Meeting the challenges of

sustainability for WASH

investments

Changing the business as

usual approach?

London, 31st January 2012

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Expectations and reality

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Progress - but mind the ‘sustainability gap’

+/- 60 – 70% functionality

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Who are we?

• NGOs, charities and consulting firms - the ‘doers’

• Donors and funders of WASH interventions

• Advocacy and networking organizations

• Academic or research institutions

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Agenda Morning sessions

The challenges of ‘business as usual’

Sustainability continuum and speed dating

From infrastructure focus to service delivery

Afternoon sessions Organisational change

Group work - practices, strategies and obstacles

Action planning and commitments

Next steps and follow-up

...... drinks and discussions

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The sustainability challenge and business as usual

A film - ‘What if’

Much effort and progress made

• Tens of billions of dollars invested: 720 million newly served

• Evolving approaches: VLOM, community management, DRA, post-construction support, aid effectiveness, SWAp

• Testing new elements: gender, supply chains, water resource protection

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But many challenges remain

• Wasted development partner, national and community financial investments

• Health, dignity, well-being and livelihoods affected

• Unacceptable levels of system failure – 30 to 40% - universal problem

@Akvo

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The cost of failure – 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa

Information Collated by Peter Harvey, UNICEF Zambia, May 2007

36%

Investment loss in sub-Saharan Africa of between US$ 1.2 to 1.3 billion over 20 years

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‘Slippage’ - declining service levels in India

Information presented at IRC Slippage roundtable Briefing, Delhi, June 2009

>30%

Uganda 10% Cote d'Ivoire 33%

Chad 13% Zambia 35%

Benin 14% Mozambique 40%

Burkina Faso 23% Namibia 40%

Ethiopia 25% Sudan 40%

Lesotho 25% Madagascar 50%

Rwanda 30% DRC 60%

Senegal 30% Malawi 75%

World Bank 2007. Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic Water Supply and Sanitation Survey Database.

Percentage of rural water systems requiring rehabilitation

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World Bank

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So what has gone wrong?

• Focus on the level of the community and community management - inherently ‘un-scalable’

• Lack of investment and support to improve overall sector capacity - largely infrastructure focus

• Financing focuses on initial construction, not lifetime costs

• A persistent lack of coordination and harmonisation

• Political influence and corruption

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Increasing coverage is not the whole story

Breakdowns, failures, non-

functionality, slippage ........... a

tipping point which is now a threat

to achieving the MDGs?

Build on current progress, but make a shift from infrastructure to service delivery

From building infrastructure to delivering a service

Implement Implement Implement

Business as usual

Time

Implement

Upgrade

Service delivery

Upgrade

Replace

Investment

(capital

expenditure)

Investment

(operational

expenditure)

Service

level

What makes a service work?

Clear sector policies

Well defined institutional roles

and responsibilities

Learning and innovation

Good implementation practices

Strong planning, coordination and

leadership

Harmonisation and alignment

Long-term support and monitoring

Appropriate technology

Relevant management models

Finance for life-cycle costs

INSTITUTO COSTARRICENSE DE ACUEDUCTOS y ALCANTARILLADOS

DIRECCION DE ACUEDUCTOS RURALES

The sustainability continuum

Sustainability Continuum

Infrastructure focus with limited ability to scale up. Time and spatial dimensions are limited

Scaled up infrastructure approach. Can be taken to scale, but does not address long-term systemic change or sustainability

Service delivery approach with limited ability to scale up. Supports indefinite services through improving sector systems, but done in a piecemeal way

Full Service Delivery Approach. Addresses sustainable services at scale through support to entire sector ‘system’ in a coordinated and comprehensive way

Infrastructure focus with limited

ability to scale up

Scaled up infrastructure

approach

Service delivery approach with

limited ability to scale up

Full Service Delivery Approach

Focus on interventions through

projects at community level

Different management models

supported without common

agreement

Implementation of parallel and largely

uncoordinated programmes with little

involvement of decentralised

government

Efforts nearly exclusively go into the

construction of new systems or

rehabilitation

Little or no recognition of full life-cycle

functions such as asset planning, ,

regulation, post-construction support

Monitoring focuses on outputs

(systems built and beneficiaries)

No explicit targets for sustainability of

services

Financing mechanisms limited to

construction and initial

implementation phase

No systematic support to

professionalise service providers

Promotes inappropriate technology or

technology-focused solutions

Interventions planned and

implemented at scale through

coordinated programmes

Involvement of decentralised

authorities in implementation

Efforts nearly exclusively go into

the construction of new systems

or rehabilitation

Support to skills and capacity

building, but limited to

construction only and not to full

life-cycle.

Monitoring focuses on outputs

(systems built and beneficiaries)

No explicit targets for

sustainability of services

Financing mechanisms limited to

construction and initial

implementation phase

No systematic support to

professionalise service providers

Interventions carried out on

project or piecemeal basis with

significant gaps

Efforts go into both construction

of new systems and

rehabilitation and to address full

life-cycle of a service delivery

Involvement of decentralised

authorities in implementation

and post-construction

Support to skills and capacity in

functions such as planning,

regulation, post-construction

support start to address full life-

cycle requirements.

Monitoring addresses not only

outputs, but includes service

provided and performance of

service providers

Sector targets explicitly include

sustainability

Financing mechanisms in place

to support capital maintenance

and asset management and

replacement

Systematic support provided to

professionalise service providers

Enabling environment functions

strengthened – policy and

legislation

Includes space for technological

innovation

Interventions planned and

implemented at scale through

provision of commonly agreed

service levels and models for delivery

(public, private etc.)

Efforts address full life-cycle of a

service delivery from construction to

post-construction, asset

management and replacement

Involvement of decentralised

authorities in planning,

implementation and post-

construction and oversight

Support to skills and capacity in

functions such as planning,

regulation, post-construction support

start to address full life-cycle

requirements.

Monitoring addresses not only

outputs, but includes service

provided and performance of service

providers

Sector targets explicitly include

sustainability

Financing mechanisms in place to

support capital maintenance and

asset management and replacement

Systematic support provided to

professionalise service providers

Enabling environment supports

common definitions and frameworks

for WASH services; sector learning,

policy development and innovation is

recognised and promoted

Sustainability continuum exercise

• Read the sustainability continuum handout

• Identify where you think you are on the continuum and post the name of your organization – remember that you may be in more than one place!

• Spend a few minutes to observe where others are

Speed Dating

Speed Dating: a how to guide

• At the sound of the bell ……

• Pair off with someone you don’t already know

• Introduce yourselves to one another

• Spend a couple of minutes each in turn asking the questions or topics for discussion

• When the bell sounds find a new partner and do it again

Speed Dating: topics for discussion

• Where are you on the continuum and why?

• What type of organisations are where and why?

• Areas of disagreement: another point of view?

• What do you think contributed to organisations getting to stage three or four?

• Obstacles and challenges to sustainability- and how to surmount them?

Moving from infrastructure focus to service delivery

Nick Burn, Water for People

Supporting service delivery in practice

• Financing and life cycle costs - Dr. Patrick Moriarty, IRC, International Water and Sanitation Centre

• Sustainable water resources - Dr. Alan MacDonald, British Geological Survey

• Direct support for service delivery - Harold Lockwood, Aguaconsult

• Monitoring for service delivery - Nick Burn, Water for People

Sensemaker@ - learning about change through stories

Anna Le Gouais, Aguaconsult

Organisational change for improved programming

A film - ‘Everyone’

Small group exercise

1. Practical approaches – what would you do?

• Planning and design of WASH interventions

• Post-construction support and O&M

• Financing

• Monitoring

2. Strategies – how would you put this into practice?

• Training of staff and partners

• New policies or procedures

• Improved coordination

3. Obstacles – what are the barriers to change and how could you overcome them?

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Feedback in Plenary

Share outcomes of practical change, strategies and surmounting obstacles from five different groups:

• Funders - bi-lateral donors and foundations

• Large NGOs

• Small NGOs

• Private companies, contractors and independent consultants

• Network, advocacy and research groups

Perspectives on change in WASH

Duncan Goose, Founder - The One Foundation

Maurie Carr, Director of Programs, and

Brian Banks, Director of Sustainability - Global Water Challenge

A personal commitment to change

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One step to promote sustainability in your organisation? • Sponsor a presentation for your colleagues on service

delivery concepts and approaches

• Exchange information and ideas with other organisations

• Integrate aspects of service delivery in your work, document and share your experiences

• Promote, discuss and debate service delivery at international or regional fora e.g. WWW 2012, SWWW

• Join a community-of-practice around sustainable WASH service delivery – www.sustainableWASH.org

• Set up a follow-up meeting next year .............. other?

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Follow-up

Sources of information and documentation

• IRC Triple-S project www.waterservicesthatlast.org

• IRC WASHCost project www.washcost.info/page/107

• Water for People www.waterforpeople.org

• Wateraid www.wateraid.org/uk

• SustainableWASH www.sustainableWASH.org

• Global Water Challenge www.globalwaterchallenge.org

• Rural Water Supply Network www.rwsn.ch

Thank you – drinks from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

....... and please fill out a feedback form