

tablets and suspensions in the second half of 2014. The project continued counselling on

the use, benefits, and side effects of supplements and tablets.

The UPPR is also working on health and nutrition for extremely poor families in 1,805

community development committees of 23 towns through 845 Health and Nutrition

Volunteers (HNVs) and 213 Health and Nutrition Promoters (HNPs). Activities

conducted by HNVs and HNPs include conducting individual counselling sessions for

young children, adolescent girls and other family members of extreme poor families on

early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, complementary feeding, food

and nutrition.

In addition to the regular coordination meetings, a five day training of trainers course

was delivered in July 2014 for six new nutrition experts and six master trainers, who are

staff of local government institutions. These trainers have since provided training to

1,058 HNVs and HNPs on Infant and Young Child Feeding and counselling on different

components of nutrition. All the towns observed World Breastfeeding week to increase

awareness of early initiation of breastfeeding and other nutrition issues.

4.4 Savings and credit schemes

A total of 4,282 households joined the savings and credit scheme in the second half of

2014, bringing the total number of households having access to credit through savings

and credit groups (SCGs) to 300,091, which is significantly above the target of 252,500.

The savings balance across the groups in the last six months increased by 8 percent to

over BDT 640 million (USD 8.1 million) by year end. In addition, outstanding loans

from community savings groups also increased by 8 percent to BDT 535 million (USD

6.8 million).


22

By the end of the reporting period, 2,149 of 2,536 community development committees

were using savings and credit schemes with 25,014 SCGs formed. These 2,149 were

using enhanced financial management and record keeping systems and improved

procedures, administering 97 percent of loans to SCG members, which surpassed 87

percent of loans administered in the first half of the year. The result of this system is

that the average savings per member is BDT 1,604 and the average size of outstanding

loans is BDT 6,067, which is 3.8 times higher than average savings.

Monthly fund performance feedback reports provided to SCG members ensured

accuracy of records and asset management and helped them identify and overcome

bottlenecks. 95 percent of the community development committees participating in the

scheme were able to prepare monthly financial statements correctly by reconciling

income and expenditure. They also assisted in transferring management and supervision

of the socio-economic funds from finance experts at the town level to the federation and

cluster leadership level.

Notably, the communities also demonstrated confidence in the operation of their

savings and credit groups by creating the reserve fund, which served to support

individual members exposed to external shocks’ and to support all groups as a safeguard

mechanism.

At every six months, the CDC calculates the profits made by the SCGs and deducts any

expenditure incurred in that period from the profits. Profit is derived mainly from the

interest earned on savings accounts, interest earned from extending credit/loans to

socio-economic fund members and from admission/passbook fees. The balance of profit

is distributed among savers, savings and credit group leaders, community development

committees’ reserve funds, welfare funds, office bearers, and cluster funds. As of

December 2014, the balance in the groups running the improved system was as follows:

Improved system savings & credits Improved system CDC allocations

BDT 605 M

Savings

balance

BDT 519 M

Outstanding

loans

BDT 7.9

M

Allocated

to the

welfare

fund

BDT 7 M

Allocated

to the

reserve

fund

BDT 5.6

M

Allocate

d to the

Cluster

Dev

fund

BDT 6 M

Reserve

from

entry

fees


23

5.0 Output 4 Policy and Advocacy- Pro-poor urban policies and partnerships

supported at the national and local levels.



Dec 2013

Achieved in

Jan–Jun 2014

Achieved in

July-Dec 2014

Target by

2014


against the final target

Indicator 4.1. # of programme towns where low-income settlements are officially recognized by

Municipal and Pourashava mayors through signing the settlement map

15 7 - 22 22

Indicator 4.2. # of press and television reports covering urban poverty issues in UPPR low-income

settlements

276 80 - 240 356

Indicator 4.3. # of partnerships and linkages established through the project

Partnerships 141 9 - 135 150

Linkages 697 88 - 670 785

Achieved by

Dec 14 2014

Target by

Mar 2015


Indicator 4.4. # New models of security of tenure are piloted and documented

6 3 6

Indicator 4.5. # of towns where the capacity of local government institutions to support pro-poor policy

development is deemed at least satisfactory on a capacity assessment scorecard*

0 6 - -

* A study measuring this indicator will be undertaken this year.


Achievements were made across all the indicators in Table 7. An assessment study to

measure indicator 4.5 is to be conducted this year and will provided in the next report.

UPPR achieved the target of having 22 programme towns where low-income

settlements are officially recognized by Municipal and Pourashava Mayors through

signing the Settlement Map. In addition, the project exceeded the number of press and

television reports covering urban poverty issues in UPPR low-income settlements by 32

percent. It also successfully piloted and documented 6 new models of security of tenure,

surpassing the target of 3.


24

As part of the sustainability strategy, UPPR continued to work with CDCs and clusters

to create/enhance partnerships with other service providers. By December 2014, a total

of 150 partnerships and 785 linkages were established mainly driven by town, cluster

and federation groups, surpassing the targets of 135 and 670 respectively. (Indicator

4.3)

5.2 Tenure Security and Housing Finance

The Community Housing Development Fund (CHDF) is a town level institution

established by electing existing leaders from community development organizations

including CDC, Cluster CDC, and CDC Town Federation formed under UPPR

programme. Since its first establishment in Gopalgonj in 2012, the CHDF is now

available in 13 towns, providing support on land tenure security and housing

improvements to poor settlements in project towns. Each CHDF, with a 7 or 9

members Board of Directors, is elected every two years by the votes of general

members who are the office bearers of all CDC,s cluster CDCs and federation of the

towns. It has a 5 member advisory committee headed by the Mayor of its respective

town.

The CHDF mobilizes funds from membership fees, borrows money from the Operation

and Maintenance (O&M) Fund, and where possible from external sources. Through

participatory processes, the CHDF identifies and prioritizes the communities’ support

needs on land tenure and housing. With technical support from UPPR and local

government institutions, the CHDF ensures tenure security is in place for the targeted

community before arranging loans from its own fund for households. This is done

through the CDC with a 12 percent interest rate charged for a period of 2-7 years. The

CHDF monitors construction work and supports the resolution of any conflicts arising

during housing improvement works. At present, the CHDF provides the maximum loan

of BDT 200,000 to an individual household (who must be a PG member of any CDC).

Monthly repayments must be made by households back to the CHDF account, which

the CHDF then uses to provide further loans to new applicants. At the end of each year,

the CHDF holds an Annual General Meeting to share progress, agree on future planning

and distribute profit.

The following outlines how profits are distributed: 4 percent profit goes back to the

CDC’s O&M fund from where money is borrowed, 4 percent to the CDC who operates

distribution and collection of loans, and 4 percent to the CHDF, CDC Cluster and CDC

Federation who manage the whole operation.

Community housing development funds in Gopalgonj, Sirajgonj, Rajshahi and

Chittagong supported tenure security and housing improvements to 300 households.

The funds, to date, have invested BDT 90 million (USD 1.17 million) using different

models of tenure security, which include: 1) resettlement on government owned land

with long term lease arrangements (e.g. 99 years); 2) land readjustment of private land

where mid-term lease arrangements are entered into; 3) onsite upgrading of land already

owned by communities; and 4) onsite upgrading of land owned by local government


25

institutions. Preparation to undertake similar activities in another nine towns is now

underway.

6.0 Output 5: Project Management- Effective project management systems

established and operational



Dec 2013

Achieved in

Jan-Jun 2014

Achieved in

Jul-Dec 2014

Target by

2014


2014 against the project’s

target by 2014

Indicator 5.1. Proportion of settlement improvement fund budget delivered (in USD)

USD 35,274,780 1,050,456 - 36,291,892 36,325,216

Indicator 5.2. Proportion of socio-economic fund budget delivered (in USD)

USD 23,370,646 2,216,248 - 25,092,290 25,586,894

Indicator 5.3. % of project human resource positions staffed at HQ and town levels

HQ - - - 90% 100%

Town - - - 90% 100%

Indicator 5.4. % of female staff at HQ and town levels

HQ - - - 25% 17% 70%

Town - - - 25% 20% 81%

Indicator 5.5. # of short and long term outcome studies and research studies on UPPR best practices

carried out

Achieved by

Dec 2014

Target by

March 2015


2014

RELU 3 7 3 43%


During the reporting period, a total of USD 4,403,127 was disbursed by the project, out

of which, UPPR’s expenditure was USD 679,691 (from July to August 2014).

Additionally, USD 2,812,736 was disbursed in the extension phase (period of

September to December 2014). Notably, the nutrition component delivery expended

USD 910,700 during the reporting period from July-December 2014.

6.2 Audit Recommendations and Financial Monitoring

The UNDP Office of Audit and Investigation conducted an audit of the UPPR project

for the financial year 2013 (conducted by international auditing firm Moore &

Stephens) and received an unqualified report. There were some recommendations on


26

ensuring 1) final settlement of all contracts 2) reconciliation of funds transferred from

local government accounts to community accounts. All recommendations of the audit

were fully implemented by December 2014. Financial reporting has been strengthened

to reflect bank reconciliation and status of SEF fund balance. Communities have been

given templates for financial reporting for improving their financial records keeping.

In ensuring ongoing financial oversight, finance teams visited all 23 towns to check

completion reports and verify operational issues (such as asset verification and use of

vehicles and motorcycles). After each visit the team provided feedback to town based

financial experts to improve financial accounting, administrative management and asset

management. Furthermore, training on the internal control systems, ethics and

accountability and value for money approaches were conducted for all finance experts,

town managers, and other town level staff. Additionally, asset management has been

systemized and mid-year verification has been completed during the reporting period.

Combined, these activities have contributed to enhancing the financial management

system at town levels.

6.3 Sub-contracts and Partnerships

A total of USD 96,846 has been spent on partnership contracts during the reporting

period. Also during the reporting period, three partnership contracts have come to a

close: NDBUS (June 2014); Concern World Wide Bangladesh (August 2014); and

CARE Bangladesh (October 2014).

6.4 Mutual Accountability Unit

The UPPR mutual accountability unit continued to provide support to town offices,

ensuring compliance with internal control policies and procedures, as well as other

external requirements. The unit visited five town offices for the first time, and revisited

17 town offices by the end of 2014. These visits assisted in the review of internal

control activities, financial and operational information, and compliance with rules.

They also included UNDP spot checks and other external assessments and reviews. The

unit focused on areas of significant exposures-to-risk and made recommendations for

improved risk management and control systems. A training programme on financial

management and internal control systems was conducted for capacity development of

the community housing development fund. Status reports indicated that 24 town offices

demonstrated improvements in compliance with the UNDP operational rules. In towns,

the compliance rates range from 88 to 100 percent with an average of 97 percent. At

headquarters level, the same rate is 97 percent.

6.5 Value for Money Assessment

A value for money assessment of the project was conducted during the reporting period.

Key findings include 1) the UPPR project performed favourably when benchmarked

against similar projects in Bangladesh as well as in the region in terms of the key cost


27

effectiveness indicators 2) it provided good value-for-money against the local

benchmark for equitable reach to the very/extreme poor 3) the overwhelming majority

of beneficiaries are women, and the ratio of adolescent girls among these women has

increased 4) cost-benefit analyses of distinct programme components demonstrate

positive economic returns 5) a case study focusing on savings and credit groups

undertaken estimates BCR: 1.61, showing the value for money of that particular

component 6) value through community contracting stands at USD 42.2 million 7) the

project performed well on economy and efficiency indicators, such as in the

administrative costs to total costs ratio and in the areas of budget utilization and risk

management.

6.6 Research, Evaluation and Learning Unit

At the end of 2014, the unit completed a number of studies which included:

A) Follow up study on multi-dimensional poverty

B) Outcome study on Settlement Living Condition Index (SLCI) (commenced in

the last week of 2014, the final report of the study was not concluded in

December 2014, but a draft of the results is available)

C) Participatory follow up study on women’s empowerment

D) Short term outcome study of water and sanitation activities

E) Outcome study on education grant of the SEF component

F) Evaluation study on Saving and Credit Groups (SCG) of UPPR communities

The project continued to place emphasis on communication including through using

social media. During the reporting period, UPPR Facebook followers increased over 50

percent. A blog section on the UPPR website was developed to highlight project

developments and stories to wider stakeholder groups. Additionally, in this period, two

Newsletters were published. Furthermore, the We Tell photo book was printed during

this period to capture the experiences of the We Tell photo exhibition conducted in late

2013.

UPPR continued to hold stimulating discussions around urban poverty issues through its

“Urban Change Blog”. Some of the key topics addressed by the blog include UPPR’s

approach towards improving access to water in densely populated urban areas; the

actual meaning of empowerment; land disputes and insecurity of tenure in Bangladesh

and the measures for resolution. UPPR also produced a video entitled “Let’s Build

Inclusive and Safe Cities in Bangladesh” which provides key messages on the

importance of working with the urban poor and local authorities to manage sustainable

urban development.


28

7.0 Lessons Learned and Going Forward

A number of key lessons have been learned during project implementation and will be

reflected in future support and planning of the new national urban programme:

1. Involvement of local government institutions has increased but has not reached

the level forecasted. This is due to unavailability of staff and the lack of clear

job descriptions. There is a need for more policy influence and capacity building

work at municipal level to ensure availability of local government institutions’

staff as well as to ensure increased co-financing for poverty reduction activities.

2. Secure land tenure and housing improvement on private and public land in small

towns is developing well. Despite this, a solution has not been tested for the

populations living on government land in large cities e.g. Korail slum in Dhaka

where more comprehensive political economy analysis and related strategies are

required along with housing finance solutions.

3. There is a lack of consistent understanding among participants with respect to

skills and job placement initiatives, which has accelerated dropout rates. Groups

show a preference for working below eight hours per day as well as for

flexibility in working times, which poses challenges for mainstream

employment sectors. It is essential that targeted information outline these

conditions prior to training commencement. In many cases, semi or low skilled

jobs such as in the areas of routine security, cleaning and manufacturing are

available. However, there is a lack of job seeker demand that needs to be better

aligned with existing and future availability of both jobs and labour skills.

In conclusion, in 2014, the Government of Bangladesh initiated planning for a national

urban poverty reduction programme to be implemented from 2015 to 2021. The

programme aims to support nine million urban poor, building on the experience of the

UPPR’s implementation, its findings and recommendations. In relation to this planning,

UKAid, UNDP and the government extended the UPPR project until 31 August, 2015.

Whilst continuing to work on strengthening community structures and assistance

schemes that include the savings and credit initiative and community housing

development fund committees; the extension will provide additional empirical analysis

and evaluations of impact.

Documents

URBAN PARTNERSHIPS FOR POVERTY REDUCTION Progress … · Table 1: Outcome level performance against targets 8 Table 2: Distribution of empowerment threshold for leaders, members who