Evaluating the institutional sustainability of an urban water utility: A conceptual framework and research directions

This article was published in the journal, Utilities Policy [© Elsevier]. The definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2013.08.001Institutional sustainability (IS) is critical to translating infrastructure investments into actual service delivery. This paper examines IS for urban water utilities, and how its progress could be tracked. Common conceptualisations of IS in extant literature were found inadequate from an evaluation stand point. We conceptualize IS as a capacity rather than a financial issue, and, consistent with a process-based approach, we propose a new evaluation tool e the water utility maturity (WUM) model e which is flexible and considers different levels of IS. The WUM model, which requires further validation/verification, was piloted in two water utilities in South Asia with positive feedback

Factors that impact on access to water and sanitation for older adults and people with disability in rural South Africa: An occupational justice perspective

Limited access to water and sanitation is a risk to health, dignity, and ability to engage in occupations. This article aims to: 1) discuss the current and historical factors affecting access to water and sanitation in rural South Africa, and 2) explore the occupational implications of water access, particularly for older adults and people with disability in rural South Africa. A literature review was carried out through searching JSTOR, Scopus, and MEDLINE databases and using framework analysis to interpret the retrieved documents. This paper also reports a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews, conducted in 2012 in a rural area of South Africa. Environmental, political, social-economic and attitudinal factors were identified as impacting water access and occupation, in both the documentary analysis and the semi-structured interviews. Due to South Africa’s history, injustice has occurred in the forms of occupational apartheid and occupational deprivation. We argue that supply systems must enable people to easily access more water than is essential for survival, so that people can participate in meaningful and productive occupations. Therefore, access to water should be considered part of an occupational right. Recognising this right will be an integral step in ensuring that water supplies are improved to support better livelihoods, and to achieve economic and social empowerment, and quality of life for all, in line with many of the United Nations’ new Sustainable Development Goals

International water targets and national realities in Sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Uganda

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Contemporary Social Science on 20 November 2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/21582041.2017.1393557.© 2017 Academy of Social Sciences This article considers how to reconcile ambitious UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for universal piped water supplies with developing country realities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A concise process for effective reviews of medium-term national targets is proposed and is applied in an analysis of the current provision of piped water to households and shared community facilities in urban and rural settings in Uganda. Different disciplinary perspectives are adopted to review trends, the performance of key stakeholders and their scope for achieving new targets. Only about 5% of households have piped water supplies on their premises in rural areas in SSA. To achieve the SDG target of 100% coverage will, therefore, take a long time and requires continued support for the sustainability of community water facilities as a priority. The SDGs offer sensible long-term aims, but national medium-term target setting and reviewing remain critical and require realistic and systematic planning approaches, as well as careful global reporting of national performance against SDG targets. The authors argue that balanced incentives are needed to encourage stakeholders to strive for realistic targets in the medium term, without demotivating countries with limited capacities and resources