Governance and Planning theme

Ethiopia is committed to a process of decentralisation of governance of a range of state provided services. This reflects in part its federal nature, and in part a desire to make service delivery more equitable, efficient and effective. The result is a range of challenges to stakeholders at all levels - from the region to the kebele.

At its simplest, water governance is about how decisions are made around managing water resources, and providing water and sanitation services. Understanding local governance implies understanding local institutions, and the relationships between them. Strengthening local governance implies strengthening the processes that underlie it, and increasing their transparency, accountability and effectiveness.

At the heart of strong governance lies planning. Planning, in its broadest sense, is the framework and process (typically visualised as a cycle) by which a problem is understood, possible solutions identified and prioritised, actions undertaken, impacts assessed, and lessons learned. Planning is ideally cyclical, with lessons learned feeding back into further decision making. Participation in planning is important if service users are to feel a sense of ownership over services, particularly if they are expected to finance and manage their upkeep as in rural Ethiopia. Participation by empowered and aware citizens is also important if governance is to be truly decentralised, and if the desired benefits of decentralisation are to be achieved.

The central challenge for the RiPPLE GaP theme is to identify appropriate and scalable approaches to strengthening local water governance and planning in the context of Ethiopia 's Universal Access Plan (UAP) and other development planning frameworks. A particular focus within this will be on mechanisms for ensuring effective and efficient participation by water users. To meet this challenge, RiPPLE will identify key requirements, as well as bottlenecks, for effective governance and planning at kebele, woreda, zonal and regional level, primarily through action research working with local authorities.

Research areas and questions

1. Issues of (local) governance in relation to WASH service delivery and water management:

• How are water users involved in decision making around WASH ?
• How do planning processes function in theory and practice?

2. The broader political and social economy of WASH and decentralised service provision:

• What are the incentives and barriers to stakeholders playing a more active role in decentralised WASH governance?
• What is the potential for more streamlined and coordinated provision of WASH services, given the different constraints affecting stakeholders?

3. The implications for stakeholders of applying the service delivery model(s) identified in key sector policies, especially the Universal Access Plan (UAP):

• What are the capacity requirements to achieve Universal Access?
• What is required to ensure the sustainability of new systems provided under UAP?
• What are the requirements of local government at regional, zonal and woreda levels to support improved water governance, and particularly planning?
• What are the roles of a) communities and b) external support agents in providing sustainable services? How can these be strengthened?

Activities

Case Studies

Two case studies have been carried out in Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region: 

Sustainability of Rural Water Supply Schemes
An investigation of issues relating to the sustainability of rural water supply schemes in the two focus woredas (Alaba and Mirab Abaya), with a focus on the role of users in system maintenance and the interactions between users and external support agencies (government, NGO, and private) in terms of rights and accountability.

Preliminary case study findings show that over 40% of water schemes are non-functional in both woredas. Some of the main reasons for this poor sustainability are a lack of capacity (both technical and managerial) in government, communities and the private sector; lack of clarity on the roles and responsibilities of these different actors; weak information management systems; poor legitimacy of the water and sanitation committees (WATSANCos); an absence of spare parts; inappropriate technology choices or poor scheme design; and sheer overpressure on the schemes.

Initial recommendations include the following:

• Build capacity at woreda and WATSANCo level
• Develop regulations to standardise scheme technology
• Integrate water supply schemes into a watershed management framework
• Involve all segments of the community in scheme development and management
• Develop effective information management and exchange systems
• Legalise the functions of the WATSANCos
• Promote private sector roles in supply of parts

The Ambition Level of the Universal Access Plan
An investigation of the ambition level of the UAP, with a focus on the explicit and implicit requirements for behavioural change, new capacities, and financial resources. This will be carried out collaboratively with the Finance theme.

Long-term Action Research Studies (LARS)

Building on these case studies, and those conducted under other themes, RiPPLE is currently developing two major long-term action research studies (LARS) which will take place across all three focus regions. One LARS will focus on achieving the Universal Access Plan, and the GaP theme will play a central role in the development and research activities of the study.

Page last updated 16 Jun 2008