Supporting water sanitationand hygiene services for life

Putting the Plus into Community Management: experiences with Sub-County Water Supply and Sanitation Boards in Uganda

Peter Magara and Harold Lockwood

WaterAid, 4th November 2014

Background- a mature sector

• Strong political leadership • Mature sector - SWAP in place• Robust monitoring system (11 Golden indicators)• 64% coverage in rural areas- stagnation 2013-2014

SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA

Background- risk of slippage

Source: Moriarty 2011

SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA

• Risk of slippage

• Average 15% non functionality rural

As sectors evolve, so effort, cost and institutional requirements also change

Source: Moriarty, 2011

SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA

Tension between increasing coverage and maintaining services

SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA

Source: Moriarty, 2011

Danger zone:

as basic infrastructure is provided, coverage risks stagnating at around 60% – 80%

Sub-County Water Supply and Sanitation Boards

EXPLAINING TRIPLE-S AND THE SERVICE DELIVERY APPROACH

SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA

Golden indicators (RURAL) Achievements Targets

2012/2013 2013/2014 2013/2014 2014/2015

1.Access: % of people within 1,000m of an improved water source

64% 64% 67% 77%

2.Functionality: % of improved water sources that are functional at time of spot-check. Ratio of actual hours of water supply to the required hours.

84% 85% 84% 90%

5. Water quality: % of water samples taken at the point of water collection, waste discharge point that comply with national standards (E.coli)

65% 53% 95% 95%

9. Management: % of water points with actively functioning water and sanitation committees

71% 71% 80% 95%

SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDAMinistry of Water and

Environment

Umbrella organisations

Technical Support Units

HPMA

HPMs

District Water Office

S/C Authority

CBOs

NGOs

WUCs

Caretakers

Regional level

District level

Sub-County level

Community level

Background- Institutional •Decentralised model

•CBMS model for O&M

•Water boards for piped schemes•Sub-County: lowest level of Government

SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA

•Under-resourced Districts/ distance to WSCs

•Inability to support WUCs •Dysfunctional WSCs (71%)•Insufficient O&M funding

SWSSB- a new “super” provider• WSC + model – “Super provider” (WP and piped schemes) or • Cluster WSC resources from point sources at Sub County level• Build on existing Sub-Counties- create boards• Provide management support – improve accountability of WSCs• Increase user contribution- financial capacity for O&M• Structure for to manage O&M funds transferred from District • Link to HPMAs

SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA

SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDAMinistry of Water and

Environment

Umbrella organisations

Technical Support Units

HPMA

HPMs

District Water Office

S/C Authority

S/C WSSB

Water technician

CBOs

NGOs

WUCs

Caretakers

Regional level

District level

Sub-County level

Community level

SWSSB-piloting (June 2013 – August 2014)• 8 Sub-Counties

• Interim boards constituted

• Boards trained on roles and responsibilities• Sensitisation to WSCs• Opening bank accounts• Recruitment in progress

SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA

Functions of the SWSSB• Water provision (piped schemes, Hand pumps and springs)• Community sensitization • Tariff collection• Management contracts for O&M • Monitoring of services • Performance reporting to DWO

EXPLAINING TRIPLE-S AND THE SERVICE DELIVERY APPROACH

Emerging Results

• Subscription of WSCs to the boards (40-60% of resources)• Rejuvenation of WSCs• Improved accountability among WSCs• Scale up of SWSSB by Local governments (from 8 to 14)• SWSSB embraced by Ministry & incorporated in Sector guidelines for financial year 2014/15

EXPLAINING TRIPLE-S AND THE SERVICE DELIVERY APPROACH

Financial Model Buheesi SC case• Buheesi population – 36,800• Water Supply Facilities – 220 (80% functional)• Water user payments cover 30% of costs for minor repair

Guiding Principles• WSCs remit at least 90% of the water users fees collected

• District remits 80% of the grant allocation for O&M

• SWSSB targets to achieve 95% functionality to stimulate user payments

EXPLAINING TRIPLE-S AND THE SERVICE DELIVERY APPROACH

Financial modelling- Buheesi SCEXPLAINING TRIPLE-S AND THE SERVICE DELIVERY APPROACH

Item Year 1 USD Year 2 USDPreliminary setup activities* 1094 586SWSSB Board Expenses 0Quarterly Board Meetings 563 563Sub-county Water Technician 844 844Office Operations 375 375Monitoring & follow up of WSCs 375 375Minor repairs** 4492 2344

Major repair (10 water points)*** 8203 3281Total expenditure 15946 8368Collection from user fees (USX 1000/household) 6563 9844Remittance from district (Based on Kabarole DWSCG) 1938 1938

Total income 8501 11782Deficit/Surplus -7445 3414

Challenges

• Transparency and accountability • Users’ trust• Permanent financial resources/ability to mobilise funding (upstream and downstream)

SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA

Lessons learned

• Inability to operate without public funding• Need for staffing regardless of administrative level• Need for service level improvements backed by strong political support to stimulate user payment • Balancing investment in new infrastructure with O&M

EXPLAINING TRIPLE-S AND THE SERVICE DELIVERY APPROACH

Thank you for your attention

Peter Magara, IRC Uganda; magara@ircwash.org

For further information see: http://www.waterservicesthatlast.org/experiments/uganda_experiments/adopting_sub_county_model_to_improve_operations_and_maintenance