The contribution of people's participation : evidence from 121 rural water supply projects

Statistical analysis of the evaluation of 121 completed rural water supply projects, supported by 18 different agencies in 49 developing countries, showed that beneficiary participation contributed significantly to project effectiveness. Ismail Serageldin, Vice President of the World Bank, states in his foreword that these results "have profound implications for the way the World Bank supports its partners" and "that obtaining local participation in decisionmaking about development is sound business practice". The study also analyzed in-depth the 20 projects which scored as most effective. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) figured in half of these projects although they represented only 15 per cent of the total sample. Only 17 per cent of the 121 projects, however, achieved high levels of women's involvement. Several important findings were that: participation was the single most important determinant of overall quality of implementation; the impact of participation throughout the project cycle was significantly greater than it was during any single stage; there was no effective participation if agencies retained control over implementation; and technology issues were addressed more effectively than organizational issues. Three intermediate elements were found to be most highly correlated with overall levels of beneficiary participation: user investment in capital costs; local ownership and control; and agency responsiveness to feed back. Two key characteristics determining participation were: commitment before construction or demand, and the degree of organization of the beneficiaries. For agencies the two most significant characteristics were: relative autonomy, and degree of client orientation. Three client-orientation strategies were essential for effective participation: making beneficiary participation a goal to be monitored and evaluated, and rewarding staff for achieving it; using local knowledge; and investing in local capacity building. Participation can only be encouraged if supply-driven approaches are replaced by demand-driven approaches.