Neighborhood urban services evaluation : phase two reports, general introduction

External evaluation covers the period through 1/85 and is based in part on interviews with personnel of USAID/E, the Government of Egypt (GOE), and the TA contractor, Wilbur Smith and Associates. The project has been tremendously successful in implementing district and governorate SP"s. Some 80% of the funds allocated to districts have been disbursed and almost 800 SP"s have been completed; many others are in progress and there is no doubt that the target of 950 SP"s will be surpassed. Special projects - chosen by governorates, but largely administered by districts - account for 42% of district funding (up from 22% at the time of the previous evaluation in 12/83). These special projects are for road paving, sidewalks, solid waste management, office equipment, and equipment maintenance. About 1,000 PVO SP"s have been initiated or completed and it is expected that ultimately 75% of the 1,600 eligible PVO"s will receive grants averaging $8,000 - project plans had called for 2,500 PVO"s to receive $4,000 each. More importantly and in a marked change from the 12/83 evaluation, a wide variety of PVO"s in terms of size and type have received support. Also, an important funding change has occurred in the PVO category: $1 million (or 10% of PVO funding) has been reserved for four large community centers, one in each of the project governorates. This, along with the increased emphasis on special district SP"s, shows a definite trend toward providing support at the governorate level rather than at the lower levels as originally planned. Training is behind schedule, with implementation only now getting underway. The nine courses which have begun (five for GOE and four for PVO personnel) seem relevant; cases are drawn directly from project experience. Attendance is a problem, however, (running at about 50%) and it is difficult to ensure that the courses will reach those engineers directly involved in SP implementation. Nor is it clear that the GOE will continue the training when the project is finished. In other areas, problems of GOE incentive and maintenance funds remain, but there has been progress in these areas. Local officials" attitudes toward the project have become more positive, while both USAID/E and TA personnel are now more realistic and better informed about the problems of urban Egypt. Finally, the project still lacks specific targets for local capacity building and decentralization. Targets should be negotiated with the GOE during planning for the next round of SP"s and incorporated into the phaseover to a successor project or projects.