Domestic water service delivery indicators and frameworks for monitoring, evaluation, policy and planning : a review. , pp.p. 4812 - 4835; 4 fig.; 3 tab. , 2013.
Monitoring of water services informs policy and planning for national governments and the international community. Currently, the international monitoring system measures the type of drinking water source that households use. There have been calls for improved monitoring systems over several decades, some advocating use of multiple indicators. The literature on water service indicators and frameworks with a view to informing debate on their relevance to national and international monitoring is reviewed. Described is the evidence concerning the relevance of each identified indicator to public health, economic development and human rights. We analyze the benefits and challenges of using these indicators separately and combined in an index as tools for planning, monitoring, and evaluating water services. Substantial evidence is found on the importance of each commonly recommended indicator—service type, safety, quantity, accessibility, reliability or continuity of service, equity, and affordability. Several frameworks have been proposed that give structure to the relationships among individual indicators and some combine multiple indicator scores into a single index but few have been rigorously tested. More research is needed to understand if employing a composite metric of indicators is advantageous and how each indicator might be scored and scaled. [authors abstract]
Enfoque de costos del ciclo de vida : costeo de servicios sostenibles, (WASHCost nota informativa) The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC. Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/084-201310briefingnote1adef_web_2.pdf. , 2013.
Que es el enfoque de costos del ciclo de vida? Nota informativa explicando cuales son los principales componentes de los costos de agua y saneamiento en áreas rurales y periurbanas.
, 2013.
A powerpoint presentation on the question why monitoring finance matters, presented at the IRC- Monitoring Sustainable WASH Service Delivery symposium on 9 April 2013
, 2013.
The WASH sector has come a long way since 2010; as WASH professionals, we are starting to have a common and shared financial language. So what is preventing us as a sector to have better financial data? And when we get it, what is holding us back from sharing it? At the symposium, the many presenters will aim to go beyond these constraints, provide their visions and share specific methodologies that can monitor finance.
The purpose of this Background Paper is to introduce Topic 1 of IRC’s International Water and Sanitation Centre Symposium 2013 on Monitoring Sustainable WASH Service Delivery: “Monitoring the finance needed for sustainable service delivery”. The objectives of Topic 1 are: to present and discuss the latest technical proposals that monitor and track financial flows in the WASH sector at international and national levels, and to provide a platform for discussion on the difficult area of measuring the cost effectiveness of hygiene interventions. Furthermore, it is expected that the incentives for financial monitoring are demonstrated and how information can be used in practice to improve service delivery. [authors abstract]
Background paper for “Monitoring Sustainable WASH Service Delivery Symposium” 9 to 11 April 2013 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC. Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/smits-2013-background.pdf. , 2013.
A common background for symposium participants is provided. WASH service delivery monitoring is a broad topic, often understood in different ways by different people involved in it, depending on their purpose, the methods and approaches they follow or the institutional level at which they operate. It therefore tries to introduce key concepts and definitions around the most common forms of monitoring WASH service delivery, thereby focusing on those aspects of monitoring that relate to the vision outlined above. It does not seek to provide an exhaustive framework that captures all possible forms of monitoring. It also purposely focuses on the conceptual: we expect the specific examples and experiences to be captured in the key note documents and papers presented. This background paper should serve as a frame for placing and analysing those examples and experiences. [authors abstract]
L’évaluation des niveaux de service d’assainissement, (WASHCost document de travail No 3) The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC. Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/working_paper_3_-_2nd_ed._en_francais_levaluation_des_niveaux_de_service_dassainissement.pdf. , 2012.
Conventional sanitation ladders rank sanitation in increasing complexity of technological options. However, sanitation improvement is not as straightforward as the concept of “a ladder” with incremental improvements from op full flush, might suggest. For example, from the user perspective, a VIP toilet may in some circumstances be a better option than a septic tank system. There is a wide gap between technologies and service provision, especially when O&M considerations are taken into account. This working paper from IRC’s WASHCost project sets out a common framework to analyse and compare sanitation cost data being collected across different country contexts (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mozambique, India) with different service delivery norms and standards. It represents a fundamental shift away from the focus on capital investment costs, to the costs of sustainable sanitation services. (Authors' abstract)
Financing water and sanitation for the poor : six key solutions, (In: Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor : Discussion Paper DP#003) The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC. Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Norman-2012-financing.pdf. , 2012.
Water and sanitation services for the very poor remain grossly deficient over large areas of the globe, and financing water and sanitation improvements for these people remains a major challenge. This paper proposes six Key Solutions to overcome this challenge. We urge financing institutions, governments and service providers worldwide to put these Key Solutions into practice. (author's abstract)
Avaliando os níveis dos serviços de saneamento, (WASHCost working paper No 3) The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC. Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Potter-2012-Avaliando.pdf. , 2012.
Conventional sanitation ladders rank sanitation in increasing complexity of technological options. However, sanitation improvement is not as straightforward as the concept of “a ladder” with incremental improvements from op full flush, might suggest. For example, from the user perspective, a VIP toilet may in some circumstances be a better option than a septic tank system. There is a wide gap between technologies and service provision, especially when O&M considerations are taken into account. This working paper from IRC’s WASHCost project sets out a common framework to analyse and compare sanitation cost data being collected across different country contexts (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mozambique, India) with different service delivery norms and standards. It represents a fundamental shift away from the focus on capital investment costs, to the costs of sustainable sanitation services. (Authors' abstract)
Applying the life-cycle costs approach to sanitation : costs and service levels in Andhra Pradesh (India), Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mozambique, (WASHCost briefing note 3) The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC. Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Burr-2011-Applying.pdf. , 2011.
Briefing note with key findings on the comparison of the financial costs of a range of traditional and improved latrines and the quality of service delivered to users.
Life-cycle costs of rainwater harvesting systems, (Occasional paper series / IRC 46) The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC. Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Batchelor-2011-Lifecycle.pdf. , 2011.
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is a centuries old technology that has the potential to play an increasingly important role in improving and sustaining water services delivery in many parts of the world. In the study reported here, the comparative utility and benefits of RWH are assessed from a life-cycle costs (LCC) perspective. In the context of water services delivery, life-cycle costs relate to the expenditure that is needed to ensure that water supply systems deliver sustainable and equitable services, throughout its life-cycle, from planning to implementation, operation, maintenance and replacement. In addition, the study looks into historical trends and drivers of RWH adoption, and the life-cycle costs of RWH systems compared to life-cycle costs of other water supply systems.
A multi dimensional framework for costing sustainable water and sanitation services in low-income settings : lessons from collecting actual life cycle costs for rural and peri-urban areas of Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Andhra Pradesh, (WASHCost research report V1.0) The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC. Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Fonseca-2010-Multi.pdf. , 2010.
The water and sanitation sector faces a sustainability challenge because of the emphasis on installing pipes and pumps instead of ongoing service delivery. When a WASH service is unreliable or completely fails, it is the people without access to safe alternatives who are most affected. People lose the essential services they have come to expect. One way to face this challenge is to assess and estimate the life-cycle costs of providing WASH services. What are the construction, operation, and maintenance costs for ensuring delivery of adequate, equitable and sustainable WASH services? What are the renewal, replacement and rehabilitation costs needed to
ensure sustainability? How much does it take to support post-construction activities? As life-cycle costs become mainstreamed, governments, donors, NGOs and the private sector will be better able to plan for service delivery and know how and where to invest to keep service quality from falling back. Understanding, collecting and using these life-cycle costs is the aim of the WASHCost project. Guided by Learning Alliances, WASHCost is taking place in Andhra Pradesh (India), Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mozambique. The collection and disaggregation of cost data over the full life-cycle of WASH services provides a better understanding of costs drivers and enables cost effective and equitable service delivery. WASHCost has adopted an action-oriented or stakeholder-driven approach to research. There is a constant balancing act between the priorities at country level and those at international/global level – while ensuring that all teams progress at the same speed. The country teams keep a balance between these priorities. [authors abstract]
, 2010.
The WASHCost project (www.washcost.info) is carrying out action research into the life-cycle costs of provision of rural WASH services in Burkina Faso, Ghana, India (Andhra Pradesh) and Mozambique. WASHCost collects and analyses information on the disaggregated costs of providing rural services, and in parallel advocates for the effective use of this information in decision making about service delivery. The project’s objective is to enable more cost effective provision of sustainable services to rural populations and especially the poor. To support identification of the most likely pathways to wide ruse of cost information, and thus to achieving the projects objectives, initial mapping work was carried out in the four countries to understand the main sector drivers, and particularly the flow of decision making, planning and budgeting for rural WASH service provision.
This note is based on a WASHCost working paper that synthesises the findings of these mapping studies. In looking at the WASH sectors across the four countries, a number of common trends can be identified. An important difference between the countries is that while in India universal coverage in water services is (rightly or wrongly) assumed to have been achieved leading to a concentration on sustainability; in the African countries sustainability (avoiding slippage) is only just starting to come onto the agenda, and the focus is primarily on delivering new services. Using cost information in decision making ‘Real’ decision making continues to happen at national level, and within projects. For WASHCost to achieve its objectives, it must be possible to clearly identify (existing or potential) planning or decision making processes into which cost information can be fed. Currently, in all four countries these processes are at best partial: cost is not currently a major driver in to decision making in the sector. What cost information exists, is typically limited to the formulation of national level strategies, plans and projects which are seldom strongly linked to financial flows. Indeed, the disconnect between planning and budgeting by sector ministries and national financing frameworks (such as Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks) is striking. This is true at the national level and even more so at the sub-national. Although frameworks and activities for decentralised planning exist in all countries, only in India are these linked to significant financial flows. In practice, much decentralised planning is a largely paper exercise. In the African countries, new services tend to be delivered by projects, and hence planning takes place at the level of, and specific to, the project. Awareness of costs is limited to capital investment Awareness of unit costs at all levels is typically limited to capital investment (often in a highly aggregated form). National figures provide per-capita costs for implementing different types of scheme. Information or awareness about other aspects of unit costs is very limited; how much is spent on the operation and maintenance of typical schemes or how much it costs to provide support services? Costs for major rehabilitation and replacement are
even less discussed, and can be considered as something of an intentional blind spot in the sector – everyone knows they are there, but no one (governments or donor) really wants to address the matter. The findings of the rapid assessments show both challenges and opportunities to WASH cost. Challenges, because the WASH sectors in all four countries are in a state of great change, with blurred and sometimes contradictory areas of governance responsibility; nascent planning processes; and, in donor dependent countries, only gradual movement towards greater harmonisation. This means that it can be difficult to identify a single clear entry point for, or potential owner of, WASH cost information. That said, after decades of stagnation, real progress and real opportunities exist within the processes of harmonization and decentralization. To achieve its objectives, WASH Cost needs to actively engage with these processes, and use an intelligent mix of advocacy and action research to develop in parallel both the demand for
cost information, and the tools by which this can be made useful. [authors abstract]
, 2010.
This note presents preliminary results from the WASHCost pilot studies in two districts of Ghana on the cost of service delivery using the Life Cycle Cost Approach (LCCA). The main cost components proposed by WASHCost for the LCC, are: capital expenditure (CapEx), operating and minor maintenance (OpEx), cost of capita (CoC), capital maintenance expenditure (CapManEx), and the expenditure with support cost. The results shown are limited to only CapEx, OpEx and CapManEx due to insufficient data on cost of capital and the support cost. The systems used for the study cover the main technologies for delivering rural and small towns’ water services in Ghana: multi-village piped scheme (MVS), single-village piped scheme (SVS) and boreholes with hand pumps (BHPs) also known as water point sources. These technologies also give an indication of the levels of service: the BHPs provide the basic water supply of 20l/c/d while the piped water schemes provide an intermediate supply which is a mixof house connection (60l/c/day for 20% of users) and public standpipe (20l/c/day for 80% of users). The CapEx per person was adjusted by inflation and compared for the various technologies. The OpEx and
CapManEx adjustment was made for inflation and annualised based on the number of years of operation to get an annual equivalent for the period. The LCC was used to determine the annual cost of water service delivery by annualising the CapEx using an inflation of 15% and a useful life of 20 years and adding the annual OpEx and
CapManEx to obtain the total annual cost of service delivery. The cost of operating and maintaining the systems (OpEx and CapManEx) reveals a wide variation. The OpEx for
piped schemes is generally higher than the CapManEx but in the case of the BHPs it is the reverse. The CapManEx, which refers to expenditure to keep the asset in good shape such as repairs and replacement of parts in the case of the MVS is about 12 times that of the SVS. CapManEx for the SVS is also about 5-7 times that of the point source.
Financing arrangement for water schemes was as follows: ESA 90%, District Assembly 5 %, and community contribution 5 %. However, since 2009 the new government has abolished the community contribution. There are new financing arrangements emerging where the private sector provide all the funding and sell to the community members. The financing and cost recovery arrangements are not yet clear. The financing of Capital Maintenance Expenditure is not clear. Planning and budgeting The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) is the government agency that facilitates rural water provision. CWSA prepares the Strategic Investment Plans (SIPs) for the provision of new facilities where the per capita cost figure for planning in the preparation of the SIPs is US$ 45per person. The information provided in the SIP guides project preparation but actual cost of project implementation is established by the market through the bidding process. [authors abstract]
What’s in a service? : using water service ladders in life-cycle cost analysis, The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC. , 2010.
This note is based on a working paper of the WASHCost project and sets out current thinking on defining and stratifying water service delivery. To do this, a ‘ladder’ has been developed, with each up step the ladder representing a clearly defined qualitative and quantitative improvement in service provided to users. The WASHCost project looks at the life cycle costs of providing sustainable WASH services in Burkina Faso, Ghana, India (Andhra Pradesh) and Mozambique. The service delivery ladder has been developed, and will be tested, by WASHCost to enable like-with-like comparison of water service delivery across different countries and contexts. The objective is to be able to answer the question: what does it cost to sustainably provide a given level of water service over the full life-cycle of the different elements of the service delivery system(s). WASHCost will also use the ladder to investigate and compare designed-for service with actual service received. In WASHCost a service level is understood to contain clearly defined (and normative) range of acceptable values for a set of key indicators of service provision: quantity, quality, reliability, accessibility, and status. [authors abstract]
Life-cycle costs approach : glossary and cost components, (WASHCost briefing note no. 1) The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC. Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Fonseca-2010-Life.pdf. , 2010.
Briefing note describing the cost components in the life-cycle costs approach.
Crossfire: 'Technology development versus capacity building' . , pp.p. 101-107. Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Fonseca-2009-Technology.pdf. , 2009.
Working together to improve aid effectiveness in the water sector : mapping EU development assistance to the water sector in Africa : exercise of the Africa Working Group of the European Union Water Initiative 2007-2008, The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC. Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Fonseca-2008-Working.pdf. , 2008.
Until now, it has not been possible to assess levels of European Union Member States’ funding to water supply and sanitation separately, using existing sources of information. This mapping exercise, initiated by the Africa Working Group of the European Union Water Initiative (EUWIAWG), will help to address this problem. This is particularly important, given the commitment made by African leaders in Durban in February 2008 to have separate allocations for sanitation as described in the eThekwini Declaration on Sanitation.
This exercise has confirmed that, despite difficulties and statistical constraints, it is feasible to disaggregate the Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the water sector from European Union donors into the three component sub sectors of sanitation and hygiene, water supply (WASH) and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), and to map these aid flows geographically to African recipients.
30% of European ODA to the WASH sector in Africa is allocated to sanitation and hygiene. Whilst sanitation is the most off track MDG target, we do not have a benchmark figure against which to judge whether or not this proportional allocation is sufficient.
Financing sanitation in poor urban areas, Delft, The Netherlands: IRC. Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Sijbesma-2008-Financing.doc. , 2008.
This essay addresses innovative ways of financing safe sanitation in poor urban households and neighbourhoods. Although sanitation comprises several components, this paper focuses only on human excreta disposal. It is argued that the urban poor already finance their sanitation, mostly in loss of time, energy, dignity, health, income and development opportunities. To turn these losses around and fulfil basic human rights, creative financing systems are needed. Using a combination of literature review, personal and documented experiences, the authors present an overview of traditional and innovative financing approaches and mechanisms for urban poor sanitation, and discuss their advantages and limitations. (authors abstract)
Microfinance for water, sanitation and hygiene : an introduction, Delft, The Netherlands: Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP). Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Fonseca-2007-Microfinance.pdf. , 2007.
This booklet, launched during a finance workshop in India, gives a short introduction on microfinance issues in the water and sanitation sector. Microfinance is topical because it can make an important contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Used properly it can help reduce poverty and empower women. During the state visit of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands to India (24 to 27 October 2007) microfinance was therefore one of the topics for discussion.
Innovations in financing urban water and sanitation : financing shelter, water and sanitation, S.l.: Center for sustainable urban development. Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Tremolet-2007-Innovations.pdf. , 2007.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) identified water and sanitation services as key factors in lifting people out of poverty. However, the influential Camdessus Report estimated that financial flows to the sector must at least double to achieve the MDG water and sanitation targets. Financing is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for achieving adequate water and sanitation services and the resulting benefits on health, education and economic activity. Traditional approaches to financing the sector are not meeting this challenge and have contributed to the development of unsustainable, oversized and inefficient facilities. Typically, governments, development agencies and the private sector fund large infrastructure projects, such as dams and reservoirs, through a top-down decision-making process that leaves little room for unserved people to express or satisfy their needs. While better off people in cities have piped water at low cost, millions of urban dwellers are excluded because systems cannot expand to meet their needs. In particular, people moving to urban areas, slum dwellers and people in small towns are often excluded. Over recent years, innovative financing solutions have emerged to encourage financial flows into the sector from a wide range of organisations, each with its own responsibilities, but working together in greater coordination. These innovations seek to offer financial systems better suited to devolved services and to provide options for low income service users and communities.
(authors abstract)
Innovative financing : experiences of water supply and sanitation service delivery in small urban centres, (UN-Habitat report on the water sector in small urban centres paper1) Nairobi, Kenya: UN-Habitat, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements. Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Habitat-2006-Innovative.pdf. , 2006.
Water sector in small urban centres : analysis of donor flows to water supply and sanitation services, (UN-Habitat report on the water sector in small urban centres paper 2) Nairobi, Kenya: UN-Habitat, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements. Available at: https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/202.8-06WA-18957.pdf. , 2006.
, 2006.
Increasing access to water and sanitation services is a financially daunting task. Recently, a large number of studies have been conducted to estimate the costs to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In this analysis the authors focus on the adequacy of estimates of the cost of providing access to water and sanitation per capita in these countries, rather than how effective or efficient the funding flows may be. They hope to initiate discussions and reflection on these issues by exposing what seems to be contradictory information in the sector.