Draft Format for Project Documents - GTR 07/08/97 UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS PROGRAMME

SPECIAL VOLUNTARY FUND PROJECT DOCUMENT

Project No.: Project Title: Labour-intensive Urban Upgrading Programme Location: Maseru - Lesotho

Executing Agency: ILO and UNV Implementing Agency: Maseru City Council Co-operating Partner(s): Labour Construction Unit Backstopping UNV Group/Section: Research and Development Section (Urban Development Group), UNV Headquarters, Bonn

Commencement date: October, 1998 Duration: 24 months

Funding Source(s): UNV’s SVF & ILO Project Budget: US$ 500,200.00

Brief Project Description and Strategy 2000 context: The project will address the growing problems of urban unemployment and poverty in Lesotho by building capacity within the Maseru City Council to plan and implement urban upgrading schemes using labour-based methods. Working through NGOs and poor urban groups, the project will secure the maximum possible participation of the target population and contribute to the stimulation of the local economy through employment expansion and creation of cash incomes. The project builds on UNV’s previous experience in grassroots mobilization and empowerment and emphasizes urban development and environmental management. Recommended for approval: ______________________________ _______________ PAC Chairperson Date

Approved: ______________________________ _______________

Executive Co-ordinator Date

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1. BACKGROUND & JUSTIFICATION

1.1 Country Context

Lesotho ranks among the world’s poorest countries and falls in the category of least

developed countries (LDCs). Within the 12-member Southern African Development

Community (SADC), it has the 6th lowest per capita GDP and the 11th lowest export

receipts. Unemployment rate in the country is equally one of the highest in the region and

has been growing in recent years, even among University graduates. Recent estimates by

the Ministry of Labour and Bureau of Statistics suggest that about 34% of the population

may be openly unemployed, with women constituting the majority of the jobless.

Evidence of high underemployment abounds and this clearly makes the already desperate

situation even worse.

Historically, Lesotho’s domestic unemployment problem had been relieved through

labour migration to the South African mines where, up to 1993, as many as 40% of the

country’s male labour force was employed. The remittances of these mineworkers has

always been the single most important source of family income in Lesotho and

contributes to a large extent to household subsistence and domestic investment.

During the present decade, employment in the South African mines seems to have peaked

in 1990 at 103,000 Basotho, but has been falling ever since. At peak level of mine

employment, the remittances from RSA constituted some 30% of the GNP of the country.

In 1990, miners’ total remittances came to about 474 million maloti (or US$183m), and

in 1994 it is estimated that the remittances amounted to some 330 million maloti (the

equivalent of US$95 million). The downward trend has continued since then. By 1997

only about 90,000 Basotho, or 19% of the male labour force, were working in the mines

in South Africa. This has been the result of contraction of the South African labour

market and the on-going policy of retrenchments at the mines in response to the

deteriorating cost situation. In addition, the new immigration policy which grants

residence permit to long-serving miners means that over time, more miners will be

residing in RSA with their families. Thus, even if the on-going retrenchments at the

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mines were to stop, there is no doubt that the current drastic reduction in the level of

remittances will continue.

The macroeconomic situation of the country derives mainly from the absence of

important deposits of exploitable resources. In addition to this, the country’s

mountainous topography renders virtually all the land inappropriate for agriculture,

leaving just about 9% of the total land area suitable for arable farming. Many households

therefore lack access to farmlands of the right economic sizes to support other than

merely subsistence production. Agriculture’s contribution to the nation’s GDP thus

remains a meagre 10% despite having as much as 50% of the population reportedly living

off the farm. Dwindling agricultural incomes have thus become a permanent feature of

the rural areas where up to 80% of the population may still reside.

Understandably, rural-urban migration has intensified in recent years with urbanization

estimated to be growing at the rate of 6% per annum, estimated to be higher than the

average growth rate for the region. If current trends persist, it is estimated that more than

25% of the population will be living in the urban areas within the next two years. Urban

services that are already overstretched are poised to become overwhelmed as a result.

And in the present situation characterized by slow growth of job opportunities throughout

the economy, newly-arriving migrants face very unpleasant prospects of the increasing

frustration of being jobless for prolonged periods.

The emerging scenario therefore is that of an urban poverty problem that could pose

more serious embarrassment for policy makers given the greater political awareness of

urban dwellers. Urban poverty differs from rural poverty in terms of the high

vulnerability of the urban poor to unstable market conditions since they do not have the

option to fall back on an agrarian support system unlike their rural counterparts. At the

same time, there are no functional social security mechanisms to buffer the poor from the

harsh realities of their condition.

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But there has been a positive development in the past few years regarding internal

revenue generation for development purposes. This has been in the form of the Lesotho

Highlands Water Project which was established in 1989. The aim of the project is to

harness the abundant water from the Maluti mountains and deliver them through a

network of dams and tunnels to the industrial zones of the Republic of South Africa.

When the project is completed in a few years it is expected that the annual revenue from

the sale of water will amount to about US$55 million which is estimated to represent

some 14% of government revenues. At a time when foreign development assistance to

Lesotho is on the decline, particularly since the end of the apartheid regime in South

Africa which ended the bridgehead status of Lesotho, the new window of opportunity

offered by the LHWP revenue has been widely welcome.

1.2 The Infrastructure Situation

The peculiar mountainous topography and unique climatic conditions of Lesotho

predispose it to a wide variety of ecological conditions. The country has the distinction of

having its lowest point more than 1,000 metres above sea level, approximately 80% of

the area being above 2,000 metres, and the rest of the country generally characterized by

high elevations and rugged terrain. The torrential rains, thunderstorms and high, violent

winds that feature at the end of winter, generally from the end of July, combine with the

very thin soil cover to cause quite extensive damage to the environment through soil

erosion.

The result of the above situation is that land degradation is progressing in many parts of

the country at a very rapid pace. The most notorious manifestation of the environmental

damage is the so-called “dongas” or gullies which dot the landscape and pose serious

threat to public safety. The incidence of these features complicate the problems faced by

the construction industry. As a result, the quality of various categories of infrastructure

often tend to be inconsistent. There is also acute shortage of good quality housing, clean

water, drainage facilities and arrangements for solid waste disposal.

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Access constraints are quite severe and have far-reaching economic consequences due to

high transport and road user costs. The soil erosion, coupled with often inappropriate

construction practices, cause the roads to deteriorate rapidly and expose lose stones and

potholes which make motoring very difficult and distressful. The situation in the urban

areas is not different. In the case of the Maseru Council area, almost all the roads are

underlaid by clay soil. Due to the high proneness of this soil type to erosion, pot-hole

formation is frequent and a majority of the roads are not motorable.

There is also the problem of inappropriate policies for human settlement management

and failure to enforce legislation on construction practices. For instance, service lines

such as water pipelines, power and telegraph cables are not laid in accordance with

proper procedures and location plans are generally not available. Thus, when these lines

are to be maintained, the process of trial-and-error needed to locate them results in

extensive corrugation of the road network which adds to the access difficulties in the

metropolis.

1.3 Capacity Constraints

Lesotho suffers from acute manpower shortage and capacity constraints which

exacerbates its dependency situation. For virtually all skill areas, the country relies on

external sources for qualified personnel. The country has continued to recruit school

teachers, medical doctors, accountants, engineers, and just about any profession, from

other African countries and beyond. It is not uncommon to find entire government

departments being manned by foreign professionals. Many donor-assisted programmes

which are predicated on the principle of transferring know-how to trained nationals are

frustrated by the difficulty in identifying local persons to serve as counterparts to the

technical assistance personnel.

This situation of chronic shortage of high level manpower in the country has been

attributed to the phenomenon of “brain drain”. This phenomenon assures that the large

investments in education and training to develop the nation’s human resources do not

yield any tangible results. A recent study sponsored by the UNDP and the

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Commonwealth Secretariat concluded that the destination of the majority of Basotho

professionals is the Republic of South Africa where working conditions are generally

better than in Lesotho. According to the study, poor levels of remuneration, political

instability and lack of opportunities for career progression and job satisfaction are the

common causes of the high incidence of brain drain. In the light of these reasons, coupled

with the unique location of Lesotho and the peculiar relationship it enjoys with RSA, it is

highly unlikely that the manpower profile of the country will change in the foreseeable

future.

The situation in the Maseru City Council (MCC) is quite typical. The Infrastructure

department of the Council is managed by a City Engineer who is assisted by a Chief

Engineer (works) and a Deputy City Engineer. The Deputy City Engineer is a foreigner.

Out of the 24 established senior technical positions in the department, 12 are vacant and

one person is away on course.

2. STRATEGY 2000 SUPPORT

The initiative being proposed will have three components, namely direct investment in

urban infrastructure works, institution building, and a sector-specific action-research

aspect. Broadly, the direct investment component will use labour-intensive techniques to

upgrade Maseru’s urban infrastructure and this will link up with the institution building

component which will involve the establishment and staffing of a labour-based unit

within the Maseru City Council to assume full responsibility for planning and

implementation of urban infrastructure works using labour-based, employment-intensive

methods. The third component involving sector-specific action research will employ the

instrumentality of a local UNV network (both international and national volunteers) to

work with different urban administrations in the country to analyse their investment plans

and policies and propose opportunities for increasing impact on quality and quantity of

employment through various means of action, including labour-based upgrading, small

contractor development, community contracting and informal sector development. The

action research is also a basis for initial programming of possible future expansion into

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other urban areas in the country and assessing the willingness and capacities of other

partners in the context of an enlarged programme of development assistance.

In relation to the institutional building and direct investment aspects, this approach will

maximize the utilization of locally-available resources and labour and promote the

employment of unskilled, surplus labour composed largely of the urban poor. Through

the use of locally-sustainable methods, the approach will promote the self-reliant

maintenance of the installed infrastructure which will guarantee long-term employment

generation in infrastructure development.

This approach relates to UNV’s Strategy 2000 in focusing on urban development in both

physical and economic terms. By promoting the use of labour-intensive methods, the

approach will create jobs and income among the very poor whose enhanced spending

power will stimulate the urban economy and encourage enterprise in the products that the

poor buy for their subsistence. As well, experience has shown that because of its unique

topography and climate the use of equipment-intensive construction methods are

inappropriate for the Lesotho environment. Thus, the use of labour-intensive methods

which result in minimum disturbance of the soil structure will promote environmental

protection.

The UNV involvement in this initiative will have important practical implications. The

UNV has generally excelled in programmes where mobilization of the poor at the

grassroots level is a central implementation strategy. The poor urban settlements of

Maseru are challenging areas to work in and require the application of participatory

approaches in which the UNV has considerable expertise. These approaches have been

employed with great success in the UNV-executed Grassroots Initiative Support Project

(GRISP) which was implemented in Lesotho over a period of 45 months and stands out

today as one of the best-implemented UNDP programme in the country.

3. PROJECT STRATEGY & APPROACH

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3.1 Pre-Project Situation

The severity of urban poverty is only now being fully understood in Lesotho. A recent

assessment of urban poverty in the country agrees with an earlier World Bank finding

that 27% of the urban population outside Maseru and 28% of the Maseru population live

below the poverty line. In Maseru alone, the assessment concludes that 37% of the

population are poor while 18% are classified as “ultra-poor”. The “poor” are defined in

the studies as those who spend “only up to 50% of the average adult equivalent

expenditure of the population”. The “ultra-poor” are those whose expenditures are only

up to 25% of the average adult equivalent expenditure of the population.

The studies present a picture of increasing destitution and pauperization of the urban

population in the late 1990s. The on-going retrenchments at the South African mines are

no doubt a contributory factor. The remittances from migrant Basotho labour provide the

lifeline for 70% of rural households. With the erosion of these remittances, these rural

households become exposed and migrate to Maseru in search of jobs. Given the

contracting internal labour market in Maseru, these households become locked into a

“poverty trap” characterized by lack of employment and income, inability to meet basic

needs including shelter, food and clothing, and proneness to preventable diseases. It has

been reported that access to water supply, electricity, adequate transportation, and quality

health services, is still very limited among the poor. School drop-out rates which have

been high among the poor households has been growing among this group in recent

times. Even those who are still able to maintain their children in school can only pay for

facilities where standards are rather low.

The Urban Poverty Assessment has identified the poor in Lesotho as the female-headed

households, street children, street vendors, the beer brewers, the shebeen men and

women, the piece job workers, and the households of ex-mine workers. The shebeen is a

locale for drinking traditional beer and commonly located in low-income areas. Of all of

these, the recent phenomenon of street children is the most worrisome. These children are

mostly boys with the number of girls now beginning to grow. They are generally in the

10 to 18 years age group and have come to live on or off the street because their families

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are unable to provide for them. In having to fend for themselves, the street children sell

newspapers, wash/watch cars, carry loads for shoppers and beg for money to buy food.

When these activities fail to bring in enough money for food, these street children

scavenge for food in garbage dumps or engage in criminal activities. It is now well

known that these children are employed by drug dealers for distribution of their

dangerous merchandise. The big time drug dealers, or “barons” as they are known, find it

necessary to equip these youths with shotguns as protection against violent attacks. Thus

empowered, these youths become quite daring and use guns to terrorize the general

public and intimidate people into donating money or hiring them to wash or watch their

cars, etc. The emergence of criminal behaviour can therefore have quite innocent

beginnings. There is broad agreement in Maseru that this is now a very serious problem

and people are cautious about the way they react to the persistence of these street beggars

or those who offer their services for such things as carrying a near-empty shopping bag

or watching your car in a crowded street.

3.2 Conceptual Approach of the Project

The project builds on existing knowledge and experience about the efficacy of the

labour-intensive technology in relieving the problem of unemployment and

underemployment when it is applied to the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance

of infrastructure. Experience from around the world has shown that this approach is

appropriate for dealing with the immediate development concerns of countries where

capital is scarce such that locally available resources, including labour, become more

competitive. This situation is often exacerbated by the lack of indigenous manufacturing

capacity which means that heavy equipment needed to execute equipment-intensive

construction works must have to be imported.

In such situations, it has been found that the use of labour-based technology can lead to

considerable cost savings while at the same time creating employment for the surplus

manpower in the country which would otherwise be unable to find jobs. For a resource-

poor country with very little foreign exchange earning, this is a very sensible

development path to the extent that it creates durable assets that promote long-term self-

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reliant development while providing the much needed safety net for the population

during a difficult period of adjustment. At the same time, the use of labour-intensive

technologies has been found very effective in the organization of communities around

strategic development initiatives which call for the active broad-based participation.

This approach has been demonstrated in Lesotho under an ILO-assisted project which

established the Labour Construction Unit (LCU) at the Ministry of Works with support

from the Swedish Development Agency ( SIDA). Through its work, the LCU has been

able to build confidence among the policy makers in the effectiveness of the approach

and its enduring relevance to the socio-economic situation of the country, particularly in

relation to its resource profile, ecological conditions and the extent of unemployment and

underemployment. However, the LCU has focused over the years on rural infrastructure

and there has not been any attempt to extend this technology to the improvement of urban

infrastructure.

3.3 Associated Partners of the Project

The idea of the project arose from a series of discussions between the UNV and ILO in

the context of the implementation of the prescriptions of the Habitat II conference held in

Istanbul in June 1996. UNDP Lesotho, as a follow up to that conference, undertook a

study in October and November 1997 to assess the extent of urban poverty in country.

The conclusion of that study that urban poverty was growing in Lesotho led to a

workshop at which wider in-depth discussion of the subject yielded further insights and a

preliminary decision to have an operational follow-up in the form of a project.

Following this, contact was established simultaneously with the Labour Construction

Unit and the Maseru City Council. Under the present arrangements for upgrading of

urban infrastructure, the Maseru City Council is the lead implementing agency. The

funds available for urban infrastructure from the Lesotho Highlands Revenue Fund are

specifically targeted to the poor through the use of labour-intensive methods. Although to

date, there has been no mechanism for linking up with the LCU to take advantage of the

available know-how, each agency is aware of the relevant institutional needs and there is

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evidence of a preparedness to collaborate under a mutually conducive institutional

framework.

The Maseru City Council’s estimated annual budget for roads is about M40 million. This

is for the rehabilitation and maintenance of the roughly 560 km. of roads managed by the

Council. According to available statistics, 64% of the Council’s roads, measuring about

355 km., are unsurfaced roads, 25%, or 140 km., are gravel roads, while 10%, or 55 km.,

are bitument roads. Only about 10 km. of the Council’s roads, or 1%, are new roads and

upgrades. These statistics are displayed in the following Table.

Table 3.1: Maseru City Council - annual road budget and responsibility

Type of Roads Total Road Length (Km)

Unit Cost Maloti/Km

Total Road Budget (M)

Bitumen roads 55 45,000.00 2,475,000.00

Gravel roads 140 96,000.00 13,440,000.00

Unsurfaced roads 355 60,000.00 21,300,000.00

New roads/upgrade 10 278,500.00 2,785,000.00

Total 560 40,000,000.00

Source: Information material from Maseru City Council, July, 1998.

The road projects undertaken by the Maseru City Council in the framework of the

funding from the Lesotho Highlands Development Revenue Fund are specifically

intended to use labour-intensive methods. The Council’s budget update on these projects

released on 26 June, 1998, lists a total of 16 roads covering various Maseru suburbs,

including Matsoatlareng, Sea Point, Thibella, Moshoeshoe II, Hoohlo, Pitso Ground,

Maseru East, Khubetsoana, Qoaling/Thetsane, Tsenola/Botsabelo, Makoti/Sefateng,

Phatlalla-Lancers Gap, Motimposo/Tsenola, Botsabelo/Thamae Dam, Thamae/Lancers

Gap, Tsenola/Tsosane. For the period 1997/98 - 1998/99, the amount allocated from the

Lesotho Highlands Development Revenue Fund was M5,126,762.

3.4 Nature of UNV Input Foreseen

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A total of 7 UN volunteers will be needed on the project. Of this, 4 will be international

UNV Specialists, while 3 will be national UNVs. The 4 international UNV Specialists

will include 2 civil works engineers, one participatory development specialist, and

development economist. The three national UNVs will be middle-level supervisory

personnel who would normally be expected to hold technical diplomas from the Lerotholi

Polytechnic in Maseru or equivalent qualifications from elsewhere.

One of the civil works engineers will be a very experienced labour-based engineer who

will be expected to head the technical assistance team. The other engineer will be a

training expert and will have the responsibility for capacity building of national project

personnel, participating groups of the urban poor, NGOs which will be strengthened to

plan and implement labour-intensive infrastructure works, and other entities as may be

identified in the course of implementation.

The national UNVs will include one participatory development specialist, one

information officer, and a socioeconomist. The NUNV participatory development

specialist will work hand-in-hand with the international UNV participatory development

specialist and will be responsible for identifying local issues around which it will be

necessary to organize mobilizational interventions in order to promote wider involvement

of the population. The key concern will be to more effectively target the poor and ensure

that a large proportion of project funds reach the target population. In this, the NUNV

participatory development specialist will play a lead advisory role in the team based on

his/her intimate knowledge of local conditions and income distribution patterns. The

NUNV Information Officer will be responsible for the media relations aspects of the

project and will provide a constant flow of information about the project to the larger

society to ensure that there is clear awareness about the activities going on under the

project.

The NUNV socioeconomist will liaise with the rest of the team to establish

socioeconomic criteria for subproject selection and determine the impacts in terms of

employment generation, cost effectiveness, etc. It will also be the role of the NUNV

socioeconomist, with the collaboration of the rest of the team, to work out the extent of

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labour availability in the catchment areas of the identified subprojects. The UNV

development economist will liaise with a short-term international consultant and officials

of UNV (Urban Development focal point) and ILO (EIP of POL/DEV) to draw up the

design for the sector-specific action research. The UNV development economist will also

be responsible for the implementation of the research activities under the direction of the

senior UNV labour-based engineer and the City Engineer of the Maseru City Council.

3.5 Co-ordination With On-going/Completed Programmes

The proposed project will link up with another proposed project entitled: “Empowerment

of Self-Help Community Groups for Poverty Alleviation in Lesotho” which was

submitted to UNV Headquarters and is currently being considered for Irish funding. The

community empowerment project proposes to strengthen the common interest groups to

implement development programmes including infrastructure works. Given the

congruence of their objectives in employment generation and poverty alleviation, there is

immense scope for sharing of information and experiences between the two projects.

Such congruence of objectives can also contribute to cost effective management of both

projects through exchange of expertise and results which will eliminate duplication of

efforts and activities.

The proposed project equally shares some interests with an on-going UNDP-assisted

programme entitled: “Establishment of a National Environment Youth Corps in Lesotho -

LES/94/008”. The NEYC programme aims to create employment among rural and urban

youth through the implementation of a number of environmental rehabilitation and

protection activities, including gully correction. Given this orientation, there is every

likelihood that a large body of intimate local knowledge about how to deal with such

environmental problems will already be available at the time the proposed project takes

off.

Additionally, the NEYC programme is currently utilizing three international UNVs and

has an active pipeline international UNV post to fill. The programme is also about to

engage the first-ever national UNV as Information Officer. Thus, there is ample scope for

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cooperation between the two project at both the professional and personal/social levels

among the UN Volunteers. There is also room for professional exchanges between the

project and the Labour Construction Unit.

The above interactions and contacts will be mediated through a number of formal

arrangements, including:

(i) Setting up a technical steering committee to be known as the Urban Development

Technical Steering Committee which will monitor the implementation of the urban

development programmes against a set of pre-determined criteria, including employment

generation, reduction in number of street children, improvements in the physical

condition of urban infrastructure, etc. The membership of the committee will comprise

representatives from the Maseru City Council, Ministries of Works, Agriculture, Local

Government/Rural and Urban Development, Labour Construction Unit, Lesotho

Highlands Revenue Fund, the Lesotho Council of NGOs, and UNV/UNDP.

(ii) Co-ordination by the Ministry of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development

within the framework of the Community Empowerment Group’s meeting to monitor the

progress of works and establish guidelines for urban development.

(iii) Periodic people’s forum organized within the poor urban settlements to assess the

mood of the beneficiaries in respect of progress of the works and satisfaction of their

basic needs.

The component on sector-specific action research link up with a number of on-going

UNDP-assisted projects, including the Urban Poverty Assessment and the HABITAT

initiatives. There will be substantial synergy between the component and the on-going

National Rural Development Programme (NRDP) in respect of activities and

programming in the districts some of which fall under the definition of “urban areas”. In

this regard, the project will be represented on the Community Empowerment Group and

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share information with the rest of the membership drawn from other organizations

currently working in the field of urban development.

The research component will also link up with the on-going UNDP/ILO-assisted project

on Employment Policy Formulation and Labour Market Analysis (LES/94/004). This

project is generating data and information essential for the formulation of improved

employment and labour market policy in Lesotho. The project has recently completed the

first draft employment policy for the country and has also profiled special employment

schemes implemented in the country over the years. These reports, documents and data

will form very useful background material for the work of the research team which will

draw immense benefits from cooperating closely with LES/94/004.

3.6 Sustainability Issues

The essential element for sustainability and local-level continuation of project activities

following project termination is that the capacity of the local personnel and host

institution is built up to the extent that activities can be managed without external

involvement. This brings up once again the importance of counterparts for the technical

assistance team. For various reasons already highlighted, this has hitherto been a serious

concern in Lesotho and revolves around the problem of brain drain. Resolving the

problem of brain drain is one that calls for action at the national level and will no doubt

require major changes in the

working conditions and levels of remuneration and introduce reforms which will provide

ample opportunities for career progression and job satisfaction.

Taking all these into account, the present proposal is being made to utilize a crop of

national UN Volunteers. It is expected that the technical skills of these NUNVs will be

sharpened in the course of their involvement on the proposed project. This will put them

in a position to constitute the core of national expertise to carry on the project activities at

the expiry of international assistance. They also have the critical role of being reference

points for purposes of convincing local people to remain at home to support national

development initiatives.

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Another element in ensuring sustainability of the project is the proposed link up with the

Lerotholi Polytechnic which can be encouraged to introduce aspects of labour-intensive

urban infrastructure works in the curriculum for civil engineering education. The students

of the civil engineering department will be assigned to do project work on topics related

to labour-based activities. It can also be arranged that the students spend part of their

internship periods on the work sites to gain experience and familiarity with the methods

and be in a position to rationally evaluate the options when faced with a choice between

equipment-based and labour-based methods.

4. OBJECTIVES, OUTPUTS & PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

4.1 Development Objectives

The key development concern of Lesotho is to generate employment at the rate of 14.4%

per annum over the next 10 years (1999 - 2008) in order to achieve a semblance of full

employment in the economy. While such a growth target is obviously ambitious, it is a

reflection of the anxiety and worry of policy makers at the current near stagnation of

employment growth, at about 0.9% per annum over the period 1986 - 1996 and the fact

that in 1997 the unemployed made up an estimated 35-40% of the labour force.

The development objective of the project is therefore to create employment opportunities

in the urban areas of Lesotho through the use of labour-based technology to upgrade the

much deteriorated urban roads. The creation of employment among the urban poor is

expected to address the serious problem of destitution in the urban areas and contain the

emerging concern of street children, violence and crime. By promoting a local resource-

based development process, the project aims to conserve the country’s scarce foreign

exchange resources and build indigenous capacity in planning and implementing self-

reliant development options.

The proposed project will promote the use of local resources and labour-based methods

which are known to be environmentally sustainable. Thus, this approach will support on-

going programmes that address environmental protection, including the National

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Environment Youth Corps, and the National Environment Secretariat. Additionally, a

project that employs labour-based methods and trains local people in its applications will

equally promote the maintenance culture.

4.2 Immediate Objectives and Outputs

The immediate objectives and associated outputs of the proposed project include the

following:

4.2.1 Immediate Objective 1

To create employment opportunities within poor urban settlements, starting with Maseru,

the capital city of the Kingdom of Lesotho.

Outputs

• a total of 200 full time job equivalents created within each urban settlement each year;

• incomes of the poor households in the zones of influence of the infrastructure projects

raised to above the poverty line;

4.2.2 Immediate Objective 2

To establish a labour-based unit within the Maseru City Council’s engineering

department to co-ordinate the development of infrastructure works through the

application of locally sustainable methods and making maximum use of local resources

and labour wherever factor market realities so justify.

Outputs

• labour-based unit in the engineering department of the Maseru City Council

established, functioning and fully operational;

• policy document spelling out the functions of the labour-based unit prepared, adopted

and circulated.

4.2.3 Immediate Objective 3

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To upgrade the roads and rehabilitate the “dongas” and other physical infrastructure in

selected poor settlements of the urban areas of Lesotho, starting with Maseru, using

labour-intensive methods and local resources in order to generate employment.

Outputs

• roads, gullies and other physical infrastructure rehabilitated to acceptable standards

using labour-based methods supported by light equipment;

• travel time and commuter waiting time reduced appreciably;

• incidence of environmental damage effectively controlled.

4.2.4 Immediate Objective 4

To train national technical personnel of MCC, representatives of the Lesotho Council of

NGOs, and representatives of organized urban groups, in the use of labour-based

methods for construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of urban infrastructure works.

Outputs

• technical personnel of the Maseru City Council, representatives of Lesotho Council of

NGOs and organized groups in poor urban settlements trained and capable of planning

and implementing programmes of infrastructure works by the use of labour-based

technology.

4.2.5. Immediate Objective 5

To undertake sector-specific action research by working with different urban

administrations to analyse their investment plans and policies and propose opportunities

for increasing impact on quality and quantity of employment through various means of

action, including labour-based upgrading, small contractor development, community

contracting and informal sector development.

Outputs

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• the investment plans and policies of urban administration in the country profiled in

relation to impact on employment generation;

• capacity, resource situation, as well as training and technical assistance needs of the

various urban administrations identified and documented;

• opportunities for increasing employment and income impact of public investment

programmes identified and documented;

• comprehensive preparation report completed and submitted for consideration by

various donors and governmental departments.

5. ACTIVITIES & INPUTS

The proposed project will involve the use of labour-based methods to build a number of

infrastructure projects in the urban settlements (starting initially with Maseru) and

through these build the capacity within the Maseru City Council, NGOs and poor urban

groups, in the application of labour-based technology for urban infrastructure upgrading.

As well, a component to undertake systematic data collection and analyses will be

included to provide a link to longer-term development assistance embracing other urban

areas in the country and promoting employment-intensive development strategies. Thus,

the project will embrace infrastructure construction, rehabilitation and maintenance,

capacity building through institution building and training, and action-oriented research.

Broken down by component and immediate objective, therefore, the activities and inputs

under the proposed project can be tabulated as shown below.

Table 4.1: Project Immediate Objectives, Outputs and Activities

Immediate Objectives Outputs Activities 4.2.1 Create productive employment opportunities within poor urban settlements, beginning with Maseru capital territory

4.2.1.1. at least 200 persons within each urban settlement provided with full-time employment in each year

a) identify and select roads and other infrastructure to upgrade using labour-based methods. b) set up procedure for targeting the urban poor in the zone of influence of the

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4.2.1.2. the incomes of persons employed on the project raised to levels above the nationally-defined poverty line

selected projects. c) conduct labour and wage surveys in the catchment area of selected projects. d) recruit workers from among the surplus labour in the catchment area of the selected projects. a) calculate incremental incomes for workers employed under the urban works programmes b) compare the incremental incomes of the workers to the nationally-defined poverty line from the Urban Poverty Assessment.

4.2.2. To establish a labour-based unit within the Maseru City Council’s engineering department to co-ordinate the development of infrastructure works through the application of locally sustainable methods and making maximum use of local resources and labour as required by prevailing market conditions.

4.2.2.1. A labour-based unit in the engineering department of MCC established, functioning and fully operational. 4.2.2.2. Guidelines for the operation of the new labour-based unit prepared, approved and circulated.

a) identify the capacity needs of the MCC with respect to planning and implementing labour-based technology. b) identify existing personnel to form the technical core of the new unit and requirement for additional staffing to effectively launch the unit. a) prepare guidelines for operation of new unit

4.2.3 To upgrade the roads and rehabilitate the “dongas” and other physical infrastructure in selected poor settlements of the urban areas of Lesotho, starting with Maseru, using labour-based methods and local resources in order to generate employment.

4.2.3.1 The roads, “dongas” and other physical infrastructure rehabilitated to acceptable standards using labour-based methods supported by light equipment.

a) identify road, “donga” and other urban infrastructure projects amenable to use of labour-based technology. b) carry out preparatory activities on the infrastructure projects to determine the resource requirements and costs of upgrading them by the use of labour-based methods. c) undertake construction activities on the identified infrastructure to required technical standards using labour-based methods.

4.2.4 To train national technical 4.2.4.1. Technical personnel of MCC, a) conduct training needs

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personnel of MCC, representatives of Lesotho Council of NGOs, and representatives of organized urban groups in the use of

representatives of LCN, and organized groups of settlers of poor urban settlements trained and capable of planning and implementing programmes of infrastructure works by the use of labour-based technology.

assessment study to determine level of know-how in labour-based technology and capacity constraints. b) provide hands-on training to supervisory and technical personnel of MCC’s labour-based unit, representatives of LCN, and representatives of organized poor urban groups, to have the capability to plan, implement, and supervise labour-based works. c) provide post-course guidance to staff of labour-based unit of MCC. d) sponsor fellowships for selected technical and supervisory personnel at ILO/ASIST in Harare and Nairobi. e) organize workshops for policymakers technical persons, and community leaders.

4.2.5. To undertake sector-specific action research with the aim of analysing public investment plans and policies at urban administration levels and propose opportunities for enhanced employment impact using various employment-intensive options.

4.2.5.1 Investment plans and policies of urban administrations profiled in terms of employment and poverty alleviation impact

a) identify urban areas based on national definition. b) conduct in-depth studies on various issues related to public investment, regional planning and policies and carry out data analysis. c) conduct workshops and discussion fora to present compare and validate results and conclusions.

4.2.5.2. Determine the capacities and resource situations of the urban administrations as well as their training and technical assistance needs. 4.2.5.3. Identify opportunities for enhanced employment and income and scope for application of employment-

a) capacities, resource situations, training and technical assistance needs identified. b) documents prepared on the various issues under (a) above. a) conduct analyses of employment, capacity and resource data and reach

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intensive strategies. 4.2.5.4. Prepare a comprehensive preparation report and submit to relevant government departments and donors.

conclusions on opportunities. b) prepare reports on the above and discuss as appropriate. a) synthesize all the issues arising from the sector-specific action-oriented research and implementation of direct investment component of project. b) prepare report which provides justification for use of employment-intensive strategies in urban development, identifies areas where institutional strengthening is required and spells out the strategy for implementing the programme.

5. INPUTS

The UNV will allocate funds from its Special Voluntary Fund (SVF) while the ILO is

expected to be favourably disposed to the mobilization of additional funding under its

Urban Employment Programme (UEP). It is known that a number of donors are willing

to invest resources into the ILO’s UEP and some of this can be made available to the

project under the proposed initiative. SVF funding is targeted for the fielding of project

professional personnel, equipment and material while ILO funding is targeted for training

and equipment. The infrastructure works, including payment for labour and construction

materials, are to be paid for from the allocation from the Lesotho Highlands Revenue

Fund.

Personnel:

A total of 7 UN Volunteers will be fielded. Out of these, 4 will be international UN

Specialists and 3 will be national UNVs. A total of 78 workmonths of international

volunteer input is envisaged while national volunteer input is estimated at 72

workmonths. Technical supervision of the entire project will be provided by the ILO

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which will field a number of expert missions from its Headquarters and from the ASIST

offices in Harare and Nairobi. As well, the training programme will be paid for by the

ILO, including the training workshops and fellowships and study tours to the ASIST

offices in Harare and Nairobi and any other regional location to be identified. About 6

workmonths of international consultant input, distributed over the life of the project, is

envisaged to provide guidance in the design and implementation of particular aspects of

the sector-specific action research.

Equipment and Material:

• Light equipment (vibratory roller)

• equipment for haulage of material

• hand tools

• computers

• 4-wheel drive vehicles

6. PROJECT MANAGEMENT & IMPLEMENTATION

6.1 Institutional Framework

Overall responsibility for implementation of the proposed project will rest with the

Maseru City Council. The project will be administered by the regular MCC engineering

department’s administrative machinery. The City Engineer will manage the project and

ensure that its overall direction is consistent with the department’s mandate and budget.

From the very start, the City Engineer will provide the environment for the establishment

of a unit to be responsible for the implementation of the labour-based urban upgrading

scheme. It is this unit that will form the institutional base of the UNVs and national staff

who will be assigned to the project.

The labour-based unit will be located within the civil engineering section and will report

through the existing channels to the City Engineer. The purpose of this arrangement is to

ensure the minimum amount of novelty in the channel of communication and reduce the

quantity of new information that needs to be learnt and mastered.

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6.2 Project Management at Country Level

The labour-based unit itself will be headed by the UNV Labour-based Engineer who will

report for all administrative matters to the City Engineer. Technical management of the

project will be assigned to a larger advisory body which will draw membership as

described under the section on co-ordination. The proposed Urban Development

Technical Steering Committee will have monitoring, advisory and general oversight

responsibility for the implementation of the technical aspects of the project. The

committee will examine all issues dealing with procurement of material, sub-contracting,

recruitment of professional personnel and counterparts. The Maseru City Council will

chair the committee.

The ILO’s POLDEV, through its EIP and UEP, will liaise with the Urban Development

programme at UNV headquarters to execute the aspects of the project involving the

fielding of professional personnel of the project, notably the UNVs. In this regard, the

technical clearance of the UNVs will be performed by the ILO. As well, the ILO will

determine the need for continued volunteer input and other project inputs directly related

to the implementation of the capacity building aspects and ensuring that the procedures

are consistent with international standards. UNV headquarters will continue to be

responsible for management of the volunteer from the perspective of administering the

UNV Conditions of Service.

7. PROJECT BENEFITS

The project will produce two categories of benefits. The first category includes the direct

and immediate benefits which result from the project activities and the investments into

road construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance. These benefits are thought to be the

direct results of the shift from equipment-based methods to labour-based methods. The

most notable benefits in this category are the enlarged employment generation in the poor

settlements in the urban areas where unemployment is the norm and poverty is acute. As

well, increased incomes will accrue to the poor residents of these settlements as a result

of their employment on the labour-intensive construction activities and this will

contribute to the stimulation of the economy through its multiplier effect. The bulk of the

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beneficiaries in this case will be women who are more numerous in the population, and

are also the most severely affected by the unemployment problem in the country.

The project activities will also produce the immediate improvement in access to different

parts of the city and its environs and this will reduce travel time and the hardship that

local people experience in commuting between city locales.This is expected to have an

immediate impact on the pace of economic activity in the city and, invariably, the

country as a whole in view of the reliance of the rest of the country on Maseru.

The project will produce more longer-term benefits. The most notable of these are the

improvements in the condition of the urban environment, the institutionalization of the

culture of maintenance of infrastructure, and the promotion of a self-reliant development

strategy for urban upgrading.

Although the country has adopted labour-based technology for rural infrastructure works,

the urban areas have been untouched. This has meant that a large proportion of

infrastructure investment has been unaffected by the methods and may have been

allocated in ways that did not maximize the objectives of economic rationality, including

employment generation for a resource-poor country like Lesotho. In this regard, the

introduction of the methods to the urban areas will have a significant impact on the

economy as a whole.

Some attempt to quantify the above benefits in terms of employment creation yields

impressive results. As indicated in section 3.3 above, the Maseru City Council received

the sum of M5,126,762 for the period 1997-1999, for its road projects under the Lesotho

Highlands Development Revenue Fund scheme. These activities are intended for

employment creation through the upgrading of urban infrastructure. Separately, the

Council gave indication that its annual budget under this labour-intensive road upgrading

scheme is actually M4 million.

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If it is assumed that the approval of the proposed project would encourage the Fund to

allocate more money to the Council to spend on this scheme, it is reasonable to expect

that about M1,760,000 of this will go into wage payments. Data generated by the Labour

Construction Unit suggests that 44% of the total construction costs in labour-based

construction is accounted for by labour component. At the minimum wage rate (1995) of

M17/day, this sum can generate about 103,500 workdays of employment. In terms of

equivalent full-time jobs, this figure translates to some 500 jobs on the assumption that

there are approximately 200 working days per year.

The estimated employment results can be influenced by two things: the level of wage

rates and the number of days worked per year. The labour wage rates in Lesotho have

historically not reflected the extent of labour surplus and capital scarcity in the economy.

In 1995, an ILO study established that the dollar equivalent of the daily wage rate was

US$4.9. This is a strange situation for an economy where alternative job opportunities

are scarce, official salaries in the civil service and private sector are very low, and the

extent of unemployment is very high. Unless the procedure for wage fixing has been

flawed, this may reflect a cultural lack of desperation for paid employment even in the

face of abject poverty. One indication of the inappropriateness of the current approach on

some labour-intensive road schemes to apply the minimum wage in setting labour wages

is the fact some of these schemes resort to labour rotation in order to achieve some

coverage of the available labour force. By this arrangement, the schemes employ a group

of workers for one month, lay them off at the end of the month and then engage a fresh

set of workers. The idea that this is “a reasonable distribution of the wage benefits” is

clearly debatable. Where the objective is employment creation, a more effective targeting

strategy can be evolved with the aim being to provide more jobs to more of the people

that need them most for as long as is reasonable to satisfy the rational need for

employment and income.

The proposed project will examine this situation as a major exploratory aspect of the

project implementation in order to ensure that cost effectiveness is maximized while

pursuing the central objective of employment creation. In this respect, the project will

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introduce mechanisms to achieve a wider coverage of the very poor households in the

poor urban settlements. Depending on the findings of the exploratory surveys, these

mechanisms may comprise a manipulation of wage rates, working hours, strenuousness

of tasks, etc, all designed to ensure that only those who need the jobs on the construction

sites actually do get them.

From international experience, a level of wage rate consistent with Lesotho’s current

socio-economic profile will be much lower than M17 per day. Although recent currency

depreciation has made labour-based technology even more competitive in the economy

by lowering daily wage rates to about US$2.8, domestic price trends suggest that much

lower wage rates can be tolerated. This much lower wage rate will lead to higher

employment creation on labour-based road construction. Importantly, the employment

benefits in this scenario will accrue to the “ultra poor” who would otherwise be unable to

find jobs within a reasonable length of time.

But even if the wage rates do not fall and employment creation remains at the levels

estimated, the results are still impressive. On the basis of the 1979 Land Act (section

19(2)) and Gazette no.2 of 1987, there are 14 “urban areas” in Lesotho, namely Maseru,

Butha-Buthe, Hlotse(Leribe), Mafeteng, Moyeni, Qacha’s Nek, Teyateyaneng, Thaba

Tseka, Mapoteng, Mokhotlong, Morija, Peka, and Roma. If all these “urban areas”

receive the modest allocation of M4 million each to address urban infrastructure

problems by the use of labour-based methods, we can expect an annual employment

generation level of 500 each at the minimum, which gives a national employment

creation of 7,000 each year. According to official statistics, 20% of the population of 1.9

million, that is approximately 380,000 persons, reside in the urban areas, out of whom

about 28%, or 106,000 persons, are classified “poor”. The employment benefits of this

project will, therefore, affect at least 6% of the very poor, and most probably more if

appropriate targeting is implemented.

8. RISKS

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The normal risks associated with the promotion of labour-based technology include the

possibility of exchange rate appreciation, unavailability of labour, changes in the

structure of employment in the economy, and the lack of indigenous technical and

administrative manpower to be trained and put in a position to sustain the programme at

the end of the technical assistance. The appreciation of the domestic currency will

cheapen imports including heavy equipment and may have a positive effect on the cost

of construction using equipment-based methods.

However, the possibility that such a significant appreciation of the domestic currency can

take place and make externally-sourced resources more competitive than local resources

is very remote. The exchange rate has been deteriorating at least over the past 20 years.

In the last six months, the depreciation in the value of the currency has been accelerating

at an even faster pace, leading to strong speculations about a possible recession in the

South African economy to which the Lesotho economy is linked.

The risk of acute labour shortage is equally remote. Lesotho currently suffers from a high

rate of unemployment. In addition, it is estimated that the rate of underemployment may

be very high. In the past, the unemployment and underemployment have been relieved

through labour migration to South Africa where the majority are absorbed in the mines.

But in recent times, employment in the mines has fallen off considerably while the

general contraction of the South African labour market has meant that the Basotho must

look elsewhere for jobs.

For these reasons, and in the light of the continuing stagnation of the domestic economy,

the prospect of labour shortage in Lesotho is far-fetched. It is not also foreseen that the

structure of employment in the country will change in any significant way over the next

several years. Even the Lesotho Highlands Development Project which is easily the

biggest civil engineering project on the continent has not changed the domestic

employment profile in view of its degree of sophistication which has largely excluded the

indigenous manpower.

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The only real risk the proposed project is likely to face is that of lack of indigenous

technical and administrative manpower to whom the know-how can be transferred and on

whom can be entrusted the task of ensuring the sustainability of the institutions built

under this assistance. Technical assistance projects in Lesotho have traditionally faced

the problem of an inadequate supply of indigenous manpower from which to draw to

provide counterpart personnel to the external team. The design of the present project is

taking this into account and it is hoped that the high proportion of national UNVs

proposed will go some way to minimize the difficulty posed by this situation.

The activities of the national volunteers will have some demonstration effect which will

hopefully encourage other local professionals to devote a good part of their professional

practice to contributing to national development. The national volunteers may also be

willing at the end of their UNV assignment to remain in the service of the MCC and

procedures can be introduced to facilitate such a transition.

9. MONITORING & REPORTING

9.1 Monitoring

The project will be monitored over its lifespan by means of a number of mechanisms

including the oversight activities of the Urban Development Technical Steering

Committee; Tripartite Reviews embracing the government, the UNV/ILO, and the

project;

and regular monitoring visits of the UNV Programme Officer. In addition, the design will

provide for periodic monitoring visits by staff of ILO headquarters in Geneva and ASIST

in Harare and Nairobi. An Employment-Intensive Works Specialist from the ILO

SAMAT in Harare as well as the staff of the ILO Area Office in Pretoria will also look in

on the project from time to time.

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The Urban Development Technical Steering Committee will meet once a month to

review the progress of the project implementation, examine proposals for future

activities, and provide guidelines for the work of the project as necessary. These monthly

meetings will equally review the minutes and deliberations of the weekly management

meetings held at the project level under the chairmanship of the City Engineer and at

which the UNV Project Engineer presents details of project activities and problems over

the past week.

Tripartite Reviews will be scheduled at major turning points in the project cycle. It will

be possible to determine these points once the project has gone into full implementation.

However, it can be tentatively scheduled to hold the first TPR 12 months after the start of

the project.

9.2. Reporting

In view of the capacity building element of the project, but also because of the need to

provide for effective monitoring of the progress, reporting will be a central requirement

under the technical assistance. The following major reports will be required to be

prepared under the project:

Table 9.1: Reporting Schedule and Responsibility Type of Report Responsibility Timing

Inception Project Management 1998

Labour Availability Survey Project Management 1998/1999

Wage Survey Project Management 1998/1999

Training Needs Assessment Project Management 1998

Project Document UNV/ILO/GoL 1998

Project Performance Evaluation Project/GoL 1999/2000

Progress Project Management 1998/1999/2000

Tripartite Review GoL/UNV/ILO/Project 1999/2000

Mid-term Evaluation GoL/UNV/ILO/Project 1999

Budget Revisions Project Management 1998/1999/2000

Analyses of Investment Plans and Project Management 1999

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Policies of Urban Administrations

Opportunities for enhanced

employment impact of infrastructure

investments and scope for employment-

intensive strategies

Project Management 1999

Main Preparation Report for Expanded

Development Assistance.

Project Management 1999/2000

Final Evaluation GoL/UNV/ILO/Project 2000

10. EVALUATION

The project will be subject to evaluations in accordance with the policies and procedures

of the concerned parties. A mid-term evaluation will be conducted at the end of 12

months to assess the interim impact of the project. A final evaluation will be conducted

within one year of the completion of the project.

11. BUDGET Project No.: Project Title (including budget & fund code):

B.L. BUDGET ITEM w/m TOTAL w/m 1998 w/m 1999 w/m 2000 10.00 Project Personnel 11.00 Experts ILO 11.51 Consultants 6.0 30,000 1.0 5,000 3.0 15,000 2.0 10,000 11.99 Subtotal 6.0 30,000 1.0 5,000 3.0 15,000 2.0 10,000 13.00 Admin. Support Personnel UNV 13.01 Secretary 24.0 11,000 2.0 1,000 12.0 5,500 10.0 4,500 13.02 Driver 24.0 15,000 2.0 1,250 12.0 7,500 10.0 6,25013.99 Subtotal 48.0 26,000 4.0 2,250 24.0 13,000 20.0 10,750 14.00 UN Volunteers UNV 14.01 UNV Labour-based Engineer 24.0 57,000 2.0 5,500 12.0 32,000 10.0 19,50014.02 UNV Development Economist 24.0 57,000 2.0 5,500 12.0 32,000 10.0 19,50014.03 UNV Civil Works Engineer (Training) 18.0 45,000 12.0 32,000 6.0 13,00014.04 UNV Participatory Dev. Specialist 12.0 32,000 12.0 32,000 14.05 NUNV Participatory Dev. Specialist 24.0 14,400 12.0 7,200 12.0 7,20014.06 NUNV Information Officer 24.0 14,400 12.0 7,200 12.0 7,20014.07 NUNV Socioeconomist 24.0 14,400 12.0 7,200 12.0 7,20014.99 Subtotal 150 234,200 2.0 11,000 72 149,600 62 73,600 15.00 Travel Costs UNV 15.01 Duty Travel 25,000 1,500 16,000 7,50015.99 Subtotal 25,000 1,500 16,000 7,500 16.00 Mission Costs UNV/ILO 16.01 Mission Costs 30,000 5,000 12,500 12,50016.99 Subtotal 30,000 5,000 12,500 12,500 19.00 Component Total 345,200 24,750 206,100 114,350

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30.00 Training ILO 33.00 In-Service Training 33.01 In-Service Training 40,000 25,000 15,00033.99 Subtotal 40,000 25,000 15,000 39 Component Total 40,000 25,000 15,000

40.00 Equipment & Supplies 45.00 Local Procurement ILO 45.01 Computers & printers 15,000 15,000 45.99 Subtotal 15,000 15,000 47.00 International Procurement ILO 47.01 Non-expendable equipment 60,000 40,000 20,00047.99 Subtotal 60,000 40,000 20,00049.00 Component Total 75,000 55,000 20,000 50.00 Miscellaneous ILO 51.00 Miscellaneous 51.01 Operational & Maintenance 20,000 2,000 9,000 9,000 51.99 Subtotal 20,000 2,000 9,000 9,000 52.00 Reporting Costs UNV/ILO 52.01 Reporting Costs 10,000 2,000 3,000 5,00052.99 Subtotal 10,000 2,000 3,000 5,000 53.00 Sundry UNV/ILO 53.01 Sundries 10,000 1,000 4,000 5,00053.99 Subtotal 10,000 1,000 4,000 5,00059.00 Component Total 40,000 5,000 16,000 19,000 99.00 Project Total 500,200 84,750 267,100 148,350

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