Knowledge and Capacity DevelopmentA case study of the Water and Sanitation Sub-Sector in Uganda

Presenter: Caroline Murungi

30th May 2013

Content:

1) Introductory Information

a) Background informationb) Institutional arrangement of the

water sector in Uganda

2) Research methodology

3) Knowledge creation and transfer with focus on;

a) Functionality of the sectorb) How is K & CD organized andc) Challenges encountered

4) Leadership in the sector

a) Step by step guide in Actor Assessmentb) Application of AAMc) Overall analysis of actors' contribution

5) Lessons learnt, Innovations, study limitations & conclusions

6) Proposition providing basis for discussion based on the findings

Background Information

Location, land area, water resources & popn size

• Uganda is a landlocked country located in East Africa bordered to the: North by Sudan, East by Kenya, South by Tanzania, Southwest by Rwanda and

West by the Democratic Republic of Congo

• Uganda has a total area of 241,550.7 square kilometres

Open water and swamps cover 41,743.2

sq. kms.

Land area is 199,807.4 sq. kms

• Uganda’ s fresh open water resources cover a total of 17.3% of the total Uganda’s surface area (MWE, 2012)

• Uganda has a population of 34 million people.5.01million (14.7%) - urban areas and

29.09 million, (85.3%) - rural areas. (MWE, 2012)

Map of Uganda

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/uganda-map.htmSource:

NGOs

Institutional Arrangement for the Water and Environment Sector

MoLG MoEMD MoTI MAAF MWE MoES MoFPED MoH MoGLSD

Parastatal organizations:- NEMA-NWSC- NFA

Water Policy Committee:- MWE - MoEMD-NEMA - MoLG-MAAIF - NWSC- MoTI

DWRM DEADWD

Decentralized Regional Facilitation-Technical Support Units (TSUs)-Umbrella Organizations (UOs)-Water Management Zones (WMZs)-Water and Sanitation Development Facility (WSDF)

District Local Government:-District Water Office (DWO)-District Environment Officer(DEO)-District Forestry Office (DFO)-District Directorate of Health Services (DDHS)-District Education Office (DEO)

Community Based Organizations (CBOs)

-Catchment- based Management Organizations (CMOs)-Water User Associations (WUAs)-District Water and Sanitation Coordination Committees (DWSCCs)

Overall coordination between government, Dev't partners and NGOs

Contractors and consultants providing services at national, regional and community levels

Represented nationally by UWASNET

Private Sector

WESWG

Sub- groups-ENR-WSS

National level:

-Monitoring and Assessment-Planning and Regulation -Advise and Facilitation -Laws and Policies -Quality assurance and guidance-Capacity development -Financial assistance and funding

Regional level:

-Monitoring and Assessment-Planning and Regulation -Advise and Facilitation -Quality assurance and guidance-Capacity development -Financial assistance and funding

Community level:

-Coordination of mgt and Dev't activities-Implementation of infrastructure, projects and progs-Operation and Maintenance-Community mobilization and stakeholder participation -Communications and awareness raising

AccountabilityAdvice and facilitation

- Urban water supply and sanitation - Rural water supply and sanitation

- Water for production

Identify ways in which the national water sector is functioning

Identify how the generation and transfer of knowledge and capacity is

organized

Identify who feels responsible for , and is taking the lead in K

& CD

Supported with the Actor Assessment Matrix & Circle of influence Graphics Tools

Research methodology & research objectives

Semi-structured interviews &

literature review

Semi-structured interviews, FGD

& literature review

Semi-structured interviews, FGD

& literature review

Actor Assessment Matrix Tool

Actor Interest R’ces Importance Engagement in CD

overallScore

List of resource s

score How the actor is involved in CD

score

UndecidedSu

ppor

t Resistance

Act

or B

, FA

ctor

D

Circle of Influence Graphics Tool

1.

2.

3.

Functionality & performance of the sector

Indicator Achievements Targets

10/11 11/12 12/13

Access- % of people within 1 km (rural) and 0.2 km (urban) of an improved water source

Rural 65% 64% 66%

Urban 66% 69% 69%

Sanitation- % of people with access to improved sanitation (households)

Rural 69.8% 69.6% 73%

Urban 81% 81% 82%

Sanitation- pupil to latrine/toilet stance ratio-schools66:1 69:1 50:1

Aspects Urban (large towns)

Small towns (municipalities & town councils)

Rural Growth centres (popn. btn 1,500- 5,000)

Rural areas (communities/villages popn. Up to 1,500)

Water Policy formulation Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE)

Service provision NWSC MWE/LG- through PWO MWE/LG- through PWO MWE/LG- WUC

C D initiatives NWSC MWE/WSDFs, APWO, NGOs MWE/ WSDFs & NGOs TSUs, UOs, ATC NGOs

Sanitation Policy formulation Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE)

Service provision NWSC- sewerage, MoH (hh), MoES (primary Schools)

MWE, MoES, MoH MWE, MoES, MoH MoH, MoES

CD initiatives NWSC MWE-WSDFs MWE- WSDFs NGOs

MoH × MoH × MoH × MoH ×

MoES ?? MoES ? ? MoES ?? MoES ??

Knowledge Creation & Transfer - MWE

• In the sector, whenever new districts are created, the MWE takes the lead to provide staff and equipment to facilitation provision of water mgt services- enabling env’t

• Training progs. to DWO in information mgt and sharing to update the Water Atlas database.

• Introduction of institutional structures at regional level to facilitate implementation of WATSAN services

a) TSUs provide CD to local Gov’t staff (DWO, CDO) in rural areas in terms of :

– Technical support in construction of water schemes

– Preparation of work plans– Budgeting on allocation of resources– Guidance on priority and implementation of

activities– Supervision and monitoring

b) With the use of training manuals and handbooks -UOs provide trainings to water boards in areas of:

- water scheme sustainability

- record keeping

- conflict management

- customer care

c) ATC undertakes innovative applied research in appropriate technologies for water and sanitation- this facilitates knowledge creation & transfer.

To ensure sustainability & promote continued K transfer, ATC offers training programs to sector actors & communities e.g.

- technicians -construction of water schemes,

- district and extension staff – monitoring of technologies

- community members e.g. those providing labour – acquire hand-on-skills

- NGOs -project planning and implementation

Knowledge Creation & Transfer - MWE

Besides, other ways through which K is transferred include;

- Provision of dissemination workshops - Sector stakeholders meet and share information of

lessons learnt & the way forward - Exchange visits where staff members are sent to

identified areas of knowledge in need- Documentation of and sharing of best practices with

sector organizations

• Provision of training programs to PWO in business mgt skills – preparation of business plans and financial management & water management skills- technical aspects & water quality

• MWE developed a one year training program targeting fresh graduates• Students under go on-job training – technical

skills required in the sector

• MWE also organizes tailor –made courses, workshops and on-job training for its staff.

• Support to staff to pursue further studies at master levels and post degree academic qualifications

• Regarding sanitation the MWE-

Use of Community Total Led Sanitation (CTLS-

to build capacity and awareness of communities on the need for improved sanitation services.

With the support from WSP the trains the local masons to provide man power to communities

• Though it feels responsible for sanitation the MoH is not undertaking capacity development initiatives- the major reason behind this – limited funding

Knowledge Creation & Transfer – NETWAS Uganda

Trainings

Demand- driven Trainings

Tailor-made Trainings

Scheduled Trainings

• Local Government staff at District level,

• Community Dev’t Officers and Village Health Teams at

community level

• NETWAS Uganda is an NGO, which begun its operation in 1996. It operates on four pillars:

i) Capacity Development ii) Information and Knowledge Managementiii) Evidence Based Advocacy & iv) Organization and Institutional Development

• To enhance Knowledge Creation & Transfer, NETWAS offers

• Documentation & publication of success stories- NETWAS is in partnership with Plan Uganda on a project focusing on increased access to WATSAN

• NETWAS organizes reflection meetings- these can be inter-district capacity building workshops

• During learning sessions, people are encouraged & also facilitated to document best practices

• NETWAS offers ToT to the LG Staff – e.g. - administering training materials to the LG staff.

Engages staff during trainings on site

• Through partnership activities are done jointly e.g., sharing work plans, writing proposals , implementation, follow up, reporting, etc

• During preparation of learning sessions, NETWAS consults district stakeholders to choose themes for discussion

Knowledge Creation & Transfer – NETWAS Uganda

To enhance knowledge and capacity dev’t for its own staff; NETWAS organizes the ff. programmes:

• On-job training which involves mentoring

• Involving program officers in participatory learning

• Development of training manuals and management of database

• Orientation progs for new staff on how the manuals developed, used, documentation of progress reports etc

• Depending on capacity needs assessment- NETWAS chooses and facilitates themes to sensitize communities

• The application of Community Score Cards to assess performance & identify gaps

• Annually, NETWAS organizes a 2-3 days learning forum where different actors from MWE, MoH, MoES and private sector involvement

• At the community level, NETWAS provides training to WUC & VHT to manage community established structures and promote sanitation and hygiene.

• At District level NETWAS offers trainings to DWO & DHI to equip them with monitoring, evaluation and sanitation marketing approaches.

Knowledge Creation & Transfer- APWO

• APWO promotes CD through provision of training progs. and advise to private operators on technical aspects and service standards.

• With the use of training manuals, APWO undertakes the following activities to facilitate knowledge creation and transfer;

a) Participatory Adult Learning Approaches

- where operators are engaged in trainings

‘how do you do it at your station’ – As a results experiences are shared and lessons are learnt

b) With the support of Vitens Evides Int. , European Union, GIZ & NWSC, assess management trainings are provided to private operators to equip them with skills on asset operation and maintenance with emphasis on : -

‘what to do, when, how and by whom’

• APWO encourages participatory development of business plans among water companies.

this arrangement enables operators to learn and acquire skills to analyze business related aspects e.g. tariff

structures & other components involved

• Depending on the capacity needs assessment, APWO organizes tailor made courses in financial mgt e.g.

Such courses may target cashiers to equip

them with skills – book keeping & related accounting

Procedures

• Together with financial support from AQUAYA –an NGO, APWO offers training programs to private operators on water quality focusing on water safety and promotion of hygiene.

• Under the GIZ funded WAVE programme, training courses covering the areas of Customer Care and Commercial Orientation (CCO) and Non Revenue Water (NRW) have been conducted.

• More recently other training courses have been conducted in the areas of Water Integrity, Sanitation Marketing and Management Development.

Following the decentralization policy (1994), PWO came on board –to manage water schemes in small towns. To consolidate & coordinate the activities of the private operators, - the APWO was formed

Factors hindering capacity development

Among the capacity development challenges identified, include the following:

MWE• The lack of coordination within the sector, has not given

room to organizations providing capacity dev’t to know ‘what has been done for whom, how and by whom’- duplication of efforts and wastage of resources.

• The lack of formalized links with the water sector organisations limits the academic institutions  to explore the skills required by the sector and thus design courses that address actual sector requirements.  -More theoretical skills

• In some of the technical institutions, the teachers - inadequate capacity as the majority of them stem from the communities where the technical institutions are located – global outlook becomes very limited and grossly inhibits CD

Some technical institutions lack the capacity to deliver well-equipped graduates.

• Extensive abuse of capacity development and training initiatives. Most staff  seem to view training and capacity building as an additional source of income.

• Cross-cutting and cross-sectoral issues are also a challenge to capacity development

• Sub-division of districts – fragments capacity and knowledge developed

• Limited resources and tools to transfer knowledge acquired inhibits capacity development

• Lack of interest and willingness from subordinates to learn & staff turn over

• Bureaucracy, corruption, political interference inadequate exemplary leadership & lack of incetives

NETWAS• Projects time frames limits possibilities to follow-up and

assess the impact of knowledge transferred- limits identification of CD gaps

APWO• Lack of standardized training materials. Each time trainings

are to be conducted- new manual are developed

• Lack of permanent to offer CD trainings- this calls for outsourcing – becomes expensive

UOs• Poor storage of materials & poor reading culture

MWE, NETWAS, NWSC & APWO• lack of defined mechanisms for follow up to assess the extent

of knowledge use

Leadership in the Sector

Actor's Interest was assessed on a three point scale;

Supportive +1

Undecided 0

Opposing -1

Actor's resources were assessed on a three point scale;

High resources 3

Medium 2

low 1

Actor's level of attachment to the importance of CD and thus

engagement was also assessed on a three point scale;

High Importance & engagement 3

Medium 2

Low 1

Source: European Commission 2009 - Toolkit for Capacity Development

To analyze actors’contribution to K & CD, three aspects were

considered; i.e.

Actor’s Interest

Actor’s resources

Actor’ s engagement in

CD processes

Step by step guide in Actors' Assessment

Leadership in the Sector- UWASNET, ULGA & MWE Assessment

Actors Interest Resources Importance and thus level of engagement Score

MWE (JPF) +1 High financial support,Enabling environment,Power/Authority andPolicy development

3 Implementation through SWAp,technical support & guidance,monitoring and supervision

3 9

DANIDA +1 High financial support,Power/authority

2 Technical support and guidance, implementation, high engagement in CSOs work and monitoring

3 6

Water Aid +1 Moderate financial supportPartnership/networking

2 CD of members through Working Groups and other foras, Monitoring to through Good Governance WG and other joint programmes, Direct implementation with other members

2 4

Dutch Wash Alliance +1 Financial Support and networking 2 Direct implementation with members in the Rwenzori, Northern and Central

regions

2 4

SNV +1 Technical support and networking 2 Mentoring/ coaching while giving technical support and implementation of CD programmes

2 4

GIZ +1 Financial support (medium), technical support and guidance

2 Implementation, technical support and guidance through the development partners

2 4

HorizonT3000 +1 Technical support 1 Provision of technical advisors to the members- currently there is one technical staff at UWASNET secretariat

1 1

Leadership in the Sector- NETWAS, NWSC & APWO Assessment

Actors Interest Resources Importance and thus level of engagement Score

EU +1 Financial resources 1.5 Supervision through the partners with whom the funds are entrusted

1 1.5

In Went Capacity Building International (GIZ)

+1 Human resources being high and High financial resources, Authority/power

2.5 Implementation and monitoring 3 7.5

Vitens Evides/NWSC +1 Human and financial resources 2 Implementation 2 4

AQUAYA +1 Moderate financial resources 1 Implementation 1 1

Dutch WASH Allinace-DWA

+1 High Financial resources and human resources are a priority as well

2 Implementation. However, not strong in monitoring and evaluation.

2 4

Water Aid +1 Moderate financial resources, Power /authority

2 Implementation and supervision 2 4

Transparency International

0 Low financial resources 1 Implementation 1 0

MWE +1 Human resources being high and High financial resources, Authority/power to develop policies

3 Implementation, Supervision and monitoring

3 9

Plan Uganda +1 Moderate financial resources and High human resources

2 Implementation and monitoring 2 4

Danida +1 High financial resources, low human resource and power

2 Implementation and monitoring

2 4

Leadership in the Sector- Overall Analysis

Local Government

World Bank

Austria

MWE

DANIDA

EU

GIZ

Vitens Evides Int./NWSC

AQUAYA

DWA

Water Aid

Transparency Int.

Plan Uganda

ADC

ADB

JICA

UNICEF

SNV

Horizon T3000

NETWAS

UWA

EC

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

TSU

UO

ATC

NETWAS

APWO

MWE

ULGA

UWASNET

Cummulative scores

Iden

tifi

ed a

ctor

s

Assessment of Actors' contribution towards Capacity Develop-ment

The provision of: human and financial resources,

setting up structural arrangements, policy development,

power to influence policy development in favor of CD and mobilization of resources through networking , have given the MWE

the ability to support CD development initiatives not only for itself, but also for

other organizations.

MWE is also involved in CD processes through;

provision of training programs, implementation, supervision, monitoring and evaluation, policy guidance and provision of

technical support.

Lessons learnt , innovations & study limitations

Lessons learnt• Much as water and sanitation aspects are combined, it is

seen that sanitation has limited attention compared to water- most institutional setups with related activities seem to address water issues

• The lack of coordination among the three ministries responsible for sanitation- a contribution to limited CD on sanitation

• The limited attention to sanitation- cld also be related to lack of defined leadership- MoU states responsibilities but doesn’t provide mandate

• The factor of duplication of efforts stems from limited coordination -(failure/limited directive by the government on CD interventions –

service providers & donors ) &

also failure of donors to coordinate their interventions

• Since there is no coordination mechanism, it is difficult to know who has provided what to which sector organisations – thus leaving questions on financial flows & accountability

• Sustainability of CD initiatives remains a big challenge since most activities are donor based & as such are within specific time frames.

Innovations• The MWE recently developed a Sector Capacity

Development Strategy (SCD), with the support of development partners:

– to improve coordination among sector organisations, – standardization of training materials and – harmonization of training methodologies

• NWSC  with the support from GIZ has initiated the development of a vocational training facility to offer both theory and practical skills to:

plumbers,

staff dealing with water quality,

customer care advisors and

electro-mechanical engineers.  

To facilitate knowledge creation and transfer, a vocational skills development action plan, training modules and training materials are being developed.

Limitations:

• The application of the AAM tool, has limited options to assess the actors’ contribution i.e. 1-3 – limits analyzing the actual extent of contribution

• There was limited repeated analysis of actors; therefore the assessment might not be precise enough, but gives an overview of the situation

Conclusion & recommendationConclusion:

In conclusion, considering the functionality, knowledge creation and transfer, and leadership: it is clear that institutional arrangements are in place to facilitate learning in the sector roles and responsibilities for sector institutions are clearly defined & distinct and directed efforts are being taken to strengthen the knowledge and capacity base.

From the analysis; it is also clear that :

MWE has come out as the undisputed leader in CD for the water sector

However; major challenges remain. They include;

1. the lack of formal mechanisms to assess the:

a) application of acquired knowledge &

b) extent to which specific modes KC & T have contributed to performance

2. lack of coordination and oversight over CD providers, CD target groups and CD activities

3. lack of involvement of line ministries responsible for sanitation

4. limited coordination between higher education institutions and sector organisations

Recommendation: • Concerned stakeholders convene and set up mechanisms to develop approaches to coordinate CD activities &

build up monitoring and evaluation tools to assess post-training activities.

• The relationship between government and the :- water sector organisations on one hand;

higher education system on the other hand

should be strengthened –provide relevant tertiary education & academic output

Proposition:

Limited coordination to direct capacity development initiatives at different levels, coupled with lack of formal mechanisms to assess the extent of knowledge use and the extent to which specific ways of knowledge transfer contribute to performance, have strained the success of capacity development initiatives.

WHAT IS ????

Thank you for your attention

Contact details:Name: Caroline Murungi

Function:ResearcherOrganisation: UNESCO-IHE

E-mail: murungicarol@gmail.com