Tracing the emergence and deployment of the 'integrated water resources management' paradigm

The unequal distribution of water quantity and quality in space and time severely burdens the livelihoods of billions of people on this planet, the vast majority living in developing countries. ‘Integrated Water Resources Management’ (IWRM) is a normative policy paradigm that holds the promise of a holistic management of this unfair distribution. In two decades time the paradigm has gained an apparently hegemonic status in the network of water development actors worldwide. The article traces the emergence of the IWRM paradigm in the network of development actors and describes its deployment in Mali. Both the governmental and non-governmental pathway of deployment in Mali are accounted for. Harnessing Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as descriptive tool, the article describes how actors create alliances in support of the paradigm, including academics, multi-lateral agencies, non-governmental organizations, and actors in Mali’s water sector. ANT is helpful in showing that the ‘success’ or ‘failure’ of the development paradigm depends on the strength of the alliance, not the strength of the paradigm. It shows how policy making and practice are actively geared one to the other

Education Needs Assessment for the City of Louga, Senegal

This needs assessment evaluates progress made by the city of Louga, Senegal, towards the attainment of the education-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It analyzes the current situation and presents the results of a costing exercise conducted by Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) and the mayor's office in the city of Louga. The education sector in Louga is constantly evolving, with significant recent progress. The number of students and teachers has increased, with the primary school gross enrollment rate (GER) growing from 100 to 122 percent between 2002 and 2009. Disparities between girls' and boys' enrollment are also decreasing. The municipality recently identified several neighborhoods in need of educational improvements, including Montagne Nord, Artillerie Nord, Keur Serigne Louga Est and Santhiaba Nord. The city's suggestions include building 18 classrooms, rehabilitating schools and providing learning materials. The goal is to ensure that all the children in Louga have access to education and complete five or six years of quality primary education by 2015. The lack of financial resources, as well as insufficient schools, classrooms, books and water points are the main constraints on achieving universal primary education by 2015. Some public schools are still relying on temporary shelters--makeshift classrooms often made of thatched straw and tree branches--until permanent classrooms are built. Despite collaborative efforts undertaken by the central government and local authorities, classrooms, as well as administrative and staff units require rehabilitation, and separate bathrooms for girls and boys need to be built. Although several secondary schools have been built in recent years, enrollments have not increased significantly, leaving this as an ongoing challenge. Education quality and internal efficiency also need to improve. Teachers are not properly trained, not well paid, and repetition and drop-out rates remain high. Many primary schools students are therefore poorly educated, and some do not complete the primary school cycle. The results from the needs and costs assessment model utilized in this assessment show that an annual per capita investment of $30 (15,165 CFA) between 2012 and 2015 can help the city of Louga to achieve education-related Millennium Development Goals by 2015. This report is divided in three sections. The first, a general description of the education system in Louga and Senegal, also defines the objectives, methodology and limitations of this needs assessment. The second section analyzes the data collected in the field and from city and national publications. The third section presents the costs of the interventions necessary to achieve the education-related MDGs, and the fourth section offers MCI's conclusions and recommendations

Analysis of experience using human rights to accelerate WASH access in four countries

YesHuman rights to water and sanitation have been widely recognised in legal instruments at the international, regional, and national levels of governance. More awareness of states’ obligations has provided additional impetus to promote human rights in policy advocacy. The international non-governmental organisation WaterAid, as a non-state actor specialising in the water, sanitation, and hygiene services (WASH) sector, adopts a human rights-based approach (HRBA) to WASH programming. This paper draws on the experiences from WaterAid WASH projects in four countries – Nepal, Ghana, Mali, and Burkina Faso, to evaluate the practical impacts of the HRBA to ensure that governments fulfil their responsibility to realise universal access to water and sanitation services in different contexts. The outcomes highlight that three important contributions of the HRBA: (1) generates greater awareness among rightsholders and duty bearers about responsibilities and entitlements over safe drinking water and sanitation; (2) promotes constructive engagement between the government and rightsholders; and (3) equips people with the motivation, skills, and agency which are critical dimensions to work on sustainable WASH. The WASH sector should, therefore, embrace the power of human rights and invest in the specific activities and frameworks to integrate human rights into systems strengthening the WASH sector, while continuing to analyse and learn how to adapt and improve the approach in different contexts

Lutte contre la pratique de l\u27excision au Mali: De l\u27approche santé à l\u27approche basée sur les droits de l\u27enfant-Rapport d\u27Evaluation du Programme du Centre Djoliba

Depuis les années 1980, Save the Children Suède soutient des activités visant à éliminer la pratique de l\u27excision organisées par le Centre Djoliba au Mali. Le but de cette évaluation est d\u27examiner l\u27impact du programme du Centre Djoliba sur la vie de communautés sélectionnées et en utilisant une approche basée sur les droits de l\u27homme et de l\u27enfant, pour examiner les changements majeurs dans les communautés cibles. Cette approche a conduit à une meilleure compréhension de ces droits et à la volonté des communautés d’essayer d’intégrer les connaissances acquises sur ces droits dans leur vie quotidienne. Cependant, l\u27environnement socioéconomique défavorable constitue un obstacle sérieux à la pleine réalisation de ces droits. L\u27élément le plus important est l\u27apparition dans ces communautés d\u27arguments contre la circoncision féminine et la non-circoncision. Il s\u27agit d\u27un phénomène nouveau qui reflète le changement social. -- Since the 1980s, Save the Children Sweden has supported activities aimed at eliminating the practice of FGC organized by the Centre Djoliba in Mali. The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the impact of the program of the Centre Djoliba on the lives of selected communities and using a human- and child rights–based approach, to examine major changes in the target communities. This approach has led to an improved understanding about these rights and that there is a willingness on the part of the communities to try to integrate the knowledge gained about these rights into their daily lives. However the adverse socioeconomic environment constitutes a serious obstacle to the full realization of these rights. The most important element is the appearance in these communities of arguments against female circumcision and non-circumcision. It is a new phenomenon that reflects social change

GEWEP II: Gender Equality and Womens Empowerment Programme II Final Report

The Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Program (GEWEP) II was implemented over four years from March 2016 through February 2020. GEWEP II worked with and for poor women and girls in some of the world's most fragile states: Burundi, DRC, Mali, Myanmar, Niger and Rwanda. By the end of the program period, GEWEP IIreached more than 1 161 869women and girls, mainly through Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs). Norad has supported VSLAs since they were first piloted by CARE in Niger in 1991. Since then, Norad has supported over 49 722 groups encompassing more than 1 150 625 women. This includes GEWEP II and previous programming, which GEWEP II builds on. During GEWEP II, more than 16 070 new groups were established. This is a key method for providing financial services to poor women and girls, and an important contribution towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1, 2, 5, 8 and 9, which all mention access to financial services.This report includes results on outcome and output level, of which the outcome level results were presented in detail in the GEWEP II Result Report submitted in May 2019. The table below summarizes the results at outcome level, for the global indicators that were collected across all program countries. These indicators were collected at the population level in the intervention zones. Overall, there has been positive change in the perception and attitude to women's economic, political and social empowerment in the intervention zones. On a national level, there has been positive changes in legislation, but implementation remains a challenge. A few indicators saw negative change. In Burundi, the percentage of women who state they are able to influence decisions went down from baseline, although it is still high at 88%. In Niger, the patriarchy remains strong, but despite challenges in changing men's attitudes, women have reported increased participation and social inclusion. The indicator focusing on women's sole decision-making saw little progress as the program worked more towards joint decision making.

Sharing the recurrent costs of rural water supply in Mali: the role of WaterAid in promoting sustainable service delivery

This thesis analyses how and why the recurrent costs of water services are shared between different actors in the rural local government areas in Mali which are supported by the international NGO WaterAid. This analysis of the financing arrangements for rural water services is used to critically assess ,theory, policy and practice in three areas: the community-based management approach to service delivery, the role of decentralised local governments in supporting community management, and the ability of external organisations to influence institutional change. Empirical evidence is presented for the period 2008-2011, drawing on research fieldwork undertaken in collaboration with WaterAid and its partners in 2010 and 2011, as the organisation introduced its own Sustainobility Framework to help understand and address the challenges to delivering sustainable rural water services. The thesis argues that approaches to understanding local institutions for natural resource management based on 'critical institutionalism' (Cleaver 2012), which emphasises the importance of improvisation and adaptation across different scales, should be placed within broader political economy analysis frameworks for assessing challenges in public services delivery from national to local levels. The use of such a framework shows how WaterAid and its partners adopt a 'critical institutionalist' perspective at community levels to support users in developing ways of raising funds for water services which draw on both traditional practices and NGO influences. However at local government and national levels their approach is based on ideas of 'best practice' rather than 'best fit' (Booth 2012): although the costs of local government support to communities under the model promoted by WaterAid lie within international benchmarks, it is unclear over what timescale this approach could be scaled up in Mali without donor support. This demonstrates the limited ability of local governments to ensure the delivery of decentralised public services without additional external resources and support themselves.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Transnational research : decentralization in West and Central Africa; learn from local and intersectoral lessons - education, water, health

Depuis la chute du Mur de Berlin en novembre 1989 et la subséquente fin de la guerre froide, les pays africains semblent avoir découvert à nouveau la démocratie et refuser le diktat des partis uniques. Cette démocratisation va au-delà du multipartisme pour inclure une nouvelle lecture de la gouvernance qui se fonde sur une profonde réforme de l’administration et confère aux acteurs locaux dont ceux de la société civile plus de pouvoir dans la gestion des affaires de la cité. L’enfantement de la décentralisation, pour nommer cette nouvelle gouvernance, quand bien même annoncé depuis des décennies n’est devenu réalité qu’après que les peuples se soient révoltés comme ce fut le cas au Mali avec les évènements du 26 mars 1991 ou la série des conférences nationales souveraines à l’instar de celle qu’a connue le Niger du 29 juillet au 3 novembre 1991. Des six pays francophones couverts par l’étude, seuls le Cameroun et le Sénégal n’ont pas attendu ce niveau d’agitation pour amorcer le processus de partage du pouvoir avec des exécutifs locaux investis de mandats électifs. Une mention particulière doit être faite quant à la spécificité de l’expérience du Ghana, seul pays anglophone de l’étude, dont l’engagement dans la décentralisation a été plus rapide et profond..

: A guide for African Local Governments

International audienceThe present guide is a very important contribution in this necessary effort to upgrade the capacities of the African local authorities in the field of management of both tangible and intangible heritages. It is one of the results of the partnership established between UNESCO, the French Senate and the PDM, echoing the "African Towns and Heritage" initiative launched at the occasion of the 2003 Africities Summit organised in Yaoundé. It provides tools to the municipalities and African local authorities which will allow them to start investing in a promising development field. Our wish is that it will be appreciated by the national and local authorities in Africa and that it will serve to launch everywhere a large movement favouring heritage and its valorisation, leading to a better representation of Africa on the World Heritage List