Private sector involvement in rural water supply: case studies from Uganda

Community management has for a long time dominated the scene of rural water supplies in developing countries. However, it has failed to produce the desired results in terms of sustainability and functionality, and it is time to question the very nature of the management model instead of blaming practitioners and governments for poor implementation. Private sector involvement offers many possibilities in terms of increased motivation and efficiency, but is not suitable in all communities. Especially in poorer communities, retaining some community management structures can be the only way to make operation and maintenance affordable. In addition, the committees and private operators need adequate and continuous support to perform their roles in an effective way. This study looks at four management models in Uganda that involve the private sector to illustrate some of these points

Sustainability of rural water supplies through monitoring

Several years of experience from rural water supply projects in Uganda show the importance and potential of collecting and processing data at different stages and levels in the project process. Through established reporting and monitoring systems, the implementing agency and donors are provided with important information, both for a more effective follow up of the project and to document lessons learned that can benefit future projects. In addition, monitoring routines have shown to have an immense positive impact on the motivation of local communities to properly administrate, operate and maintain their water supply system, a key factor to achieve the overall goal of sustainability

Coverage as a misleading development goal: the concept of water-person-years

Large sums of money have been poured into developing countries by donors, aid agencies and NGOs to improve people’s access to water. However, many of the constructed water sources have broken down or are dysfunctional. At the same time, donors, governments and NGOs rush to achieve coverage targets, ambitiously set and inaccurately measured. This paper proposes a new way of measuring the impact of investments. Assessing investments in “waterpersonyears” over a defined period of time, allows for a more efficient allocation of resources, and calls for a rethinking of the current development approach. Measuring in waterpersonyears is necessary in order to shift focus from new infrastructure development to operation and maintenance of existing water systems, something that is crucial for sustainability