ALLIANCE CITIES ALLIANCE CITIES ACTION IN ACTION IN Douala Takes Ownership of its Future 73454 Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and home to nearly 20 per cent of the country’s population of 19 million. It is Project: Urban Development and Poverty also Cameroon’s economic hub, with an international Reduction Strategy: City of Douala and its Greater Urban Area airport and one of the biggest ports along the Atlantic coast of Africa. Partners: Cities Alliance, Communauté Urbaine de Douala (CUD), the World Bank, Agence Despite its immense potential, Douala faces some basic Française de Développement (AfD) challenges that stunt its economic growth and prevent it Duration: 2006 – 2009 from assuming a more influential role in the region. These include poverty, unemployment, crime, lack of basic Cities Alliance Financing: USD 175,000 infrastructure and services such as water, sanitation, roads and electricity. The city lacks the financial resources to Towards a Participatory Development Framework cope with these multiple challenges. Combined with rapid and unplanned urbanisation, these factors contribute to In 2006, Douala’s administrative authority, the the proliferation of slums. Communauté Urbaine de Douala (CUD), approached the Cities Alliance for its support in formulating a City In 2003, Cameroon adopted a Poverty Reduction Strategy Development Strategy (CDS). The CDS was meant to Paper (PRSP) that focused on economic diversification, establish and validate a coherent framework for the long- infrastructure development and good governance. term development of Douala, towards the goal of poverty Recognising that unplanned urbanisation was damaging its reduction and economic development. cities and the rest of the country, the Cameroon PRSP laid out its government’s urban poverty reduction strategy: CUD took the lead and worked closely with elected local and national government officials, civil society “The government of Cameroon is well aware of the extent of organisations representing the urban poor, women and the problems and is in the process of drawing an integrated other vulnerable groups, private sector and the media to urban development policy. Its objectives are to: (i) improve formulate a comprehensive development plan for the city. the living conditions of urban dwellers, a majority of who Major emphasis was given to the participation of local live under precarious conditions; and (ii) reinforce the stakeholders in every phase of the CDS process. economic role of towns by strengthening urban infrastructures.� In the first phase, a detailed diagnostic study of Douala’s socio-economic conditions was conducted. Next, led by CUD, city stakeholders engaged in extensive dialogue with each other to draw up a strategic development framework “A constant dialogue with all actors is for the city. Ten priority interventions were identified in required to sustain their commitment four focus areas: slum reduction and improved quality of and accountability during CDS life for the poor; sustainable growth, economic implementation.� development and competitiveness; environmental Jean Yango, Director of Studies, Urban Planning and protection; and improved urban governance and Sustainable Development, CUD institutional frameworks. www.citiesalliance.org The CDS Yields Positive Results for Douala lessons were learnt in Douala that can potentially improve the impact of the CDS in Yaounde and other cities. The Douala CDS is credited for its role in nurturing While influential local partners like CUD contribute to effective partnerships at the city level. CUD led the CDS better project design and implementation, the consistent with minimal assistance from external partners such as the support of higher-level governments plays an important Cities Alliance. It launched an extensive advocacy and role as well. However, public funding for urban poverty outreach campaign to include as many as stakeholders in reduction in Douala remained inconsistent. A 2004 identifying the needs and priorities of the city. Several decentralisation law created further challenges in terms of workshops were held in which local participants - allocation of responsibility and institutional accountability. including NGOs representing the poor, women and other According to the new law, the national government is no vulnerable groups - were encouraged to voice their longer responsible for urban decision-making in concerns. As a result of this effort, the Douala CDS is seen Cameroon. At the same time, local authorities lack the as a credible and representative development action plan capacity and resources to take on their new for the city. responsibilities. This led to some delays in the initial stages of project implementation and the CDS project was The participatory and collaborative nature of the CDS delayed by 18 months. process also influenced institutional behaviour and produced new management capacities at CUD and other While the CDS provides a useful platform for coordination local institutions. Based on consultations with different among urban stakeholders, effective communication and city stakeholders, CUD has now adopted an integrated dissemination of its process and outcomes is critical. This urban planning approach. This also helped in the is important for local actors as well as external agencies prioritisation of projects, since decisions were based on such as donors as well as the state and national their level of urgency and available resources. As the CDS government. CUD’s Director of Studies, Urban Planning progressed, CUD and other local actors developed a sense and Sustainable Development, Jean Yango, who also of ownership and commitment to its process and coordinated the CDS project, concludes, “A constant outcomes. dialogue with all actors is required to sustain their commitment and accountability during CDS Another major contribution of the Douala CDS is that it implementation. It also leads to stakeholder has led to critical financing opportunities for the city. For accountability.� instance, in 2011, the World Bank approved a USD 28.5 million loan for a city sanitation project. Its design was based on the diagnostic study conducted in the first phase i A World Bank Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD) study of the Cities Alliance-supported CDS. The French estimates Cameroon’s public expenditure on sanitation is approximately development agency Agence Française de Développement 0.2% of its GDP, against an average of 0.5% of GDP being invested in new sanitation facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa every year. (AfD) is also financing a Euro 163 million project (approximately USD 212 million) to improve the city’s drainage system. In a country with little public funding for Douala’s CDS contributes to the long-term sanitation, this is significant. i It also keeps the momentum objectives of the Cities Alliance by: going for the CDS, so that it does not remain a purely • Supporting local partners in leading the CDS academic exercise and translates into action. with wide stakeholder participation • Fostering an atmosphere of trust that Lessons Learned from the Douala Experience enabled genuine stakeholder involvement in CDS formulation After Douala’s rewarding CDS experience, Cameroon’s capital city, Yaounde, embarked on its own CDS, again • Providing a credible strategic development with support from the Cities Alliance. Some important framework that attracted investments in Douala www.citiesalliance.org