GIZ Reviews PDP Achievements in 10 Yrs

The German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) announced on Thursday the end of the Participatory development programme in urban areas (PDP),  which was implemented over ten years in cooperation with the Ministry of Housing, commissioned & funded by the German government and co-financed from the European Union.

This came during an event to shed light on the program’s contribution to improve the living standards of urban residents in Egyptian cities by presenting inspiring success stories for the program, and setting up an exhibition for a number of projects related to grant recipients, in addition to reviewing the future plans of the sector projects in the targeted governorates.

The event was attended by various international organizations and local authorities, in addition to civil society organizations, and the most important experts in the field of community development, as well as success partners.

The programme succeeded in supporting the transition towards a sustainable urban development model to improve the living conditions of urban residents, and to develop basic infrastructure and public services in line with the sustainable development goals and the Egypt 2030 vision.

This was achieved through building, equipping and developing health, educational, and recreational services, transportation, solid waste management and public facilities, in addition to providing training, job opportunities and increasing income for residents in nine random areas in Cairo.

In this context, Jean-François Marteau, Coordinator of the Urban Development Sector, expressed his gratitude in the results of the program, saying: "Today we highlight the results that we achieved after ten years in the development .

"All the results that we review today were not to be achieved without the solidarity of all success partners, which stem from adopting an integrated participatory approach to urban development. It also ensures the participation of decision makers at the national, regional and local levels, including government authorities, civil society organizations, the private sector, and different groups of society,” he added.

[caption id="attachment_112514" align="aligncenter" width="960"] GIZ Reviews honors partners during PDP event[/caption]

During the past ten years, PDP managed to achieve a number of accomplishments that in turn contributed to producing huge models and success stories, in addition to contributing to the application of participatory approaches in dealing with urban slums.

The sector also contributed to providing more services for these areas and reaching concrete solutions to improve social, infrastructure services in urban areas, and to improve environmental conditions in the targeted areas.

Some of the most prominent results that have been achieved on the ground is the participation of more than 2,200 citizens of the targeted areas, as well as as training 500 employees of the local administration and civil society organizations in the programme.

Also, more than 1.6 million people now have access to improved health care services, with females accounting for 56% of them, by improving 31 health facilities. Educational projects have succeeded in providing better quality in school education for more than 80,000 students, of whom 50% are females. In addition to supporting more than 8000 citizens of the targeted areas in learning about the impacts of climate change and how to cope with it, as the female percentage represented 67%.