Urban development initiative : interim evaluation

External evaluation covers the period 6/88- 7/90. Progress has been significant in all four components. (1) On the institutional level, the project has provided substantive and constant support to the El Alto municipality on administrative, technical, and financial matters. It has also coordinated activities between the Mayor"s office, donors, government agencies, and local community organizations. and consciousness raising have proceeded slowly, positive results have been produced. (2) The income/employment generation component has worked with the Banco del Estado to introduce its credit program for manufacturing and small industry in three villas. Set up just recently, the program is already serving 20 mutual lending groups averaging 5 members each. This component has also established 5 home-based income-generating pilot projects involving 153 families and offered numerous training courses for small business owners and pilot project participants. (3) Solid progress has been achieved in establishing an effective primary health care system with the opening of a 24-hour health center. It is anticipated that about a dozen such centers will be opened during the next three years and that they will be largely self-financing. (4) The housing component is establishing a home improvement loan program, which, along with the Banco del Estado program mentioned above, has provided credit to those without access to formal credit. The component has also helped the Mayor"s office regularize the subdivision of lots and building construction to enable the large number of property owners who have built housing without authorization to obtain the necessary documents for receiving formal sector home improvement credit. As complementary measures, this component is establishing a building materials bank, training courses, and a TA service for those wishing to improve their houses. More generally, the project as a whole has benefitted El Alto by facilitating development and attracting investments and other resources to the city, having participated in 18 variously funded projects to date. All in all, the project model offers an effective alternative for municipal and community development, though one which high costs and personnel requirements will make it difficult to replicate in its present form. Given the widespread weakness of municipal government in Bolivia, it is recommended that the project be transformed into a semi-autonomous organization attached to the national association of mayors, with a core central staff, supplemented by local experts, to serve municipalities throughout the country.