CM-Cities Alliance Douala Dev Strategy The activities envisaged will be carried out by the Urban Community of Douala with the help of a Joint Steering Committee chaired by the UCD.  This Steering Committee will be made up of:  -   elected officials; -   representatives of civil society, understood as those actors representing participatory entities of which the goals are essentially characterized by their social welfare focus (e.g., associations, NGOs, cooperatives, mutual societies, unions, etc.); -   private economic operators involved with the informal sector and with the Port of Douala; -   representatives of the Administration, including first and foremost the MINDUH; -   the media. Under the Committee's oversight, the Urban Community of Douala will also obtain the services of national and international consultants, as needed, for the execution of the Study. The main activities envisaged in this connection are the following: (i)   Establishment of a detailed diagnostic of the development of the city and its environs (including the satellite towns.). This diagnostic will focus on: -   A description of the economy of the city of Douala and of its satellite towns, and an analysis of its role and importance in the regional, national, and sub-regional economy; -   The establishment of a baseline status determination on poverty in Douala and its satellite towns, based on available data (generated by ECAM  and CAVIE) and on supplemental surveys to be carried out in accordance with methodologies described under point No. 9 of this request.  The definitive format for these surveys will have been validated prior to the mission.  The diagnostic will highlight in particular any new elements regarding economic mechanisms of poverty reduction, and reduction of slum housing in the city of Douala and the satellite towns located around it. At this stage, particular effort will be devoted to identifying Douala's comparative advantages and to obtaining new information concerning the potential for sustainable growth and economic development of the city and its metropolitan area, and to determining the means by which this potential might be better exploited with a view to securing Douala's position as a center of sustainable national and regional growth Within the city of Douala, factors hampering the informal sector and the poor population's access to the legal real estate market will also be examined. (ii)   Articulation of the stakes involved in urban issues, with emphasis on: -   Analysis of the outlook for economic and social development and of its impact on the development of the city and its metropolitan area; and -   Constraints associated with the city's institutional framework.  The project may, in this connection, compile and exploit data and knowledge obtained under previous studies and projects.  This exercise will look at economic growth and development - including that of the informal sector -- as well as poverty reduction, slum clearance, and environmental protection as major priorities to be included in the city's planning, development and organization. Results obtained under (i) and (ii) will be enriched and validated through local workshops. (iii)   Formulate, for the City of Douala and its environs, a sustainable medium- and long-term development strategy This Strategy will emphasize sustainable growth and economic development, environmental protection and the reduction of slums. This Strategy will be closely coordinated with the Government-approved Poverty Reduction Strategy and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  Preparation of this Development Strategy will also incorporate effective participatory tools that already exist for the identification, planning, implementation, and maintenance of urban infrastructures and facilities, as well as methods for the monitoring and analysis of poverty reduction impacts and environmental protection.  The procedures developed, which are to be of an essentially operational nature, are expected to yield proposals for an array of appropriate institutional tools for the city, and to result in the identification of an innovative urban project based on a priority short-term action program in the area of facilities and infrastructures, including in particular the definition of the modalities of intervention and financing, and investment strategies.  This Development Strategy will be enriched and validated, as described above, through collaborative workshops expanded to include, as necessary, the main urban stakeholders at the local (or even national) levels. (iv)   Disseminate the Development Strategy for the city and its environs that is thus developed.  Dissemination will occur in two stages, as follows: -   Dissemination at the local level, through reporting workshops organized in the satellite towns and in Douala, in order to confirm the relevance of the city's Development Strategy and action plan with a broad segment of the public, including in particular high-level decision-makers, economic operators, the media, and representative of civil society, NGOs, and the National Association of Cities [Association nationale des villes]; -   Dissemination of the city's Development Strategy to development partners, and particularly to those who have been made aware of the process, in order to confirm the relevance of said Strategy and action plan and obtain their agreement to mobilize the resources needed for their implementation.  In this connection, the partners' assistance will be sought to ensure the sustainability of the process through support for downstream activities, and the coordination of the various institutions and agencies involved.  This assistance will include the operating resources of the Project Implementation Unit.