Guiding principles for successful reforms of urban water supply and sanitation sectors

This report focuses primarily on improving the service provided by official water supply and sanitation (WSS) service providers, which because of limited coverage or poor performance do not always have the monopoly of provision usually associated with WSS in urban areas. Chapter 1 rapidly analyzes the data published by the UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) for monitoring the evolution of access to urban WSS infrastructure. It also reviews the indicators developed by the International Benchmarking Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities (IBNET) for measuring efficiency, reliability, financial sustainability, environmental sustainability, and affordability of piped WSS service. Chapter 2 summarizes the methodology proposed for assessing the accountability framework of urban WSS sectors, defined as the set of mandates of its key actors, contractual arrangements that clarify both interaction between actors and the instruments used by each actor to implement their mandates. Chapter 3 summarizes recommendations for designing and implementing reforms of WSS sectors and focuses on Involving stakeholders in WSS reforms; Revisiting WSS policies; Changing the culture of public WSS service providers; Optimizing WSS asset management and infrastructure development; Improving WSS service provision through internally developed programs; Improving WSS service provision through partnerships with the private sector; Financing WSS operations in a sustainable and affordable manner; Regulating the WSS service in a transparent and predictable manner; and Implementing WSS reforms.