Strengthening Design, Finance and Delivery of Water Supply and Sanitation Programmes under PRSPs

1. Strengthening Design, Finance and Delivery ofWater Supply and Sanitation Programmes under PRSPs Seminar Kampala, 4th February, 2004 ODI/WaterAid presentation

2. Phase I: 2002 • preliminary assessment of extent of incorporation of water (WSS and WRM) under PRSPs in five African countries: Uganda, Zambia, Malawi,Kenya and Madagascar • ie: review of PRSP preparation, both content & process: revealed inconsistent and often weak incorporation of water issues.

3. Phase II: 2003-2004 (until end March) Detailed study of progress of PRSP implementation in three countries, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania, in order to:- a. investigate how resources, allocated to WSS priorities in PRSPs in the region, are converting into expenditure on WSS-related outputs/outcomes; b. recommend how capacity for action by central & decentralised government may be strengthened to deliver on promises made in PRSPs - and how those commitments may be developed - for achievement of water-related poverty reduction outcomes;

4. Phase II: 2003-2004 (continued) c. make recommendations for how external donors may support this effort. - ie: investigation of PRSP implementation and particularly two themes:- (i) finance; (ii) design/delivery of WSS interventions under PRSPs.

5. Scope of WaterAid and ODI Country Studies Expenditure Tracking Zambia PRSP Priorities for WSS Composition of allocations Sustainability of community facilities Malawi Composition of spend Services and facilities provided Targeting of investment and subsidies Tanzania Budget Analysis Zambia + Tanzania Equity of water point distribution Malawi + Uganda Poverty reduction outcomes

6. Summary of Findings from Malawi, Uganda, Zambia and Tanzania Country Studies in Finance and Design/Delivery of WSS interventions

7. Malawi - context • Weak capacity – lack of donor confidence in sector • Funding sources – highly uncoordinated, so tendency for impacts to be much reduced • Current levels of spending are substantial, but no effective means for targeting

8. Malawi - summary of findings 1. Attempts at budgetary and policy reform, in line with the PRSP, have had limited success 2. Insufficient information and lack of systematic sector-wide criteria to guide investments; assessment on a project-by-project basis 3. Consequently lack of planning coherence; difficulty in monitoring spending and evaluating results. 4. User financing of water points is low due to inconsistent community management practices and lack of financial accountability.

9. Malawi– key recommendations • Study has illustrated the utility of “water-point density mapping” to show distribution of resources within districts and sub-districts NB: Use of equity of distribution indicator which measures the variation in the distribution of resources for water development in a given area - as a way of measuring the difference in access to water services between different areas (e.g. in a whole district).

10. Equity of Distribution IndicatorSteps • Water point survey – age, provider, location and condition of improved community water point • Translation of GPS data into maps • Calculating improved community water point density (“ICWP”), based on census statistics of population distribution in area; GPS/GIS database created on number & location of water points • Calculate average density in the area, deviation from mean and equity of distribution

11. Malawi– key recommendations B. Unless there is adequate attention to improving sustainability, investments will continue to be ineffective in reducing poverty NB: Use of sustainability “snapshot” which measures sustainability according to three indicators of sustainability of community water infrastructure: • financial – availability of finance for repairs; • technical skills – access to skills to carry out repairs; • equipment and spare parts – access to and availability the variation in the distribution of resources for water development in a given area.

12. Sustainability Snapshot • Three levels of grading of availability of finance, technical skills and equipment/parts:- • 1: not available when needed; • 2: some availability, but not sufficient; • 3: available for all maintenance & repair needs. • Score each community and its facilities against the above to determine the level of sustainability • Product of interviews with community respondents.

13. Uganda – scope of study • Analysis of planning, monitoring and evaluation systems • Assessment of equity and sustainability - calculation of water point density at sub-country and parish level in sample district.

14. Uganda – summary of findings - I 1. Equity Issues - distribution of water points across the district is uneven - at sub-district level, inequity in distribution of water points increases further • to understand whether WSS objectives are being realised, monitoring and analysis needs to go beyond district-level aggregates - inequity increases rather than decreases over time: poorly served parishes remain unserved ‘more for some, none for some’

15. Uganda – summary of findings - II 2. Sustainability • analysis of sustainability: poor and non-poor are both able to finance O&M, but the poor have less access to technical skills and equipment and spare parts - which may undermine water point sustainability in poorer areas 3. Planning and Monitoring - despite coherent policy and strategy, equity and sustainability remain a concern

16. Uganda – summary of findings - III 4. Indicators of Performance • inadequate: district-level coverage figures do not tell the whole story, and neither do total no. of people served 5. Local Capacity - planning guidelines are not followed because incentives for compliance are weak; - guidelines for community contributions are inconsistently followed, with lack support of local elected leaders; - limited capacity for M&E (information collection and analysis) at district level and inadequate mechanisms for feeding back to national level.

17. Uganda – recommendations A. Adopt the “water-point density mapping” tool (as per Malawi) for planning and monitoring distribution of resources B. Sustainability “snapshot” is a useful means of expanding understanding beyondfunctionality C. Need to develop indicators to measure the performance of districts in planning and management terms.

18. Zambia – scope of study • Resource allocation and flows, decentralisation and poverty reduction • Budgeting process • Estimation of financing requirement to meet MDGs.

19. Zambia – summary of findings - I 1. Delays in Budget Execution - budgeting process has been reformed and is logical, but significant time-lag exists in budget preparation and actual release of funds 2. Impediments to Financial Planning - WSS sector budget heavily dependent on donor funds (up to 80%); combined with lack of systematic criteria for sector allocation, this impedes integrated financial planning 3.Impediments to Monitoring - govt is unable to track overall donor expenditure; therefore is unable to monitor sector performance

20. Zambia – summary of findings - II 4.Roles/Responsibilities Unclear - lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities of the different ministries which are sectoral spending bodies 5. Decentralisation - local government has as yet little input into the preparation of sectoral budgets, and there is currently no effective mechanism for decentralised needs assessment 6. MDG Financing Requirement - using rural population growth estimates, and the water point inventory of 1993-97, the study calculated 1,813 new water points every year to achieve MDG targets; - assuming average costs per borehole, an estimated USD 9 millionper annum is needed to reach rural MDG targets (high, but affordable?).

21. Zambia – recommendations A. Use existing water point inventory as a tool to contribute to district-level planning of sector investments B. Decentralise fiscal control through mechanisms such as conditional grants.

22. Tanzania – summary of findings - I 1.Fragmented Budget - national budget fragmented into line items which reflect individual initiatives negotiated with individual donors outside the planning process: difficult for line ministries to prioritize sector spending in line with PRSP priorities 2.Existing Inequity in Access; Inequitable Investment - access to piped water supply is inequitably distributed across expenditure quintiles; • richer households have better access to piped water supplies than poorer; • donor projects are predominantly for piped systems; • piped water supplies cost 10 times that of protected water supplies; • therefore investment is effectively targeted to richer households including the public subsidy.

23. Tanzania – summary of findings - II 3. Regional Inequities - marked regional disparity in terms of improved water supply coverage, eg. between Lindi (11%) and Kilimanjaro (74%).

24. Tanzania – recommendations - I A.Move towards a Sector-wide approach and General Budget Support - by water sector donors (especially those working in rural water supply) - in order to enable line ministries to restructure budgets in line with PRS priorities - “mould” of a donor-by-donor dynamic can only be broken through GBS which brings the MoF and planners centre-stage B.Develop guidelines for district level investment policy - to direct local authorities to phase investment based on the returns (in terms of number of additional people served per dollar invested) - before investing in boreholes, examine the cheaper option of protecting traditional sources.

25. Tanzania – recommendations - II C.Introduce Formula-based Budgeting Mechanisms - to even out region (and district) disparities - e.g. resources allocated to districts according to number of population who do not have access to clean water and sanitation (as assessed by national surveys) NB: Malawi and Uganda studies show need also to investigate disparities within districts.

26. Tanzania - issues for more research • The livelihood impact of water supply interventions - interface between domestic and productive water supply • Relationship between time spent fetching/carrying water and the reliability of the water point. • Tariff setting, user contributions, livelihoods and impact on sustainability

27. Strengthening Design, Finance and Delivery ofWater Supply and Sanitation Programmes under PRSPs • THANK YOU

28. From PRSP Priorities to resource targeting… EXTERNAL FUNDS - Budget Support - “Project” support GOVERNMENT REVENUES - Tax and non-tax RESOURCE “ENVELOPE” - resource projections - budget guidelines and expenditure limits (MoF) - line ministry expenditure proposals MTEF - 3 years + indicative resource allocation plan PRSP Priorities PRSP Objectives PRSPAction Plan -with costings BUDGET -prepared -appraised -approved Local Govt. Funds release Fundstargeting T Line Agencies PRSP document Budget formulation and execution