Low income housing and community upgrading

PES covers the period 8/78-2/82 and is based on an unattached special evaluation (PD-AAL-809). Three years into implementation, the project appears to be reaching the targeted low-income groups in the new community; insufficient data prevents a comparable analysis of the upgrading component. The cost of both components has been on or below original estimates, with no compromise in building standards or the use of innovative technologies. However, the number of housing units constructed or rehabilitated is below target, due primarily to delays of over a year in host country contracting for technical services. Moreover, although contracting problems have now been settled and implementation is more or less on schedule, the project"s most difficult phases have yet to begin and lack of agreement on and understanding of project objectives by USAID/E, GOE, and contractors clouds the near future. Lessons learned are that: project designs must include a realistic time frame for implementation; objectives must be clear, mutually understood, and commonly agreed upon by all parties prior to project approval and implementation; and policy-oriented objectives should be approached directly, rather than as a part of day-to-day implementation. Action decisions call for: (1) a review of existing project management, recommendations for streamlining joint management, and the initiation of management and organizational reforms; (2) review and analysis of housing buildout options and their implications for pricing and marketing strategies, with a recommendation on the appropriate option to be selected; and (3) further in-house study on the effectiveness of the upgrading component and on the possibility of expanding that activity to other areas of Cairo. PES notes that the special evaluation was uneven and failed to analyze and report overall project progress (e.g., especially of the important upgrading component).