Background and objectives:
In late 1997, the Ministry of Works and Urban Development submitted a proposal for identification of sustainable urban development intervention areas and preparation of implementation strategy to the Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation for approval, funded by UNDP. This document was prepared by the Ministry of Works and Urban Development with the technical support of UN-HABITAT. The project was approved and signed in February 1999. The objective of this project is to assist the Government to develop a well-coordinated urban development strategy and operational guidelines for municipalities, focusing on urban management, housing development, integrated infrastructure development, municipal finance management and upgrading of institutional capacity. The programme has two main components: capacity-building of local authorities in selected regions and poverty reduction in Addis Ababa.

Activities:
The first phase of the programme started in July 1999 to prepare a clear action plan for a long-term programme of support to improve the planning and managing of urban development in Ethiopia. An institutional capacity-building process has been started to enable municipal authorities and their partners to develop participatory policies and strategies. With the participation of UN-HABITAT senior trainers, a training-of-trainers course and two pilot workshops were held in Addis Ababa in October 1999. The training course focused on the design of participatory, interactive and client-centred training programmes, based on UN-HABITAT training manuals. UN-HABITAT produced draft guidelines for preparation of the poverty profile study that takes into account the Ethiopian context. The Addis Ababa team finished the poverty profile for the city.

As a second stage of the strategy of capacity-building, the trainees who participated in the course will train other officials in the regions. Two subregional courses and workshops were conducted in November and December 2000. An overall assessment of institutional capacity at the national, regional and local levels is being conducted by the Ethiopian Civil Service College in order to identify major issues and prepare another programme. Based on the capacity-building need assessment findings and the works of the regions, a national urban development strategy and action plans will be formulated at the end of 2000. 

Results:
Currently, an overall assessment of institutional capacity both at national, regional and local level is conducted with the aim to identify major issues and prepare programme document for further implementation. The Addis Ababa Working team finished in July 2000 the Poverty Profile of Addis Ababa. This document constitutes the basis for the city consultation, which brings together all interested parties from central and local governments, the private sector, civil society, community organizations and the donor community who shall, on the basis of the information contained in the profile, agree on an action plan for the reduction of poverty and improved management of the city.