Water & Sanitation
Imagine a small business that is, out of the blue, handed a massive order with a huge sum of money to pay for it. It may be a life-changing opportunity for the business owners and the community in which they work; in fact, the activity may be critical to the community’ s economic wellbeing, but finding skilled workers, a bigger workspace and the necessary equipment takes time. Add to that a tight deadline and onerous rules for obtaining materials – and no support for future salaries for these employees – and it’ s clear how that business might struggle to absorb the order.
It’ s the same in the WASH sector. Decentralizing WASH services can be an effective way to better deliver them. However, if governments decentralize too fast, or if they do not also decentralize the necessary budgets, it substantially adds to the pressure on local staff and their ability to run an efficient and dynamic service.
There is also the question of recurrent budgets for wages, salaries and operational activities. We found significant staff shortages in our studies in Ethiopia and Uganda, particularly in rural areas, because recurrent budgets are too low. In South Africa, the number of engineers per 100,000 people has dropped from twenty in 1994 to three today. If donors and creditors in aid-dependent countries provide their finance almost entirely as capital, without enough thought as to how these projects can be sustained in the long term, they exacerbate the problem.
A woman collects water from a source in Mwamanongu Village, Tanzania. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
Finally, we found an issue in coordination when national governments are working with multiple donors. Differences in fiscal years or in the process of disbursement and procurement create confusion. In Ethiopia, for example, the World Bank, the Department for International Development, the African Development Bank and UNICEF all used to channel their funds through separate streams, each with their own strict requirements for procurement and reporting.
Relatively recently, though, Ethiopia adopted a sector-wide approach, which has reduced the bureaucratic burden by pooling funds and harmonizing reporting requirements – allowing for accountability while reducing the paperwork. This has led to improved performance in absorbing external funding, making an important contribution to the progress made in increasing access to water and sanitation. Most other countries in the region have not yet been able to follow suit, however, generally as a result of lower capacity or priority.
The Global Goals for Sustainable Development a. k. a The SDGs
The Sanitation and Water for All Partnership, a global partnership of governments, donors and civil society, has identified four ways in which developing countries and donors can improve how they work together, in order to strengthen the effectiveness of aid for WASH programs.
These are:( i) enhancing government leadership, which is vital to achieving clear direction and focus;( ii) strengthening and using in-country systems and therefore reducing transaction costs and unnecessary red tape;( iii) creating one platform for information and accountabilities, reducing duplication, improving understanding of the many activities underway and establishing accountability both from donor and recipient governments; and( iv) building sustainable strategies for financing, which allow for recurrent costs as well as capital costs, and support the provision of services that last.
The clock is already ticking on the 2030 Agenda for development. We have 15 years to reach everyone, everywhere, with water, sanitation and hygiene. As a sector, we need to make the most of every penny to ensure that goal is met.
About the Author
John Garrett is Senior Policy Analyst for Development Finance at WaterAid. He has previously contributed to WaterAid’ s policy blog, and you can follow him on Twitter @ johngarre
20 Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • May- June 2016