A local systems analysis for rural water services delivery in South Ari and Mille, Ethiopia

The report provides a synthesis of various studies and systems analyses undertaken in two rural woredas (districts) in Ethiopia: South Ari, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR), and Mile, in the Afar Region. All rural water assessments were undertaken with the involvement of representatives from local government, and most were done with the USAID Lowland WASH Activity, which is implementing a broad WASH intervention in both woredas. The baseline studies undertaken include an asset inventory, service delivery assessment, life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA), sustainability check, organisational network analysis (ONA), and factor mapping. Following a structure based on nine building blocks for the delivery of WASH services (institutions, legislation, finance, planning, infrastructure management and development, monitoring, regulation, learning and adaptation, and water resources management), this report summarises the strengths of the decentralised local systems that deliver services in these locations, describing key actors, factors, and interactions. It then identifies recommendations for systems-strengthening activities to improve service delivery. Related reports provide full details of the results from each of the baseline assessments.