[5 June 2012] -- The Cities Alliance Executive Committee meetings are currently underway in Uganda. Activities are being held from 4-7 June in Kampala and Jinja.
The location in Uganda provides the Executive Committee with the opportunity to see a Cities Alliance Country Programme in action. Now in its second year, Transforming the Settlements of the Urban Poor in Uganda (TSUPU) initiative has made considerable progress at all levels.
Positive dialogue has been established with the launch of national and municipal forums, communities are mobilised and engaged, and partners are working together and increasing the potential for leveraging investment.
This element of partnership and collaboration is clearly evident in the events that are being held around the Executive Committee meeting.
This year's meetings are being held in Uganda, giving EXCO members a chance to see a Cities Alliance Country Programme in action. Photo: Susanna Henderson/Cities Alliance
This year, the Cities Alliance is co-hosting a workshop with the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA), the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), and the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) on strengthening support through collaboration.
All four programmes are active in Uganda, and the workshop focuses on how they can work together to support cities and municipalities in addressing the demands of rapid urbanisation. These include helping deliver essential infrastructure and related services and access to financing throughout various stages of infrastructure development.
Following the workshop, the Ugandan Minister of State for Urban Development Daudi Migereko and Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI) will launch the Kampala Community Development Fund (KCDF), a community-based organisation based in Kampala that aims to improve income levels of the urban poor by making it easier for them to access affordable loans for income-generating activities.
the Rubaga Sanitation Unit in Jinja, a community-built facility built through the Cities Alliance-supported TSUPU programme. Photo: SDI
The KCDF approach is also being replicated in the five municipalities of Kabale, Jinja, Mbale, Arua and Mbarara, which are participating in TSUPU.
An additional event is being held in Jinja, where the Mayor of Jinja, Mohammed Baswale Kezaala Al-hajj, and the Jinja Municipal Council are hosting a forum on managing a secondary city.
The forum will focus on challenges on providing services in a secondary city and the opportunities for collaboration with Cities Alliance, GPOBA, PPIAF and PIDG.
In Jinja, EXCO members and workshop participants will also have the chance to make site visits to two TSUPU-related projects in Jinja: income generating activities for women in Masese I, and the construction of a sanitation unit in Rubaga market.
