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MDGF-1775: The Dahshur World Heritage Site Mobilization for Cultural Heritage for Community Development

PLEASE NOTE THIS CONCEPT NOTE IS THE ORIGINAL SUBMISSION TO THE FUND. IN MANY CASES INDICATIVE BUDGET AMOUNTS APPROVED BY THE STEERING COMMITTEE ARE CONSIDERABLY LOWER THAN THAT REQUESTED AND INDICATED HERE-IN. FINAL BUDGET AMOUNTS WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE AFTER APPROVAL OF THE FINALIZED DETAILED JOINT PROGRAMME DOCUMENT.
Thu, 2007/06/21 - 6:33am — john.apruzzese@...
Thu, 2007/06/21 - 6:44am
Mon, 2007/11/12 - 10:07am
john.apruzzese@undp.org
English  (current)

ID: MDGF-1775

Culture and Development
Round 1
(26/04/2007 - 31/12/2009)
Egypt
$3,613,711
36 Months
The Dahshur World Heritage Site Mobilization for Cultural Heritage for Community Development

Attached Documents:

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A. Applicant Information

Arab States
  • Lower Middle Income Country
  • Medium HDI, according to UNDP's 2006 Human Development Report
  • James W Rawley
  • james.w.rawley@undp.org
  • Fatoutmatta Sabally
  • fatoumatta.sabally@undp.org
  • Mounir Tabet
  • UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
  • Country Director
  • mounir.tabet@undp.org
  • Nagwa Ismail
  • ILO - International Labour Organization
  • Programme Associate
  • nagwa_ismail@ilo.org
  • UNDP - United Nations Development Programme ($1,084,766)
  • UNESCO - United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization ($798,862)
  • ILO - International Labour Organization ($877,935)
  • UNWTO - United Nations World Tourism Organization ($852,148)
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B. Concept Note

The aim of the proposed joint programme is to protect the area of the Dahshur pyramids and its ecosystem while fostering sustainable development, cultural and ecological management and revenue generation. This proposal is a pilot based on the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) master plan to conserve and preserve cultural heritage in Egypt and therefore has the potential to be replicated in other regions of the country. The project aims at: - expanding employment opportunities in UNESCO world heritage sites by supporting local community production of arts, promoting the development of creative industries, and small tourism businesses; - building capacity for cultural management and protection of world heritage cultural assets; - promoting public awareness of the social value of world heritage sites, the importance of natural resources, and providing forums for cross-cultural exchanges.

Egypt has taken important steps towards attaining the MDGs. Despite the country’s progress, the Common Country Assessment (CCA) 2005 points out that reaching the MDGs and ensuring economic growth, poverty reduction and social protection will be undermined unless the environment and natural resources are persevered from the increased pressure induced by the growing population. In response, UNCT has included two UNDAF Outcomes in Egypt’s UNDAF 2007-2011 that address promotion of sustainable development concepts and unemployment. . Chronic unemployment remains a national challenge facing the Egyptian economy today. The official unemployment rate in 2004 stood at 10% (24% among women). Job creation could be enhanced by faster and sustained economic growth and better education and training. Existing national employment strategies need to be operationalized to accelerate employment growth and provide poor citizens, especially women and young job seekers, with access to decent job opportunities. To target unemployment, the Egypt Human Development Report (HDR) 2005 makes the case for change in macroeconomic policy where sectors such as tourism, manufactured exports and rural non-agricultural activities can become engines of employment growth. It highlights formal and informal micro, small and medium-sized enterprises that have been the major domestic employers since the 1980s as a particularly attractive candidate for future employment growth if problems such as overly burdensome regulations and deficiencies in training, skills and access to financial and business support services are addressed. The Dahshur pyramids area has been protected by the army for historical reasons. The army has moved out but the landscape remains untouched. The surroundings of the pyramids and the lake are available for development. The area, however, is at risk of uncontrolled, private development, owing to lack of specific building and zoning policies. It has excellent ecotourism resources that can be converted into attractive tourism products, combining both culture and ecotourism that would have an enhanced appeal for domestic and international tourists with resultant socio-economic benefits to the local community. Dahshur consists of 40,000 inhabitants and is ideally located within an hour travel distance from Cairo. The village of Manchiet Dahshur provides an excellent setting for the proposed programme because it: (1) is adjacent to the pyramids of Dahshur, a part of Memphis and its necropolis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; (2) overlooks Birket Dahshur, a natural depression filled seasonally with water and visited in the autumn by myriads of migratory birds, and hosts papyrus marshes, and serves as the only surviving ecosystem of its kind in the Middle Egypt with unique plant and animal biodiversity; (3) is secluded and has not been overtaken by urban sprawl or been negatively impacted by tourists; (4) consists of a well-bounded community that has the potential to engage in organized social action; and (5) has a resident community of distinguished artists (painters) who can contribute actively to the improvement of traditional crafts and arts. Their skills can be used for income generating purposes and advocating for tourism. Poverty in Dahshur can be attributed to the predominance of low-income agricultural activities (70%). This proposal aims to provide training to enable rural communities to find employment outside agriculture, open job opportunities in heritage/cultural creative industries, and enhance the ability of the community for organized social action to improve their condition. Emphasis will be placed on the training and employment of unemployed young graduates (reportedly 50%) and women, especially those who head households (190 households). In addressing the challenge to poverty, the Government has introduced the national employment strategies that address unemployment taking into account the needs of disadvantaged groups such as unemployed women and youth. It is also within the Government’s National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism Development, supported by the World Tourism Organization.

The UN, through UNESCO, presents an obvious comparative advantage in this area given its innovative experiences in preserving world heritage sites in Egypt, for example, the Abu Simbel temple in Aswan. Outcome 1: Employment, especially of youth and women gainful employment in heritage arts, crafts, tourism and creative industries increased contributing to poverty alleviation and empowerment. Goal: Expanding employment opportunities in UNESCO world heritage sites by supporting local community production of arts, promoting the development of creative industries and small tourism businesses. • Output 1.1: Training manuals, educational materials. • Output 1.2: Skills for the production, design, business management practices of traditional arts and crafts enhanced, as well as for guiding, traditional cuisine and hospitality (for local accommodation providers). • Output 1.3: Access to ICT technologies for tourism activities and creative industries. • Output 1.4: Implementation of micro and small industries related to the production of arts and craft industries , as well as local tourism businesses. Outcome 2: Enhanced institutional capacity to manage cultural heritage and natural resources Goal: Building capacity for cultural management and protection of world heritage cultural assets. • Output 2.1: An Action Plan for the Management of the Dahshur archaeological area is developed and disseminated. • Output 2.2 An Ecotourism Management Plan for the Dahshur Lake area and Palm Grove is developed through participatory consultation, published and disseminated. • Output 2.3 A Dahshur Tourism Development and Management Committee is formed of representatives from the local government, private sector and the local community, with a coordination and communication mechanism established. • Output 2.4: Skills for the management of archaeological and cultural heritage assets enhanced. Outcome 3: Cross-cultural exchanges and appreciation of cultural connections and continuities as a means of stabilizing the community and promoting cultural understanding. Goal: Promotion of public awareness of the socio-economic value of world heritage sites, importance of natural resources enhanced and their sustainable use is ensured through ecotourism, providing forums for cross-cultural exchanges and appreciation of cultural connections and continuities as a means for stabilizing the community and promoting cultural understanding. • Output 3.1 Dialogue, cross-cultural and educational exchanges promoted and enhanced. • Output 3.2: Inclusion of marginalized rural communities in the social spheres of policymakers and other stakeholders promoted and enhanced. Creation of a Local Economic Development Forum using a participatory approach. • Output 3.3 A high quality visitor experience is provided for domestic and international tourists, creating awareness to support heritage conservation, and providing income for local residents. • Output 3.4 Policies formulated to protect people’s livelihoods and their environment. • Output 3.5: Policies formulated to manage the flow of visitors in a sustainable and profitable manner.

An adequate emphasis in the design will be given to building a self-sustaining revenue mechanism which will: (1) generate the operational cost of managing the Dahshur area (lake, pyramid, centre, etc.); (2) develop a social outreach plan and labour rights policy to engage the population living in the area and guarantee decent working conditions; (3) develop a marketing plan to attract visitors under the special circumstances created and to ensure that there is a market path for the goods produced, locally and nationally. This is proposed to be done through partnerships with retailers, manufacturers and transport, tourism companies under a corporate social responsibility agreement. The main activities to be undertaken consist of: Activities related to Outcome 1: • Analyzing women’s and men’s heritage related activities at Dahshur and in other key communities at Nazlet Es-Samman, Abu Sir, and Saqqara. • Selecting candidates for training in heritage arts, crafts, heritage industries, tourism services. • Carrying out an inventory of existing tourist attractions, resources and services. • Providing remedial service in literacy, computer literacy, management, and public relations. • Developing educational and training materials. • Establishing the CHDC (Community Heritage Development Center) and visitor interpretation facility. • Providing hands-on training workshops, tools and materials in heritage arts, crafts, creative heritage industries and tourism businesses. • Providing small loans and micro-credits to establish or support entrepreneurial small business activities • Assisting local entrepreneurs in marketing and valorizing their products locally and commercially. • Arranging meetings between tourist companies and agencies and local small business communities. Activities related to Outcome 2: • Training workshops and awareness meeting among top-level managers and policymakers on cultural heritage management and the management of heritage assets for development and visitor use. • Conducting assessment of site management policies and formulating an action plan for the Dahshur archaeological area, as well as the lake area with a focus on community participation and site visits. • Conducting a survey of opinions by tourists and tourist companies. • Providing basic amenities, signs, guidebooks, postcards, and maps of the archaeological site, its natural setting, and rural context. • Selection, rehabilitation, and hands-on training for SCA, tourist guides, small tourism businesses (accommodation, catering) and university students in cultural heritage site management, and natural heritage management. • Establishing a technical support office for cultural heritage management. • Establishing a protected area at the lake, with fully formulated ecotourism management plan • Conducting meetings between local community, SCA inspectors, and international expeditions to discuss and develop strategies for cooperation and provision of employment and career advancement opportunities. Activities related to Outcome 3 • Conducting meetings between local community and tourists to develop a programme of “home” visits, and offer accommodation and catering services (homestay), informal meetings ( ‘ada, lit. sittings), and cultural evenings (sahra) to create an appropriate context of cross-cultural encounters based on equity and the appreciation of the spectrum of cultural values and social conditions. • Conducting consultations between local community, SCA inspectors, and international expeditions to enhance social relations and educational exchanges to promote understanding, mutual respect, and inclusion. • Policies drafted to protect people’s livelihoods and their environment. • Policies formulated to manage the flow of visitors in a sustainable and profitable manner The sustainability of the project will be ensured through the creation of a community development fund (CDF) that will support maintenance of training programme, technical support, and public awareness activities. The CDF will be operated by an NGO that will be jointly identified by all stakeholders who will serve as trustees to the principles and assets of the programme and who will continue to promote policies and programmes that contribute to culture and development, scaling-up the successful model from Dahshur to other areas, and catalyze innovations in arts, crafts, and heritage creative industries. The training of personnel within the SCA and the local communities, the provision of micro-credits to local entrepreneurs, and the institutionalization of social managerial strategies to enhance the power of the community for organized management will ensure the sustainability of the programme investments. The implementation of a social outreach plan and fundemental principles at work policy will be emphasized in order to guarantee decent working conditions for the inahabittants of this area. It will inlcude the design and implementation of a marketing plan to attract visitors under the special circumstances created and to ensure that there is a market path for the goods produced, locally and nationally. This could be done in partnerships with retailers, manufacturers and transport, tourism companies under a corporate social responsibility agreement.

The programme will develop through extensive surveys a detailed baseline situation on the employment, organizational capabilities, infrastructure, existing tourism resources and services, and potential for development in the community development domains specified, with special reference to youths and women. A potential risk could arise from managing a programme that includes a large number of stakeholders including a number of UN agency and several government institutions. To overcome this, risk management arrangements ensuring high level of coordination, effectiveness and efficiency of the project will be finalized during the preparatory phase in addition to preparing a comprehensive risk management strategy for the project. The following indicators will be used to assess, evaluate and monitor the activities and outputs for each of the outcomes: Indicators: • Indicator: Output 1.1: Number and quality of Training manuals, educational materials. Baseline: Available training material are not up to standard. Target: At least 5 training manuals available. • Indicator Output 1.2: Number of trained women and men artisans, craft specialists, tourism entrepreneurs and service providers,and creative industries specialists. Baseline: Inscifficient number of trained women and men on craft, tourism and industries enterpreneurship. Target: At least 20% of the women and men in Dahshur area are trained. • Indicator Output 1.3: Level of ICT literacy and number of users of ICT technologies. Baseline: ICT technologies unavailable. Target: Computers available and are used by the local community. • Indicator Output 1.4: Number of women and men benefiting from micro and small industries related to the production of arts and craft industries as well as tourism activities. Baseline: Unavailablity of micro credit for small industiries. Target: NGO identified and available to provide micro credit • Indicator Output 2.1: Number of top managers attending meetings on developmental dimensions of site management, social significance of sites, ecological parameters of cultural heritage enhanced. Baseline: Top managers are not aware of the developmental dimensions of the cultural heritage in Dahshur. Target: At least two representatives of each government institutions attend all meetings and public awarness events. • Indicator Output 2.2: Publication and dissemination of an Action Plan for the Management of the Dahshur archaeological area is published and disseminated. Baseline: Action Plan for the Management of Dahshur archaeological area is not available Target: Action plan is available, published and disseminated before the end of the 2nd year of the project. • Indicator Output 2.3 Publication and dissemination of the Ecotourism Management Plan for the Dahshur Lake are and Palm Grove Baseline: Unavailable Ecotourism Management Plan for Dahshur Target: Ecotourism Management Plan of Dahshur integrated within the SCA Masterplan. • Indicator Output 2.4 Establishment of the Dahshur Tourism Development and Management Committee is created with all key local representatives integrated. Number of tourists received in the Dahshur Archaeological site and lake area. Baseline: Dahshur Tourism Development and Management Committee doesn’t exist. Target: A Decree is issued by the Supreme Council of Antiquities to form a Tourism Development and Management Committee for Dahshur. • Indicator Output 2.5: Number of SCA inspectors and University graduates who received training in the management of archaeological and cultural heritage assets enhanced. Baseline: Insufficient number of trained SCA inspectors in cultural heritage. Target: At least 4 inspectors are trained specially for Dahshur area. • Indicator Output 3.1: Number of events and attendance of meetings forstering dialogue, cross-cultural and educational exchanges promoted and enhanced including policymakers and other stakeholders. Baseline: Insufficient number of events with poor attendance. Target: At least two events per month are held. • Indicator Output 3.2: Number of policies redrafted to protect people’s livelihoods and their environment. Baseline: Policies, if any are not implemented Target: at least one policy is drafted within the framework of work undertaken with SCA • Indicator Output 3.3: Number of policies redrafted to manage the flow of visitors in a sustainable and profitable manner. Baseline: Possibility of mismanagement of the flow of visitors in the Dahshur area. Target: At least one policy is drafted to manage the flow of the visitors

The UN System in Egypt is crrently represented by twenty-four agencies that are supporting Egypt and its people in a variety of ways in addition to some other UN agencies that are implementing projects in Egypt but without a local representation. While each of these agencies pursue their specific mandate, they all collaborate withing the framework of the Resident Coordinator System and support the implementation at the country level of the UNDAF and UN Secretary-General’s programme of reform. There is a long history of collaboration among the participating agencies in implementation of joint initatives on poveryt reduction and conservation cultural heritage issues. UNESCO Cairo is collaborating with UNDP on the implementation of the “Luxor Sustainable Development Project” concerning training for handicrafts and cultural awareness programmes to the communities of the upgraded slums. The following articulates the proposed main roles for each agency while the detailed roles and responsibilities in the joint programme will be confirmed during the preparatory phase. UNESCO will focus on the conservation and preservation of cultural heritage activities associated with Dahshur and will replicate best practices of similar projects in nearby areas close to Dahshur. ILO will focus on the training components of the joint programme. It will apply integrated approach called Local Economic Development (LED) that is used to develop the livelihoods of the inhabitants of a certain territory. It will develop a National Policy Development enabling environment for LED in Dahshur area. Policy researches, feasibility studies and capacity building programmes will be undertaken for the area. UNDP will focus on poverty alleviation activities such as the creation of small and micro enterprises in line with the microfinance national strategy. UNDP’s support will target three thematic areas, namely: job creation and development of capabilities, environmental management and governance for human development. UNDP will be the lead agency responsible for the implementation of the proposed project. UNWTO will be the UN agency responsible for the implementation of the tourism components of the proposal. It will work hand in hand with other UN agencies; in particular UNDP and UNESCO, in order to integrate poverty alleviation aspects in the tourism component, jointly plan with ILO training activities and ensure that a combined product for culture and tourism will be developed. UNWTO will select experts from its network of national and international consultants and tourism institutes. UNWTO will provide backstopping to all programme activities with a tourism component, and bring in experiences and best practices from its Technical Cooperation activities and ST-EP programme. The following are the National Key Partners which are expected to be playing a role in the project: Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the Government Representative in all UN initiatives in Egypt. The Department of International Cooperation is the common Government counterpart for UN agencies and national executing agencies in the implementation of UN projects in Egypt. Ministry of International Cooperation (MOIC) is mandated to follow up with all bilateral initatives and it is a signatory of Egypt’s UNDAF. Nevertheless, since the source of funding of the project is from the Spanish Government, it is important to ensure MOIC engagement in the process aiming to promote the participation of bilateral and multilateral donors in building up on the achievements of the proposed programme. After approval of the concept note, project proposal will be shared with the Donor Assistance Sub-Group on Environment to solicit participation of other bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors in the full-fledged programme. The Supreme Council of Antiquities is the responsible body in Egypt for cultural heritage. It will be the implementing partner in this joint UN proposal. Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs is the government body responsible for environmental policy in Egypt. The Nature Conservation Sector within the Ministry is responsible for environmental protection including management of the protected areas. Ministry of Tourism: Its mandate is to promote and organize the tourism industry of and in Egypt. The Ministry’s work overlaps with several other Ministries and government Agencies, most notably, the Ministry of Culture and the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) by virtue of the central role Egypt’s antiquities play in the promotion of tourism. CULTNAT: (Center for the Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritiage), affiliated with Bibliotheca Alexandrina and supported by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The Center’s mandate is to document the various aspects of Egypt’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage as well as its natural heritage. A Programme Board will be established including representatives of all collaborating UN Agencies and relevant Ministries and authorities mentioned above. The Project Board Committee will be chaired by the UN Resident Coordinator and will provide overall guidance and direction, ensure coordination among national actors, as well the monitoring and evaluation of implementation A national Joint Programme Manager will be recruited and agency task managers will be designated. The Joint Programme Manager will be responsible for daily programme management and will coordinate with designated task managers in the relevant agencies who will be collaborating with the host national counterpart for each project component. The Manager will be accountable to the UNCT and will be reporting to the Programme board.

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C. MDG-Related Indicators

  • Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
  • Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
  • Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
  • 2. Poverty gap ratio [incidence x depth of poverty]
  • 11. Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector
  • 26. Ratio of area protected to maintain biological diversity to surface area
  • 45. Unemployment rate of young people aged 15-24 years, each sex and total
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D. Formulation Advance

Yes
$20,000
UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
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E. Resident Coordinator's Undertakings

  • The Concept Note has been reviewed by the national government and the UN Country Team.
  • If approved by the MDG-F Steering Committee, the UN Participating Organizations undertake to submit a draft Joint Programme Document within eight weeks of notification.
  • All UN Participating Organizations have or will sign the global Memorandum of Understanding with the Multi-Donor Trust Fund Office.