Institutional development : Netherlands support to the water sector 1988-1998

A review of ten years of Dutch support to water programmes in Bangladesh, Egypt, India (Gujarat) and Mozambique revealed that the projects were technically effective but many results were unsustainable because of a lack of institutional development. The report, written for the Netherlands Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB), stated that the Dutch programmes began giving more attention to institutional development at the beginning of 1990s. However, this was seen as a slow process because sector organizations focussed more on technology rather than on the social, environmental and economic aspects of water management. Overseas training courses were also viewed as being generally too technical, not focussing on local needs and having had little impact on organizational functioning. The conclusion is that it takes 5-10 years before new policies are put into practice.