The Dynamics and Discourses of Water Allocation Reform in South Africa

Perceptions of water as an increasingly scarce resource have gained global dominance, and caused many countries to reform their water legislations. South Africa has positioned itself in the vanguard of such reform efforts, as it passed the National Water Act in 1998, four years after the end of apartheid. The Act was lauded as a progressive piece of policy, with the redress of past injustices as one of its overarching aims. But, to date, there has been little progress in terms of redistribution of water use rights. This paper argues that bringing water under the ambit of the State, in combination with the particular political conjunctures in post-apartheid South Africa, opened up space for the emergence of particular narratives around water use rights that framed the continued use of existing users as pivotal for sustainability, and redistribution to ‘historically disadvantaged individuals’ as associated with a high degree of risk. These framings of sustainability contrasted with more complex and dynamic framings at the regional and local levels. Though water allocation reform is essentially a deeply political issue, the increasing technocratisation of the reform process served to mask contested understandings, through e.g. the use of innocuous-sounding terms such as ‘existing lawful use’. Through an analysis of the allocation discourses emerging at the national level and a case study of Inkomati Water Management Area, this paper argues that the entrenchment of existing users in the interests of ‘sustainability’, the increasing technocratic approach to redistribution, and the social dynamics and discourses at the regional and local levels narrowed down the room for manoeuvre, resulting in the water allocation reform ending in a temporary impasseESR

Economic evaluation of antenatal screening for Down Syndrome and serious congenital heart defects in Norway

Includes bibliographical references.Following recommendations laid down by a consensus conference in 1986, the policy of the Norwegian government has been to offer a routine ultrasound scan to all pregnant women at 18 weeks of gestation, i.e. in the second trimester (weeks 14-27) of pregnancy . This form of antenatal screening is also provided in other European countries, though several countries have gone further and now offer universal screening in the first trimester (weeks 1-13), between the 11th and 13th week of gestation, as well as in the second. In 2006, the Norwegian Directorate for Health contemplated a revision of its antenatal care guidelines, and in the process, sought to determine whether anexpansion of the programme to incorporate universal first trimester screening would be a rational step with regard to the anticipated extra benefits and costs. Except for a relatively small patient co-payment charge, antenatal screening is publicly financed as is the case with most other healthservices. Norway has however, a small but thriving private healthcare sector, and first trimester ultrasound scanning has been offered by private providers in recent years. The are many potential benefits of antenatal ultrasound screening and some of them are undoubtedly controversial. The information gained from a scan may, depending on its timing, assist in determining the pregnancy term, the number of foetuses in the uterus, the location of the placenta and the condition of the foetus. If the foetus is found to suffer from a particular disease, it may sometimes be treated prior to birth. Invariably however, ultrasound scanning in pregnancy is often associated with the detection of foetal anomalies or defects, such as Down syndrome, congenital heart defects or neural tube defects. The detection can in some cases lead to the pregnancy being terminated, whilst in other cases it may prepare the parents for a life with a child who may requiremore attention and care than others. This provision of information may be considered beneficial, however one may choose to act upon it, although it also invites an active decision which could induce negative feelings. On the other hand, the potential stress and anxiety involved in the screening and diagnostic process may be viewed as disadvantageous. This study will focus on two of the most important anomalies, at least in terms of the attention they are given in the literature: Down syndrome (DS) and serious congenital heart defects (SCHD)

Liquid Dynamics: Accessing Water and Sanitation in an Uncertain Age, Symposium Report

This report summarises the proceedings of the two-day Liquid Dynamics symposium held at the STEPS Centre in Brighton in November 2009. The Water and Sanitation domain of the STEPS Centre uses the notion of Liquid Dynamics refers to capture the complex dynamics and interactions between the social, ecological and technological dimensions of water and sanitation. The intention is to advance interdisciplinary perspectives that can guide practical action to help address issues of sustainability and social justice in water and sanitation. In the global water talkshops, such as the World Water Forum, water issues often end up being cast in rather polarised terms, such as whether water should be a human right or an economic good, or whether supply should be privatised or be in the hands of the public sector. The symposium’s aim was to break free of such sterile dichotomies, and to think more creatively about access to water and sanitation in an age of uncertainty, through bringing together a host of academics and practitioners in the water and sanitation domain. The symposium focussed on four broad themes: climate change and uncertainty; urban and peri-urban challenges; sanitation and disease ecologies and rights, technologies and access. A range of diverse perspectives were aired and shared, and exchanges and debates were characterised by energy and enthusiasm. It is our hope that this event can provide a useful starting point for continued conversations and collaborative efforts, through the sharing of resources, follow-up discussions, and future conferences and research initiatives.ESR

Flows and Practices: Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in African Contexts

For the past two decades, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has been considered the dominant paradigm in water resources. It is the flagship project of supranational global bodies such as the Global Water Partnership (GWP) and has also been actively promoted by multilateral and regional development banks (e.g. the World Bank; African Development Bank) as well as bilateral donor agencies which make it out to be the panacea to address the water management crisis in the global south, leading to major water reforms programmes and the rewriting of national policies drawing on IWRM principles in a range of countries in southern Africa. This paper offers a conceptual approach for studying the evolution, spread and uptake of IWRM. It then turns to the actual practices, and how IWRM has been interpreted in multiple ways, and how it aligns with existing patterns of legal pluralism. The paper proposes a conceptual framework that builds on three main themes, the flow of IWRM as an idea in international and national fora, the translation and adoption of IWRM into national contexts, and the practice of IWRM in local contexts. In constructing such a conceptual framework, we draw on several strands of thought, including policy discourse, network and regime theory (flows), translation theory and donor-recipient studies (translation and adoption) and theories of legal pluralism, institutional bricolage and agency (practices). With this framework we hope it will be possible to trace the spread, transformation and uptake of IWRM across global, national and local scales, to unearth the convergences and divergences in understandings and applications of the notion of IWRM raising challenges and issues for debate and further research and key actors operating at different levels mediating/moderating/articulating the travel of policy ideas. The latter may create generic insights on policy processes and practice that goes beyond the concept of IWRM and the water world. This framework will guide the critical study of various interpretations and challenges of how policy ideas travel at multiple political and geographical scales, from macro political forums to localised arenas and communities, speaking to wider themes such as policy translation and uptake and the politics of the development process

Going with the Flow? Directions of Innovation in the Water and Sanitation Domain

Water and sanitation issues are looming large on the international agenda, not least due to the impetus created by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the world’s population who do not have access to clean water and adequate sanitation. Water resources for productive uses have also received increased focus given the recent food crisis, and is further accentuated by the impacts of climate change (altering precipitation patterns, the frequency of floods and droughts, etc). Increasing incertitude and complexity are the norm, rather than the exception, and finding ways to secure people’s access to water resources for consumptive and productive use, as well as adequate sanitation, needs to draw on innovative ideas in terms of technological solutions and institutional frameworks. This paper sets out to explore some of the present narratives dominating the field of water and sanitation, highlighting current challenges and teasing out how three key concepts – directionality, diversity and distribution – can act as guiding principles for further innovations and future developments.ESR

The dynamics and sustainability of Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS): mapping challenges and pathways

Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) represents a radical alternative to conventional top-down approaches to sanitation and offers hope of achieving the Millennium Development Goals. In contrast to state-led initiatives to improve sanitation that tend to focus on hardware and subsidies, CLTS emphasises community action and behaviour change as the most important elements to better sanitation. CLTS focuses on enabling the local community to analyse the problems of faecal-oral routes of disease spread, and of finding locally appropriate, rather than externally prescribed, solutions. Through exercises such as transect walks, mapping of open defecation sites, and the various routes of disease spread (e. g. through flies and animals), as well as calculation exercises aimed at drawing villagers’ attention to the amount of faeces they are ingesting, powerful emotions of shame and disgust are triggered. A process is ignited where people are moved into action, drawing on local resources and knowledge to construct sanitary facilities that fit their particular needs and desires, within the constraints of household priorities and resources. Pioneered by Dr. Kamal Kar, an independent development consultant, in Bangladesh in 1999, CLTS is currently being implemented in more than 30 countries across the globe, in Asia, Africa and Latin America. However, like all success stories, CLTS still faces a number of challenges in terms of its scope and impact. There is a need to map out and understand the social, technological and ecological dynamics of CLTS implementation in order to better appreciate the long-term sustainability issues of CLTS and realise its full potential for improving people’s lives and well-being.ESR

Addressing Issues of Equity and Poverty Reduction in South Africa’s Water Reforms

Over the last couple of decades Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has become the defining water policy paradigm across the globe. Drawing on IWRM ideas, South Africa has in many ways been a pioneer in terms of water policy and legislation. The 1998 Water Act was an attempt at getting to grips with the injustices of the past and ensuring a more equitable and sustainable management of the country’s water resources. However, it attempted to do too much, too fast. The need is now to concentrate on pragmatic solutions that work, with an emphasis on equity and poverty reduction

The Flow of IWRM in SADC: The Role of Regional Dynamics, Advocacy Networks and External Actors

This article explores the entry and spread of IWRM in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. It traces how the idea of IWRM was pro moted and sustained throughout the region by mapping key events, actors and networks that were involved in promoting the approach. It highlights the importance of regional networks in promoting IWRM and shows how regional dynamics, playing out at the inter face between the global and local levels, influenced the adoption/adaptation and spread of IWRM. The article finds that the idea of IWRM 'hit the ground running' in SADC due to several contributing factors. These include: historical political connections between the member countries; historically rooted well established channels and connections with bilateral and multilateral donors; the success of networks such as the Global Water Partnership and WaterNet whose mandate was to promote the concept; and the fact that two-thirds of the region’s population live in transboundary basins with IWRM providing a suitable hook for transboundary cooperation, often inspired by European models. The article further argues that IWRM thrived because of strong donor agendas that were adapted by key SADC actors to suit strategic interests. It thus provided a platform for complex politically charged negotiations to reconcile apparently divergent goals such as infrastructure vs management and regional vs national interests. The practice of IWRM in the region is very much shaped by a conflation of regional, national and donor interests and has now acquired a life of its own, despite changing donor priorities.publishedVersio

Why not Basics for All? Scopes and Challenges of Community?led Total Sanitation

The ‘Some for All’ dictum may work well for the water sector but is not appropriate and workable for the sanitation sector. We live in a paradox of concern for water quality for drinking, while displaying less concern about the haphazard and uncontrolled contamination of the sources of natural water. By contrast, the principle of ‘at least something for all/why not basics for all?’ on which Community?led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is based, leads to collective behaviour change on a grand scale and empowers communities to completely eliminate open defecation and thus protect water bodies as well as improve health and livelihoods outcomes. This is achieved through a process of collective local action with no upfront individual hardware subsidy and no prescribed models. With some 50 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America now adopting the approach, future challenges include sustainability, scaling?up with quality, gaining political buy in and addressing issues concerning environmental health and waste disposal

Claiming space: Contested coastal commons in Mumbai

Many of the world’s cities are located on the coast, and coastal ecologies and livelihoods are under increasing pressure from rapid urban transformations and climate change. This necessitates paying attention to how coastal spaces are understood and governed, but the spatial dimensions of urban coastal commons has received comparatively little attention. How are coastal spaces framed, understood, and contested? Drawing on scholarship on socio-spatial relations, the ‘right to the city’, and spatial justice, we explore these questions through tracing the contestations around the coastal commons in Mumbai, particularly focusing on the Coastal Road project and how claims of rights and access by the Koli fishing community unfolded. The case untangles the multi-scalar framings of coastal commons as places that are intimately tied up with Koli identity, versus city planners’ view of coasts as mere ‘conduits’, with the transformation of fluid land-sea commons into legible and controllable territory. We make an argument for the notion of a ‘right to the coast as commons’ as being conducive for a more climate-resilient city that heeds the particular ecological interdependencies and stewardship of coastal communities.publishedVersio