Sector stakeholders are increasingly using sustainability tools. Two webinars in March drew on research conducted as part of Triple-S and generated discussion on areas for improvement.
Published on: 08/04/2014
Sector stakeholders are increasingly using tools to plan, monitor and assess the sustainability of their interventions or investments. This marks an important transition from a focus on building physical systems towards providing permanent services. But how do these tools contribute to strengthening government and improving service delivery?
In March, SustainableWASH.org and the Rural Water Supply Network hosted two webinars in collaboration with Aguaconsult, IRC, Triple-S, Global Water Challenge and WASH Advocates. The webinars aimed to share lessons and encourage discussion on the results of research on sustainability-related tools carried out by Aguaconsult as part of Triple-S.
In the first webinar, Julia Boulenouar of Aguaconsult shared findings from the sustainability tools mapping and highlighted three issues:
Two tools covered in the mapping study and intended as comprehensive measures of sustainability were then presented. Matteus Van der Velden described UNICEF's sustainability check and its application in Mozambique.
The sustainability check was designed to be used by independent auditors to assess the sustainability of Mozambique's WASH facilities and make recommendations to programme managers.
Agnes Montangero and Heather Skilling presented the AGUASAN Sustainability Assessment Tool, which has been used in Kosovo, Haiti, Nepal, Mali. Sustainability is assessed in six areas: Social, Economic, Environmental, Institutional, Technological, and Knowledge.
In the second webinar Ryan Schweitzer of Aguaconsult presented key findings from the sustainability tools survey. Then the Technology Applicability Framework (TAF) and MAPAS were introduced. Presenters reflected on the potential of these tools in supporting country-led monitoring and performance improvement efforts.
André Olschewski presented the technology applicability framework (TAF), which uses technology as the entry point for assessing sustainability risks. It is implemented through a participatory process and can be used as a decision support tool for technology selection, but also for monitoring or project management.
A guide on the technology introduction process (TIP) complements the TAF. Both TAF and TIP are available as open source tools on www.washtechnologies.net.
Antonio Rodríguez Serrano of the World Bank Water and Sanitation Program presented MAPAS, a tool used for monitoring countries' progress in water supply and sanitation. MAPAS is linked to the country status overviews (CSOs) and service delivery assessments. It consists of a scorecard tool used to assess the sector and a process to identify financing gaps. The financing roadmap' helps track what has been spent, how and what the results are- overall and per sub sector.
MAPAS is being used in Salvador, Honduras and Panama to improve sector performance and eventually service delivery. Other countries in the region are interested in joining to establish an online regional monitoring platform.
Ryan Schweitzer of Aguaconsult asked both presenters how the tools might complement each other and be integrated and support monitoring efforts by governments.
According to Olschewski: "A common feature is that the tools trigger discussion and exchange of experience between actors when they are using the tools. This is very fruitful. TAF and TIP are complementary tools. TAF could be of added value in MAPAS, for example in examining how to improve the supply chain for a particular technology in a region, or TAF could be used for monitoring in one of the nine building blocks examined in MAPAS".
Rodríguez Serrano explained: "One way of supporting government is to align the assessment of MAPAS with government cycles. For example by presenting sector performance at the start and end of a new government term."
In Ghana, Burkina Faso and Uganda steps have been taken to integrate TAF into national procedures and sector processes related to technology implementation.
The mapping and webinars highlighted the need for further discussion on how sustainability tools used in projects can be integrated into broader sector processes and help build the ability of local stakeholders to fulfil their roles. Another question surfaced was the next steps needed to improve sustainability of sanitation.
