Lake Victoria Region City Development Strategies (CDS)
UN-HABITAT through its Urban Management Programme (UMP), with support from SIDA, initiated the Lake Victoria Region City Development Strategies Programme in early 2002, in a bid to strengthen the capacities of three centres -Kisumu, Kampala, and Musoma - located along the shores of Lake Victoria.
This initiative aims to mobilise the local authorities and stakeholders to develop a programme laying out City Development Strategies for improved urban environment and poverty reduction. It also seeks to address the absence of effective planning. The respective local authorities have endorsed the CDS programme, and multi-sectoral coordinating committees have been set up. The initiative has focused on building a consensus on key environmental issues. The consensus has been used as the framework for preparing and implementing City Development Strategies for the three countries.
The pioneer CDS cities in Phase I of the Lake Victoria CDS initiative are Kisumu (Kenya), Kampala (Uganda), and Musoma (Tanzania).
The Second Generation of Lake Victoria CDS cities, Homa Bay (Kenya), Entebbe (Uganda), and Bukoba (Tanzania) were selected by UN-HABITAT in consultation with the Lake Victoria Regional Authorities Cooperation (LVRLAC) to participate in the CDS programme. The Phase II cities have each prepared a profile and the preparation of the CDS document is ongoing.