Policy review of the Dutch contribution to drinking water and sanitation – 1990-2011

Tesselaar, R. et al., 2012. From infrastructure to sustainable impact : policy review of the Dutch contribution to drinking water and sanitation (1990-2011). (IOB evaluation ; no. 366). The Hague, The Netherlands, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. 132 p. : 9 fig., 12 tab. 54 ref.
Available at: <http://washurl.net/d6qgwq> [PDF 4.6 MB]

This policy review examines Dutch aid during 1990 to 2011 to improve drinking water and sanitation services in developing countries. The main focus is on the period from 2004 when aid was directed at supporting the Millennium Development Goal of halving the world’s population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.

The review is primarily based on:

• a study of Dutch policy and its execution;
• impact evaluation studies of drinking water and sanitation programmes in Benin, Egypt, Yemen, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Following an introduction, chapter 2 covers the problem analysis and international context. Chapter 3 describes the Dutch policy that lies at the basis of the targets for drinking water and sanitation, the responsibilities, instruments and policy execution, the budgets, monitoring and evaluation and the available information about the realisation of the contribution to the MDG target for drinking water and sanitation. Chapter 4 analyses the impact of the Netherlands-supported programmes and sustainability of results. The final chapter discusses findings that concern policy efficiency.

The main findings were:

• Dutch aid helped millions of people gain access to improved drinking water supply and sanitation
• the substantial increase in the use of improved water sources did not a guarantee the safety of the drinking water or the necessary water consumption
• effects of training and education on the building of toilets and their use and on hygiene was often limited and sanitary facilities were often too expensive for the poor
• improved access to drinking water supply significantly reduced women’s burden and increased their participation in programmes, and gave girls more time for school, but had a limited impact on income
• positive health impacts were generally modest or non-existent
• water supplies benefitted many poor communities but to a lesser extent the poorest segment while sanitation increased mainly in better off villages and households
• capacity of local communities, governments and NGOs for the maintenance of the facilities remained insufficient, there was limited involvement of the private sector, and partial subsidies remain necessary
• costs of communal water supplies and of privately owned toilets made with local materials were low, but benefits were often limited
• internal policy processes still fell short

h2.0 Monitoring Service to Inform and Empower Initiative

The h2.0 Monitoring Service to Inform and Empower Initiative is testing innovations in water and sanitation services monitoring, with special attention to providing public access to visual information through Google Earth. The h2.0 map viewer currently visualises datasets from Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.

The h2.0 consortium consists of the following organisations:
Google.org, UN-HABITAT, GTZ, The University of Twente and WaterAid

Pilots are being implemented in collaboration with the Water Services Trust Fund of Kenya, the Zanzibar Water Authority, the Association of NGOs of Zanzibar, the National Bureau of Statistics of Tanzania, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, the Action for Development Society, the Africa Leadership Institute, Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company, Athi Water Services Board and Pamoja Trust.

The h2.0 platform was launched on 8 September 2010, during Stockholm World Water Week.

Web site: www.h20initiative.org

Sustainable Sanitation Practice: The ROSA Project

Issue 4 of Sustainable Sanitation Practice (SSP), published by the EcoSan Club, Austria,  is s special issue that presents the highlights and main findings of the EU-funded ROSA (Resource-Oriented Sanitation concepts for peri-urban areas in Africa) project.
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The ROSA project was implemented in four pilot cities: Arba Minch in Ethiopia, Nakuru in Kenya, Arusha in Tanzania, and Kitgum in Uganda.

The 7 papers included in this special issue show specific aspects of the as well as an outlook on future activities. Topics covered include scaling-up ecosan toilets in Ethiopia, urine-diversion dry toilets in schools in Kenya, urban agriculture in Tanzania, operation and maintenance, and the development of Strategic Sanitation and Waste Plans (SSWPs).

Introducing SaniFOAM : a framework to analyze sanitation behaviors

Devine, J. (2009). Introducing SaniFOAM : a framework to analyze sanitation behaviors to design effective sanitation programs. (Learning to scale up. Working paper). Washington, DC, USA, Water and Sanitation Program. 28 p.

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SaniFOAM is a conceptual behaviour change framework that can be used both in community-led and in sanitation marketing approaches. It is designed to help program managers and implementers to promote sanitation at all stages of their interventions, from program design through implementation to monitoring and evaluation.

The paper describes the four elements of the framework and provides examples from formative research findings and field-based experiences.

The elements of SaniFOAM are:

F for Focus: What are the desired sanitation behaviors, and who is the target population?
O for Opportunity: Does the individual have the chance to perform the behavior?
A for Ability: Is the individual capable of performing it?
M for Motivation: Does the individual want to perform it?

SaniFOAM is one of the tools being developed in the Global Scaling Up Sanitation Project, implemented by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP). The project is currently applying SaniFOAM in three countries: Tanzania, Indonesia and India. Most notably, in East Java, Indonesia, the SaniFOAM framework has been used to design qualitative and quantitative surveys, develop communication materials supporting community-led efforts aimed at eradicating open defecation and design a strategy aimed at strengthening the supply of sanitation products and services.

Promising management models of rural water supply services

Montangero, A. (ed.) (2009). Promising management models of rural water supply services : outcomes of the 24th AGUASAN Workshop, Gwatt, Switzerland, 13 to 17 October, 2008 : a workshop for sector specialists and decision-makers. (AGUASAN workshop series). Berne, Switzerland, SDC in collaboration with Eawag/Sandec, Helvetas and Skat. v, 46 p.

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“Is community management enough to sustain the Millennium Development Goal efforts?” This question was raised to initiate the debate at the Aguasan Workshop 2008, a 5-day event gathering water specialists and development practitioners from all over the world. Although the community management model is by far the most widespread approach for rural water supply services in low-income countries, it has often failed to deliver the expected level of sustainability. Hence there is a strong need for re-examining the approach as well as for investigating alternative management models.

This report synthesizes the main workshop outcomes. It describes an analytical framework that can be used to assess the potentials and limitations of rural water supply management models, as a first step towards enhancing the sustainability of rural water supply services. It also highlights key ingredients for success in managing rural water supply services.

Main findings

• The existence of a legal framework clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders is one common element of successful models.
• In countries undergoing decentralization, local authorities should play a central role in the management of water services. However, financial, material and human resources have to be effectively transferred from central to local government in order to enable the communes to fulfil their role.
• The private sector plays an important part in managing water supply services. In general, the weak profitability of infrastructure maintenance and operation activities is mentioned as a factor that limits private sector involvement. The combination of several water systems or facilities, forming packages comprising profitable and unprofitable facilities to be managed by private operators, could be a way to facilitate private sector participation. Reducing fiscal charges, exempting taxes even temporarily, decreasing water tariff subsidies, and contributing to extension costs could enhance the attractiveness for the private sector.
• Capacity building is a crucial issue to tackle in order to improve the management of water services, regardless of the type of management model. Involving NGOs or associations could be a way to provide technical support.
• In most cases, the dependence on external funding for the replacement of long-term assets or system extension is considered as a threat to sustainability.
• The case studies analysed during the workshop show a trend towards more involvement of the private sector. This is considered as a way to professionalize the management of water services

Case studies

• The Burkina Faso case: A sector reform towards delegated management
• Kosovo case: Management delegation to regional water utilities
• The Tanzania case: Private initiatives to provide water services
• The Weinfelden / Switzerland case: A municipality-owned utility in charge of the water supply network

Tanzanian Children’s Perceptions of Education and Their Role in Society

Research and Analysis Working Group (2008). Tanzanian children’s perceptions of education and their role in society : views of the children 2007. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Research and Analysis Working Group (REPOA) and MKUKUTA Monitoring System, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs. ix, 41 p.
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This study is the result of participatory research with children, a developing field of research in Tanzania, and in many other African countries. The research methodology is explained in chapter 2 and the annex of the report.

The survey involved 512 children aged from 7 to 14 years from ten regions in Mainland Tanzania.

As the ‘consumers’ of education, children provide useful information for those working for and with children – from policy makers to teachers. This report contains their opinions on a range of issues relating to education, such as school services (including healthcare, water supply and food), textbooks, performance by teachers, discipline, extra charges, and their desired improvements to education.

Researchers also asked for their opinions on their social and economic contributions to their families and communities, their desire for and access to information, formal and informal ways they are listened to, and their aspirations for the future.

Children were well aware of the contradiction between a curriculum that teaches the importance of clean water and good nutrition and what they actually receive at school.

Poverty and Water: Explorations of the Reciprocal Relationship

David Hemson, Kassim Kulindwa, Haakon Lein, Adolfo Mascarenhas (2008). Poverty and water : explorations of the reciprocal relationship. Zed Books. 192 p.
Hardback: £60.00 ISBN: 9781842779613. Paperback: £19.99 ISBN: 9781842779620
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This book provides global spread of case studies to illustrate that water is not simply an issue of physical scarcity, but rather a complex and politically-driven issue with profound future implications, both in the developing world and outside it. The book argues that for the international community to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, governments must step in to protect the rights of the poor. Here, the links between poverty and access to clean water are explored with an eye to political reform that can end the exploitative policies of big business and help to shape a more equitable world for all.

Content

1: Water and Poverty; the inextricable link, by Kassim Kulindwa & Haakon Lein
2: Water for All: From Firm Promises to ‘New Realism’?, by David Hemson
3: It takes two to Tango – Steps towards Change in the Water Sector?, by Jaqui Goldin
4: The Link between Poverty and Water Supply: The Nigerian Example, by Ayodele Aderinwale & Olumide A. Ajayi
5: Water, Agricultural Development and Rural Poverty in Bangladesh, by Haakon Lein
6: Opportunities for Reforming the Irrigation Sector: The Case of the Fish-Sundays Scheme of the Eastern Cape, by Beatrice I. Conradie
7: Rural Water Supply Projects Appraisal and Poverty Eradication in Tanzania, by Kassim Kulindwa
8: Easing the Burden on Women? Water, Cholera and Poverty in South Africa, by David Hemson
9: Water Pricing, Inequality and Economic Welfare: How can the New South African Water Policy Support Well-being of the Urban Poor?, by Carl-Erik Schulz
10: Conclusion: Water for the Poor Pays, by Adolfo Mascarenhas

Author information:

• David Hemson, researcher at Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), South Africa
• Kassim Kulindwa. senior research fellow and lecturer in economics at the Economic Research Bureau, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Haakon Lein, associate professor at the Department of Geography at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology
• Adolfo Mascarenhas, retired, former Director of the Bureau of Resource Assessment and Land Use Planning (BRALUP) and founder Director of the Institute of Resource Assessment at the University of Dar es Salaam