Maiden Consultation Round of the ‘Allaince for Urban Transformation’

Date: February 13^, 2020
Venue: Conference Hall, Directorate of Urban Local Bodies,Gomti Nagar Extension, Lucknow

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in supporting Department of Urban Development (DoUD) Govt. of U.P. in mainstreaming citywide sanitation focusing on faecal sludge and septage management. As part of this programme support to the state, CSE has advocated the need for Task Force or Alliance of state actors and development partners for convergence and collaboration to give synergies to the efforts made in the state and avoid a silos effect.

Department of Urban Development (DoUD) GoUPhas organised Maiden Consultation Round for establishment of an ‘Alliance for Urban Transformation’ to facilitate collaboration and convergence at the state to achieve the holistic goals of Urban Development with a focus on ‘Water and Sanitation for All’

The consultation was attended by around 17 development partners including Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), UNICEF, UNDP, WRG 2030 (World Bank), AIILSG, RCUES, PSI, WaterAid, ActionAid, Agha Khan Foundation, KfW, Oxfam, PRIA, KPMG, IDC, Vigyan Foundation, Tata Trusts.

DrKajal, Director, Directorate of Local Bodies, set the context for ‘Alliance for Urban Transformation’ and welcomed the alliance partners. She has emphasised on the creation of Alliance to bring synergies and convergence of all the efforts in the state which would help in avoiding duplication of efforts and help create multipliers in the state.This was followed by the short presentations by all the Alliance partners. The presentations made by the Development Partners is attached

Mr Anurag Yadav, Mission Director, SBM-Urban, Uttar Pradesh has pointed outfew critical issues to be considered such as need to strengthen IEC and Behavioural Change Communication; standardization of modules, tools and practices with focus in SWM and FSSM; inclusiveness with focus on informal sector; democracy and accountability in delivery of services. 

Mr Manoj Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary to GoUP, Dept. of Urban Development has appreciated the initiative of Dr Kajal (IAS) in organizing this Alliance, which is very much needed to achieve the SDGs. He further addressed the development partners regarding objective for this Alliance for collaboration and maximizing the impacts at the state level. In addition to this, he floated the idea of having model cities in the state where all the best practices suggested by the Development Partners can be implemented. Once the plans and project are presented and finalized, the state can provide funding for the same. He emphasized that the state is open to pitching of new policies which are needed in the urban Domain. He further suggested the following collaborations:

1. CSE to collaborate with PSI in recommending best practices related to sanitation of non-sewered areas in Lucknow.
2. Being close to Lucknow and a smaller ULB, BakshiKaTalab was suggested by Dr Kajal. WaterAid (already working within the city) can be collaborated with CSE and other partners to make it a model across all sectors.
3. Saharanpur was another city selected on recommendation of the World Bank Group.
4. KPMG to work closely with WaterAid in mapping and geotagging of drinking water issues in Lucknow.
5. UNDP and Tata Trusts to work collaboratively in the preparation of a Bundelkhand Migration Plan.

Dr Kajal, Director, Directorate of Local Bodieshas created sub-groups for specialist domains as listed below:

Going forward, the sub-groups are expected to meet and prepare an action plan for the coming 6 months. This was followed by the closing remarks by Dr Kajal, Director, Directorate of Local Bodies.