| 1. | The links between sanitation and other social sectors, particularly water, health and education, are self-evident. We commend a multi-disciplinary approach to the sanitation sector. (Paragraph 19)
|
| | |
| 2. | DFID needs to be proactive in tackling the stigma around sanitation and should draw on lessons from the successes in tackling the stigma around HIV and AIDS. (Paragraph 20)
|
| | |
| 3. | We recommend that DFID make its sanitation investments more transparent by disaggregating funding given to the sanitation and water sectors, and by encouraging the multilateral institutions to which it contributes funds to do the same. (Paragraph 22)
|
| | |
| 4. | A multi-disciplinary approach to sanitation and water will only work if the two sectors are given equal attention. Sanitation is currently neglected within DFID. The complex, distinctive challenges inherent in reaching the sanitation Millennium Development Goal target require proactive measures on DFID's behalf to raise the profile of sanitation within its work on sanitation and water, including the creation of a separate sanitation strategy. (Paragraph 23)
|
| | |
| 5. | DFID's support for research into the replicability of the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) scheme is important and should continue along with support to other promising approaches such as social marketing. The widespread success of CLTS in Bangladesh and emerging lessons from uptake elsewhere suggest that there are huge potential gains from the scheme. (Paragraph 29)
|
| | |
| 6. | The growing uptake of the Community-Led Total Sanitation scheme and social marketing approaches will require DFID staff working on sanitation to be adequately trained in the techniques needed for these approaches, so that they can advise governments and other development partners on how to design and invest in such programmes. (Paragraph 30)
|
| | |
| 7. | Different skillsets are required for the sanitation and water sectors: the former requires people-based skills and health and social development expertise, as opposed to the more technical solutions needed for water supply. We welcome DFID's decision to carry out a review of its sanitation policy. Under the review, we recommend that DFID reconfigure its sanitation expertise. Sanitation must become an integral part of health advisers'—and, where possible, social development advisers'—work within country programmes. Within DFID's Policy and Research Division, the Water, Sanitation, Energy & Transport Team should contain health and social development advisory capacity. (Paragraphs 36-37)
|
| | |
| 8. | Sanitation provision in slums is constrained by institutional fragmentation, insecure land tenure and residents' lack of political influence. We recommend that DFID revisit its prioritisation of rural over urban support as the global urbanisation process continues. The Department needs to work with governments to raise the issue higher up the political agenda, seek solutions to provision in informal settlements that are appropriate to and designed in consultation with local communities and create an institutional home and effective co-ordinating mechanisms for urban sanitation provision (Paragraph 41)
|
| | |
| 9. | We recommend that DFID support the wide promotion of lesson-learning about successful low-cost urban sanitation schemes such as the Orangi Project in Pakistan. (Paragraph 44)
|
| | |
| 10. | Sanitation needs international champions to reverse decades of neglect—and, with some re-prioritisation and staff reconfiguration, DFID could and should be one of these champions. We recommend that DFID act now to push sanitation far higher up the global political agenda. If progress towards the sanitation Millennium Development Goal target is not rapidly stepped up, the attainment of all the other MDGs will be compromised. (Paragraph 45)
|
| | |
| 11. | DFID deserves credit for the leadership it has demonstrated through its proposed Global Action Plan for water and sanitation. We were pleased to hear that some progress has been made on securing international agreement to the Plan. We exhort DFID to continue with urgency its high-level engagement on the Plan to ensure that the five objectives are agreed and launched by the end of 2007, to ensure sufficient progress is made towards meeting the MDG targets by 2015. (Paragraph 51)
|
| | |
| 12. | Whilst pursuing global progress on the effectiveness of financing for sanitation and water, DFID must at the same time ensure that its own house is in order when it comes to providing long-term, predictable and co-ordinated financing to the sectors. Predictability of financing is particularly important for the water sector, where a reliable source of funds is needed to build and maintain infrastructure (Paragraph 52)
|
| | |
| 13. | Where decisions to withdraw planned aid are made, DFID needs to ensure it is accountable to poor people by being fully transparent about decisions and by publicly announcing to parliamentarians and civil society the reasons for changes in policy and the planned remedial course of action. We recommend that DFID ensure that its aid to sanitation and water is predictable. Any rapid scaling-back of aid should be a last resort, but where it is unavoidable—for example following political events that are beyond its control—DFID should publicly communicate changes to its policies to civil society and parliamentarians to ensure proper accountability. We reiterate the recommendation we made in our report on DFID's Departmental Report 2006 that DFID should examine the long-term viability of Poverty Reduction Budget Support before it is introduced and put contingency plans in place prior to PRBS being withdrawn. (Paragraph 56)
|
| | |
| 14. | For budget support to work effectively as an aid mechanism for the sanitation and water sectors, DFID needs to assist the 'voice' of the sectors by helping to strengthen the 'institutional homes' for sanitation and water and support the building of capacity at local government level. This is especially true for countries with decentralised government where spending decisions are made by regional and local officials. We recommend that DFID support a complementary strategy to strengthen the role of parliamentarians and civil society in scrutinising budgets and policies and articulating demand for sanitation and water services effectively. (Paragraph 60)
|
| | |
| 15. | The UK's recognition of the human right to water is a positive first step. However, DFID should encourage developing countries to go beyond recognition to quantify and legislate for the right to water. Only then can citizens hold their providers accountable for their entitlement to water. This should include a complementary strategy of increasing demand for water services by helping to raise public knowledge of existing entitlements, as well as of gaps in legislation and policies. (Paragraph 63)
|
| | |
| 16. | DFID needs to engage with other donors to ensure that the Commission for Africa's recommended donor spending on infrastructure of US$10 billion a year up to 2010 (and, subject to review, a further increase to US$20 billion a year in the following five years) is secured. (Paragraph 71)
|
| | |
| 17. | We recommend that DFID prioritise engaging with the EU Water Initiative's Africa Working Group so that gaps and overlaps in funding for sanitation and water in Africa can be addressed. (Paragraph 72)
|
| | |
| 18. | DFID has shown leadership on the EU Water Initiative from the outset. It now needs to use this position to seek more active participation from other donors so that improved co-ordination of EU member states' aid to sanitation and water can be facilitated. (Paragraph 73)
|
| | |
| 19. | DFID has played an essential role in the first successful EU Water Initiative (EUWI) Country Dialogue in Ethiopia. It should proactively share lessons learned with other pilot countries so that the effective factors within the Ethiopian Dialogue can be emulated elsewhere. The Department should encourage other donors within the EUWI Africa Working Group to increase their involvement in Country Dialogues. (Paragraph 75)
|
| | |
| 20. | We agree with DFID's view that the EU Water Facility should be reformed and better linked to the EU Water Initiative so that it is more strongly integrated into national and local planning. The tenth round of the European Development Fund, to be finalised in 2007, provides a window of opportunity for DFID and other donors to seek the reform of the EU Water Facility. (Paragraph 77)
|
| | |
| 21. | DFID's support to the African Development Bank's Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI) is important. In order to maximise this investment and the success of the RWSSI, we recommend that DFID engage with the Bank to ensure that capacity-building of rural local government bodies is a major priority for the Initiative, and does not become subsumed amongst the RWSSI's competing priorities. DFID should also support the Bank's own capacity to target and spend funds effectively. (Paragraph 79)
|
| | |
| 22. | Limited service and management contracts can be mutually beneficial for the private sector and public water providers, but only if contracting procedures are transparent, include provision for training and capacity building within local communities, performance targets are publicly known and contracts include effectively monitored pro-poor requirements. (Paragraph 84)
|
| | |
| 23. | NGOs and communities themselves are important water providers, but to work effectively they must operate within government frameworks so that legitimacy and sustainability are ensured. We recommend that DFID encourage partner governments to engage in NGO and community schemes so that co-ordination and sustainability of water provision schemes can be maximised. (Paragraph 87)
|
| | |
| 24. | Public utilities are responsible for the vast majority of service delivery. Reform of public utilities is essential if they are to operate more effectively and efficiently and increase service coverage for poor people. We recommend that DFID investigate the promotion and funding of 'public-public partnerships' between public water operators, which can help utilities in developing countries support each other, share knowledge and learn from each other's successes. (Paragraph 94)
|
| | |
| 25. | Tackling corruption is of core importance to improving governance of the water sector. Corruption is less likely if utility employees do not need to supplement their pay through bribes. We recommend that DFID encourage partner governments and the private sector to prioritise paying water sector staff a decent wage. (Paragraph 96)
|
| | |
| 26. | We recommend that DFID work to ensure that improved accountability and transparency mechanisms are built into national decision-making processes. This will facilitate a clearer voice for consumers and civil society, and help to ensure that water systems are based on the realities of poor people's needs. This should include looking at the length of donor funding cycles which, if too protracted, can compromise the mutual trust that should be at the heart of the supplier-provider-community relationship. (Paragraph 100)
|
| | |
| 27. | We recommend that DFID do more to strengthen capacity in sanitation and water to provide policy support and technical advisory services for national governments and development partners. One route towards this would be increased support to regional, national and sub-national resource centres in Africa and Asia. The centres could support knowledge transfer, develop appropriate training courses, provide policy advice and encourage the development of locally appropriate solutions to sanitation and water. Centres should be established in a way that is sustainable and allows them to attract business and function as financially viable entities. (Paragraph 104)
|
| | |
| 28. | DFID should build a more formal relationship with professional water associations, which can assist in brokering expertise between countries experiencing similar technical problems in their water systems, using methods such as responsive twinning and mentoring to provide support for water operators in developing countries. (Paragraph 105)
|
| | |
| 29. | DFID should encourage partner governments to boost staff numbers and develop training programmes to improve the collection of accurate hydrological data, which is essential to pinpointing water access and management needs. (Paragraph 106)
|
| | |
| 30. | DFID's decision significantly to boost its own research capacity on water and sanitation is welcome. We particularly support the focus on building local capacity for research. The Department needs a clear strategy for deciding in which areas research is required and how findings will be communicated and used within partner countries. (Paragraph 107)
|
| | |
| 31. | While money is part of the solution to reaching the sanitation and water MDGs, and we very much welcome the increase in DFID's allocation, it is not sufficient on its own. Developing countries have an urgent need for technical advice and capacity building in the water sector, which will require increased human resources within DFID. DFID must address its own tendency to focus too heavily on financial inputs without adequately assessing the necessary human resource requirements for efficient expenditure of funds. (Paragraph 111)
|
| | |
| 32. | Headcount restrictions—within DFID and other donors—risk leaving a void within in-country donor advisory capacity just at the time when progress is urgently needed on the sanitation and water MDG targets. We recommend that DFID urgently carry out a needs assessment of staffing requirements until 2011 and work on a strategy for a co-ordinated response to the possible weakening of in-country donor advisory capacity. (Paragraph 112)
|
| | |
| 33. | We recommend that DFID encourage the global community to reaffirm the missed 2005 target for all countries to have Integrated Water Resources Management Plans and Water Efficiency Plans in place. As part of this reaffirmation, national-level co-ordination mechanisms, with appropriate monitoring and reporting components, should be established so that countries can put robust water resources management strategies in place within a set time period. (Paragraph 117)
|
| | |
| 34. | As the only international partnership on Water Resources Management (WRM), the Global Water Partnership needs to do more than promote dialogue: it must develop clear strategies for donor co-ordination and support countries' development and implementation of WRM plans. DFID should work with other donors to ensure that this change takes place. If the forthcoming evaluation suggests the Partnership cannot fulfil this role, a new and far better resourced global mechanism needs to be established by donors as a matter of urgency. (Paragraph 119)
|
| | |
| 35. | Given the increasing constraints on water resources, it is imperative that DFID substantially scales up its limited work on Water Resources Management (WRM). DFID's funding of the Research-inspired Policy and Practice Learning in Ethiopia and the Nile Region programme has been a positive step. The Department now needs to ensure that knowledge developed under the programme is used and communicated widely. In conjunction with other bilateral donors under a reformed global partnership for WRM, clear processes of support must be established to help countries develop Water Resources Management Plans and Water Efficiency Plans, which should be embedded within Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and include monitoring mechanisms. (Paragraph 123)
|
| | |
| 36. | As part of an increasing package of support to Water Resources Management (WRM), donors should ensure that professional capacity to measure availability of water and collect data on hydrological and meteorological patterns is adequately supported. DFID should look for opportunities with other donors to support research into identifying a minimum set of data that could act as a series of basic indicators on WRM and climate change. (Paragraph 125)
|
| | |
| 37. | We recommend that DFID work with other UK government departments, including the Department of Trade and Industry and the Export Credits Guarantee Department, to increase UK stakeholders' adherence to the World Commission on Dams' Guidelines for Dam-building. Organising a multi-stakeholder forum on the Guidelines would help promote the participation of industry and other relevant actors. (Paragraph 127)
|
| | |
| 38. | DFID's work on climate change adaptation in relation to Water Resources Management is relatively new and we received no evidence on the impacts of its work so far. But it is clear that DFID is putting the foundations in place to move forward its own and development partners' work on climate change adaptation. We are greatly encouraged by DFID's leadership on climate change adaptation in relation to water resources management, internationally and across Whitehall, and its support for research on this subject. We expect to see DFID translate this leadership into substantive policies and frameworks for action in the near future. The importance of DFID's work in this area must be recognised and properly funded under the Comprehensive Spending Review process. (Paragraph 133)
|
| | |
| 39. | As water availability becomes constrained, the risk of conflict over water resources is growing. Donors can help pre-empt such conflicts by supporting joint hydrometric monitoring of shared rivers and trans-boundary river commissions. DFID's funding of the Nile Basin Initiative has been important, and we recommend that the Department continue to support the development of the current transitional arrangement into a permanent framework. DFID should continue to look at the viability of establishing a similar initiative within the Congo Basin. (Paragraph 138)
|
| | |
| 40. | For DFID's multi-disciplinary approach to work effectively, closer links will need to be built between DFID advisers working on water and those working on health. We recommend that water and sanitation be mainstreamed across DFID's new health strategy to be published later in 2007, underpinned by explicit strategies to promote co-working between advisers working on water and advisers working on health. (Paragraph 146)
|
| | |
| 41. | DFID's education strategies do not do enough to stress the importance of sanitation and water promotion within schools. This needs to change if DFID is to deliver a properly integrated sanitation and water strategy. DFID should also work with education ministries on curriculum development and teacher training so that curricula include a water, sanitation and hygiene component. (Paragraph 153)
|
| | |
| 42. | DFID's multi-disciplinary approach should ensure that water, sanitation, gender and education issues are mainstreamed across DFID's forthcoming health strategy. (Paragraph 154)
|
| | |
| 43. | DFID has not given adequate attention to the impact of women and girls' water-fetching burden in its education strategies. The Department needs to help governments develop strategies addressing the time burden associated with collecting water that keeps girls out of school. These should encompass tackling wider social inequalities that perpetuate women and girls' water-fetching burden, expanding water supply so that journey times are reduced and practical school-based strategies such as flexible timetabling. (Paragraph 155)
|
| | |
| 44. | Whilst we are supportive towards DFID remaining highly focused on sanitation and water, it is important that the use of water for agriculture is mainstreamed across the Department's water and sanitation strategies. (Paragraph 159)
|
| | |
| 45. | We are concerned that DFID's water strategy does not sufficiently address agriculture, and equally that DFID's agriculture strategy makes little mention of water. DFID's focus on achieving the sanitation and water Millennium Development Goal should not be to the exclusion of focusing on water for agriculture, an essential component of meeting MDG1 which seeks to halve the number of people suffering from hunger. Strategies for promoting the productive use of water for food, including irrigation, should be pursued both through high-level donor engagement—particularly seeking the achievement of the Commission for Africa's recommended increase in funding of irrigation by 50% before 2010—and through national water resources management strategies which encourage the efficient use of water at the community level. (Paragraph 162)
|
| | |
