Interna'onaldevelopmentisn’trocketscience:

reflec%onsfromfourdecadesin

waterandsanita%on

1

A6erall…

Inmostplacesthereissufficientwaterforbasichouseholduses

Wehavetechnologiesfor

•  watersourceengineering,watertreatment,

pumpinganddistribu%on

•  sanita'on:containment,treatmentandsafe

disposalofhumanexcreta

•  goodhygieneprac%ces2

Furthermore…

wehaveagoodunderstandingofthe

managementandfinancingapproacheswhichareneededfor

•  monitoringandmanagingwaterresources

•  managingruralandurbanwaterandsanita'onservices

•  cos'ngandpricingnewdevelopments

andcon%nuingservices

3

Water,sanita'onandhygiene(WASH)Thejourneysofar…1980s–theUnitedNa%onsInterna%onalDrinkingWaterSupplyandSanita%onDecade

1990s–SafeWater2000

2005-2015–Seconddecade“Waterforlife”

2000-2015–theMillenniumDevelopmentGoals

2015-2030–theSustainableDevelopmentGoals

1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s

Servicesforall Halvethegap Servicesforall

4

Fourdecadesof(slow)progressindevelopingcountries*

1980(pop3.2bn*)

Water43%served

Sanita'on46%served

1990 2015

91%

76%

W

1990 2015

68%

54%

S

5

1990(pop4.0bn*)

Water75%served

Sanita'on56%served

PercentagesinboxesarefromDecadeEvalua%on,WHO,1991.PercentagesingraphicsarefromJMP,2015Update.

664million-

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030

Lowerlines:popula%onwithout

adequatesanita%on(red)and

withoutsafewater(blue)

Popula'ons'llnotserved

Upperlines:global

popula%onandpopula%onof

less-developedcountries

6

“Served”/“havingaccess”towater"Improved"sourcesofdrinking-water:•  Pipedwaterintodwelling

•  Pipedwatertoyard/plot

•  Publictaporstandpipe

•  Tubewellorborehole

•  Protecteddugwell

•  Protectedspring

•  Rainwater

"Unimproved"sourcesofdrinking-water:•  Unprotectedspring

•  Unprotecteddugwell

•  Cartwithsmalltank/drum

•  Tanker-truck

•  Surfacewater

•  Bodledwater

7

“Served”/“havingaccess”tosanita'on"Improved"sanita'on:•  Flushtoilet

•  Pipedsewersystem

•  Sep%ctank

•  Flush/pourflushtopitlatrine

•  Ven%latedimprovedpitlatrine(VIP)

•  Pitlatrinewithslab

•  Compos%ngtoilet"Unimproved"sanita'on:•  Flush/pourflushtoelsewhere

•  Pitlatrinewithoutslab

•  Bucket

•  Hangingtoiletorhanginglatrine

•  Sharedsanita%on

•  Nofacili%esorbushorfield

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Someoftheassump'ons…•  Animprovedwatersupply

sourceoffersadequate

waterqualityprotec%on

•  Animprovedsanita%on

facilitysafelycontains

humanwaste,removingit

fromtheenvironment

•  Improvedtechnologiesoffer

reliableservices

•  Thosewithimproved

facili%esusethem

consistently

Generally,improvedwatersourcesrankhigherin

termsofmicrobiologicalwaterquality(TTC

counts),buteventhebestsourcesarenoten%rely

safeallthe%mebasedonthismeasureofrisk.

9HavinganimprovedfacilityisaproxyforusingandbenefiZngfromanadequateservice

(Someof)thebadnews…•  35%ofhandpumpsmaybe“down”atanyone%me

(RWSN,2012)

•  many“improved”watersourcesarenotfullysafe

(Bainetal,2014)

•  “slippage”fromopen-defeca%on-freestatusiscommon

(WSSCC,2016)

•  “everyday… severalhundredthousandtonsoffaecalma2erfromeitheropendefaeca5onorcollectedfromon-sitesanita5oninstalla5ons… aredisposedofintotheurbanandperi-urbanenvironment”(StraussandMontangero,nd)

•  achievingandsustainingsignificantlevelsofhygiene

behaviourchangerequiressystema%candsustained

interven%ons

(Schordt,2003)

•  manyna%onalGovernmentsfailtoallocateasufficient

propor%onoftheirna%onalbudgetstoWASH

(GLAAS,2010)

10

Notrocketscience……butinmanywaysmuchharder.

We’redealingnotonlywiththewell-behavedand

predictablephysicalworld…

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Butalso……withthelesswellunderstood,less

predictableworldsofhumanbehaviourinits

individual,social,organisa%onal,economicand

poli%caldimensions

[Kennedy1961,Armstrong1969]–8yearsfrom

poli%calannouncementtomanonthemoon.

12

…andevenrocketscienceletsusdownsome'mes

13

Whydoes(WASH)developmentposesuchintractablechallenges?

Users/consumers/beneficiariesofservicesculture,knowledge,

antudes,demandand

willingnesstoalter

behavioursandprac%ces

Decision-makerscompetence,

commitment,leadershipand

trustworthinessof

Governmentsanddonors

Providersofservicesresources,exper%se,

professionalismand

competenceofpublicsector,

privatesectorandcivil

societyorganisa%ons

“Voicesofthepoor:cananyonehearus?”

“Theshortrouteofaccountability”

“Withouttheresponsibleuseofpower,howcanwedeliver?”

14

“Beneficiaries”–nottobetakenforgrantedWesternKenya(free-of-charge)chlorine

dispensersatpointofwater

collec%on

Biggestchallenges?•  smellandtasteofchlorine

•  associa%onofhealth-linkedinnova%onswithsuspicions

thatsomeformoffamily

planningisbeingfoisted

•  somebreakagesat%mesof

circumcisionceremonies

15

“Beneficiaries”–ac'veagentsanddecision-makersTheexampleofcommunityhealthclubs–asystema%capproachfor

empoweringhouseholds

Principles:

–  educa%onisanecessary(butnotsufficient)requirementforchange

–  belonging,membership,peer-solidarityandrecogni%onhavehighvalue

–  householdlevelchangeisnotonlypossiblebutdemonstrable

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

MasvingoDistrict,

Zimbabwe,

bluebarsbaseline,

redbarsendline

[n=1870households]

16

Assumenothing……abouthow“beneficiaries”willrespond……andneverassumethat“thepoor”aremerelyhelplessandinneedof“aid”

17

Serviceauthori'esandprovidersThoseen%%eswiththemandatetoprovidewater

andsanita%onservices:localGovernmentswith

privatesector,NGOsandcommunity-based

organisa%ons

•  oqendescribedas“weak”•  perceivedashaving“lowcapacity”

•  usuallyseriouslyunder-resourced

18

…andyet……somelocalGovernmentsandsomeoftheir

mandatedserviceprovidersaresucceeding

againsttheodds

19

Assumenothing……aboutthecapacityoflocalorganisa%ons……andneverassumethattheyarehelpless

withoutexternalaid

20

Sufficient

(quan%ty)

Acceptable

(quality)

Reliable Manageable

Affordable

Accessible

Func%onal

Pleasant

(nosmellsor

flies)

Private

(dignified,safe)

Whatdoserviceuserswant?

Watersupply Sanita'on

Power,poli'calwillandgovernanceTheholdingofpoli'calofficeisrarelyaboutpublicservicePolicy,priority-senngandbudgetalloca%onsarerarelyevidence-basedGovernance:“(how)authorityinacountryisexercised… theprocessbywhichgovernmentsareselected,monitoredandreplaced;thecapacityofthegovernmenttoeffec5velyformulateandimplementsoundpolicies;andtherespectofci5zensandthestatefortheins5tu5onsthatgoverneconomicandsocialinterac5onsamongthem”[WorldBank]

Worldwidegovernanceindicators:•  VoiceandAccountability

•  Poli%calStabilityandAbsenceof

Violence

•  GovernmentEffec%veness

•  RegulatoryQuality

•  RuleofLaw

•  ControlofCorrup%on

22

23

hdp://info.worldbank.org/

governance/WGI/#reports

24

ImpressiveprogressinWASHinEthiopia,Rwanda,SenegalandSouthAfrica[hdp://dai-global-developments.com/ar%cles/doubling-access-to-safe-drinking-water-how-four-african-countries-did-it-and-how-others-can-too/]

Access(%)1990 2015

EthiopiaWater 13 57

Sanita%on 3 28

RwandaWater 58 76

Sanita%on 33 62

SenegalWater 60 79

Sanita%on 36 48

SouthAfricaWater 83 93

Sanita%on 51 66

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SowhatamIsaying?

Userbehaviour,organisa%onalcapacityand

resources,andpoli%calwillposemajorchallenges…

…buttherearesomeshininglightsandsignsof

progress.

Whenrealdemandfromwaterandsanita%onusers,

increasedcapacityandresourcesamongservice

providers,andcommidedleadershipfromthetop

coincide,muchispossible.

[…butgoodgovernancemaynotbeagoodpredictorofprogress…]

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Threeparadigmshi6s

1.  Fromtapsandtoiletstowaterand

sanita%onservices[technology,management,finance,enabling

environmentandaccountabilityjoininghands]

2.  Reliabilityandpredictabilityofinvestment[withanappropriatebalancebetweencapitaland

recurrent]

3.  Recogni%onthatuserscannotpaythefullcosts[implica%onsforsubsidies;implica%onsfordonors]

27

Numerousactors,butwho’sthedirector?

Na%onalandlocalGovernments,donorsand

lenders,UNagencies,interna%onalandna%onal

NGOs,privatesector,academicandresearch

partners…

Whois,orshouldbe,incharge?

StevenSpielberg

28

MichaelDowse

UCalgaryAlumnus,

FilmDirector

Parisprinciples

Globallyagreedprinciplesareveryclear–Na%onalGovernmentsarein

charge

Commitmentsto

•  ownership(byna%onalGovernments)

•  alignment(bydonors)

•  harmonisa%on(bydonors)

•  managingforresults(Governmentsanddonors)

•  mutualaccountability(both)

29

Reali'es

•  WeaknessesinGovernmentleadershipand

systems,andthepoli%csofinterna%onalaid

maketheseprincipleschallengingtofollow

•  Manyorganisa%ons(NGOsespecially)work

roundratherthanin

supportofGovernment

leadership,andpromote

themselves

30

Whatshould“we”do?

Weforeignersandoutsiders,

well-meaning,well-educated,

wewho

“…areresolvedtofreethehumanracefromthetyrannyofpovertyand[who]wantandtohealandsecureourplanet.We[who]aredeterminedtotaketheboldandtransforma5vestepswhichareurgentlyneededtoshiLtheworldontoasustainableandresilientpath.… we[who]pledgethatnoonewillbeleLbehind”…?

[UnitedNa%onsTransformingourworld:the2030AgendaforSustainableDevelopment]

31

Do•  Workascloselyaspossible

under,throughandwith

na%onalandlocal

Government

•  Collaborateandharmonise

•  Generatedeepmutual

understandingofuser

behaviours,serviceprovider

constraintsandpoli%cal

economy

•  Promotedemandfor

servicesandpublicand

privatesectoraccountability

32

beunrealis'callydemandingaboutimpactsandevidence

Thesome%messorrytaleofrandomized

controlledtrials(RCTs)…RCTsasthe“goldstandard”ofevidence–adeeplyflawedno%onThedisconnect(some%mes)betweenRCT

researchandimplementa%on

HowRCTscaninterferewithimplementa%on

effec%veness,orfailtorecogniseitsconstraints

Don’t

33

34

DoyouknowaboutanyRCTsthatprovide

evidencethatweshoulduseRCTs?

[withacknowledgmenttoChrisLysy,freshspectrum.com]

Anddon’tjustdothe(rela'vely)easybits

•  thescienceandengineering(therocketscience)•  thecapitalinvestments(theeasymoney)

35

Finalthoughts:insightsfromcomplexitytheory

Complexity:“thestateorqualityofbeingintricateorcomplicated”

(OxfordEnglishDic%onary)

Complexsystems:•  Systems,withsub-systemsatmul%ple

scales

•  Complexinterac%onsandfeedbacks

•  Inherentlyunpredictableoutcomesof

interac%ons

•  Apparentlysimplerulesofengagement

atonelevelmayleadtounexpected

emergentresultsathigherlevels

36

Andso…Ac%ngaccordingtosimplis%cmodelsof

developmentinterven%onsisincreasingly

recognisedasinappropriate

37

38

Instead,ar%culateallassump&onsinordertoplan;act(experiment);measure;learnandadapt,modifynextset

ofac%ons–behumbleandalwayslearning!

Manythanksforlistening!

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