Professionalising Rural Small-Town Water Supply Management

As part of our long-standing partnership with WaterAid in the thematic area of strengthening service delivery models, Aguaconsult carried out an analysis of the levels of support provided to different management models for rural and small-town water supply services in ten countries: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia.

Strengthening the support that service providers receive under different management models is crucial for achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.1 and shifting to more professionalised service provision, particularly in contexts where demand for services is rising and communities are increasingly pressured by climate change.

The study confirms the basic premise that all management models need ongoing support to operate more effectively and prevent the negative cycle of building, neglecting and then rebuilding infrastructure. This support is required for, but not limited to, technical and financial aspects, organisational development, and monitoring and regulation. Other key findings include:

• Countries with universal access to water supply services often use a variety of water supply management models tailored to different demographic contexts and technologies.

• Support functions can be provided by a range of actors, both internal and external to management model service providers.

• Across all management models, a common and often substantial gap persists between the responsibilities established in policy and operational guidelines and the extent of support provided.

• Alternative models to Community based Management, such as public and private provision are not automatically professionalised or even viable if they are not properly supported. For any management model to be professionalised, support arrangements need to be strengthened.The level of support a management model’s service provider receives appears to positively influence the quality of service provided.

• Professionalised management models that include appropriate support to service providers are a vital foundation for ensuring climate resilience.

The report is available here and for more information please contact Bill Twyman.