Framework for assessing and monitoring rural and small town water supply services in Ghana

This document has been developed by the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) to guide monitoring of water services in the rural and small town water sub-sector of Ghana. It provides a set of indicators for monitoring service levels, tracking functionality and performance of service providers.

The indicators in the framework are based on the following sub-sector operational documents:

1. Community Water and Sanitation Sector Strategy
2. Community Water and Sanitation Regulations, 2011 LI 2007
3. CWSA standards and guidelines, 2010
4. CWSA Project Implementation Manual (PIM)
5. District Operational Manual (DOM)
6. Model bye-law for the establishment and operation of Water and Sanitation Development Boards, 2008

This includes indicators on:

• Functionality of hand pumps and stand pipes
• Service level provided by the facility (based on reliability, accessibility, water quantity and quality)
• Community-based water service provider indicators, related to governance; operations and financial management
• Service authority indicators, related to support to community-based water service providers and other service authority functions (like planning, budgeting, coordination etc.

In the period October 2011 to January 2012, baseline data was collected in order to score and benchmark facilities, service providers and service authorities against these indicators. Data was collected by district level staff, using mobile phone technology, in three districts: Akatsi district in Volta Region, East Gonja in Northern Region and Sunyani West in Brong Ahafo Region. 

This document presents a set of indicators developed to assess and monitor rural and small town water supply services in Ghana. The annex presents the data collection sheets, which can be used to collect the data required in order to score the indicators.