Strengthening local government capacity to deliver water services : documenting the process of transformation

In 2014, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation dedicated a US$ 3 million grant to Strengthening Local Government Capacity to Deliver Water Services in rural Ghana.

The project is a strategic partnership between IRC, Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), World Vision, Safe Water Network, WaterAid, Desert Research Institute and 13 district assemblies.

Its aim has been to coordinate efforts to maximise resources and improve systems for service delivery in districts and build on work done between the CWSA, IRC and District Assemblies, notably in the Triple-S project.

Between 2015 and the end of 2017 the project expanded efforts to plan and deliver sustainable services in 13 largely rural districts in five regions of Ghana. It has proved a remarkable exercise of cooperation and learning, involving interventions at regional, district and community levels, partnership work at national level and the building and strengthening of learning platforms in every district and region where the project took place.

It has left in place stronger planning teams, innovative use of technology, and a much improved approach to collecting and using data. But perhaps its greatest achievement has been in breaking down barriers between those who plan, provide and use services enabling them to 'walk the talk' of coordination and cooperation.

This publication records the perceptions of many of the key players in this development, from the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, to the Water and Sanitation Management Teams (WSMTs) at community level, and including the vital inputs of the CWSA at national and regional level, the district authority water units that are drawing up plans for 100% coverage and the NGOs that provide finance, services, infrastructure and training.