Asset management and financial planning for life-cycle costs are two of the most critical systemic failure points in water service delivery, according to Triple-S’ Qualitative Document Analysis (QDA). Triple-S’ QDA is a way to assess whether the rural water sector is moving from building systems towards a service delivery approach, while also identifying gaps between policy and practice. The first phase of the QDA consisted of a policy document review, while the second phase focused on practice documents. Results from both phases are now available.
Published on: 25/01/2013
Triple-S reviewed policies, strategies, and guidelines of 11 development partner organisations using the QDA approach in order to identify whether organisations’ rural water policies and practices are in line with the building blocks for sustainable service delivery .
The more recent review of practice documents discovered that little attention is placed on life-cycle costs and asset management. “This finding is telling in light of the consistently high levels of system failure in rural water supply reported to be in the range of 30 to 40% from many different country contexts. The identification of costs and the related need for financing is a critical aspect of ensuring that water services can be kept running indefinitely”, reports Triple-S. On the other hand, findings also show that other building blocks for sustainable service delivery are represented in the practice documents of both funding and implementing development partners, including: learning and knowledge management, sector collaboration, and professionalisation and community management.
The initial review of policy documents, which was conducted in 2011, assessed development partners’ policy documents originating in or around 2008-2009. Examination of these documents complements findings from the practice document review, indicating that insufficient planning is conducted for covering life-cycle costs of services.
Triple-S’ QDA is a way to assess whether the rural water sector is moving from building systems towards a service delivery approach, while also identifying gaps between policy and practice. The first phase of the QDA consisted of a policy document review, while the second phase focused on practice documents. Results from both phases are now available.
Documents included in the QDA were sourced from the African Development Bank (AfDB), AusAID, Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), DANIDA, Department for International Development (DFID), Engineers without Borders Canada (EWB Canada), the European Union, Living Water International, WaterAid Uganda, Water for People and UNICEF.
22 January 2012
