End-of-project evaluation (EPE) : Triple-S – Water Services that Last, an IRC initiative 2009-2014 : Ghana country visit report

Triple-S was a six-year multi-country learning initiative that aimed to help address the challenge of rural water supply sustainability. The project was implemented by IRC and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Its objective was to push for a paradigm shift towards "sustainable rural water services at scale",

This report provides findings from the evaluation of the Triple-S project work in one of the two focus countries: Ghana. It evaluates the following elements of the Ghana workstream:

• design
• outputs, with a special focus on experiments on (1) Service level monitoring, (2) Reducing handpump downtime via SMS, and (3) Adopting a Life-Cycle Cost Approach (LCCA) and studies on (a) Learning Alliances and (b) Sector Coordination and Alignment
• outcomes on (1) Service delivery approach, (2) Learning and adaptive management; and (3) Sector coordination and alignment
• direct and broader impacts

The report concludes with key lessons and recommendations on:

• Operationalising the Service Delivery Approach
• Providing a stronger framework for service level benchmarking and ensuring that benchmarking results lead to long-lasting service improvements
• Supporting a nation-wide debate and a concrete strategy for increasing sector funding.
• Evaluating what can be done in the sanitation sub-sector