Context
Around the world people are migrating to cities in search of better lives, and Bangladesh is no exception. Bangladesh’s cities are growing by 3.3% a year – one of the fastest urban growth rates in the world. According to World Bank projections, by 2030 approximately 100 million people (50% of the total population) will be living in Bangladesh’s urban areas. Most of the migrants will join the ranks of the urban poor.
Cities are now the driving force for the economy of Bangladesh, with urban agglomerations accounting for nearly 40% of the country’s GDP. But although national poverty rates are falling, urban poverty and the appalling living conditions in urban slums present the local governments of all Bangladesh’s cities with an enormous development challenge. The lack of access to essential municipal services, such as a clean water supply, sanitation and waste collection leaves a large proportion of the population exposed to serious environmental health hazards. The widening socioeconomic gap between rich and poor, which is particularly evident in cities, greatly increases the potential for social and political unrest. In order to promote balanced urban growth in Bangladesh and to ease the pressure on resources and infrastructure in the major cities, it is essential to promote the stronger development of the secondary cities, and to make them better places to live.
Objective
Transparent decision-making mechanisms at the municipal level ensure that urban populations gain the effective public services they need.
Approach
On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ is providing technical support for two projects of the Bangladesh Government – the Second Urban Governance and Infrastructure Improvement (Sector) Project (UGIIP 2) and the Enhancing Urban Governance (EUG) project.
UGIIP2 is funded collectively by the Government of Bangladesh and the municipalities (known as pourashavas), as well as the Asian Development Bank and Germany’s KfW Development Bank. It is being implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department of the Ministry of Local Governments and Rural Development & Cooperatives. Under the project, some 47 municipalities are expected to meet specific criteria of improved governance as a condition for accessing infrastructure development funds. These criteria include the integration of women and poor people, the achievement of financial accountability standards, and the completion of ‘pourashava development plans’ that underpin participatory urban planning.
The EUG project is being implemented by the Local Government Division of the same ministry, and it builds on UGIIP 2. It aims to achieve enhanced governance performance while at the same time helping the municipalities to meet their own capacity development objectives in the context of urban governance and service delivery. It also encourages horizontal learning initiatives and exchanges of good practices among 16 municipalities in Rajshahi and Chapai Nawabganj districts. The technical cooperation provided by GIZ for the EUG project is co-financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
Results achieved so far
Municipal authorities have significantly improved their transparency and accountability by introducing public participation and raising the efficiency of their service delivery. In many cases, this has gone hand-in-hand with increases in municipal revenue. For example, between 2010 and 2011, property tax revenues in Sreepur rose from about 40% to 60% of the total potential income.
Meanwhile, Jamalpur municipality has successfully piloted a new approach to poverty reduction in which the budgetary allocation for poverty reduction measures far exceeds the five per cent minimum. This includes activities outside conventional infrastructure development. Jamalpur has also significantly improved its service delivery and revenues by introducing a website and a one-stop service centre as an entry point for citizens. According to a customer survey, some 84% of citizens consider themselves highly satisfied with the services they have received from the service centre.