CWSA & Triple S Develop Strategies To Sustain Water, Sanitation Facilities

Emmanuel Gaze, Director Technical Services - CWSA

By Patrick Baidoo

The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and Sustaining Services at Scale (Triple S) have held a reflection workshop with its stakeholders to strategize on how best to monitor the functionality of water and sanitation (WASH) facilities to ensure their sustainability.

CWSA is the government agency responsible for facilitating and regulating rural water and sanitation services in rural and peri-urban communities, while Triple S Project is an initiative of IRC International - Netherlands with a mandate to address problems confronting rural water supply hence the adopting of these approaches: creating condition for piloting, pilot and documentation and ensuring systematic changes from citizen participation (community ownership) to local government machinery (adoption of best practices in policy)before scaling up to achieve results.

The function was on the theme, “Sustaining Water Service Delivery: Innovations and Partnerships for Scaling Up” and aimed at presenting the outcome of some field pilot studies and how they have impacted in the implementation of programs on the sustainability of water and sanitation services delivery in selected districts and how best to replicate the best practices across the country.

Participants were also informed on experiences of monitoring water services and how results from the studies are informing remedial actions to improve on water services at the community level, status of developing interventions on sustainable water services, measures of institutionalization, asset management and the introduction of technology  to quickly report on functionality, breakdown and servicing of water facilities.

Thus in a statement to open the workshop, Chief Executive of CWSA, Clement Bugasse that it was a pity to see that investment in the WASH sector was not managed sustainably to deliver the critical service for which it is intended to provide.

Hence, in addressing the situation his outfit had adopted and endorsed the Service Delivery Approach (SDA) which consists of innovative planning processes and products that would contribute to the realization of indefinite sustainable water services for them to last.

“We at CWSA believe strongly that the successful uptake and institutionalization of the service delivery approach in the WASH sub-sector is what will make the investment of time and money into the sector meaningful and fruitful.

The objective of SDA is to develop practical solutions and generate evidence through action research and dialogue especially with you, to support informed decisions that we make and enforce collectively as a sub-sector to chart a common path for the sustainable delivery of WASH services.

Mr. Bugasse entreated the stakeholders to uphold and implement the outcome of the discourse on the sustainability challenge because it was indeed beginning to reflect in policy and practice “and you as an active sector player cannot be left behind.”

CWSA has officially endorsed adoption of the Service Delivery Approach as a means to end the sustainability canker that has plagued the sector and denied the country the full benefits of sustainable WASH services that has threatened continuously the national aspiration of attaining universal coverage by 2025.

According to the CEO, CWSA has triggered or initiated processes to translate this approach in sector operational documents to reflect sector standards, code of practice and guidelines.

Adoption of SDA Approach

In March 2012 a Community Water and Sanitation legislative instrument L.I. 2007 was passed, providing a legislative and administrative framework for ensuring the Service Delivery Approach (SDA) as the operating framework for the rural water sub-sector. It is now the law. I will encourage you let us build harmony around it as we press on our way forward as partners in development to fulfil our obligations to God and Country.

Today we are here to solicit your commitment and involvement in taking cognizance of the fact that the success of this process would be incomplete without you.

As we deliberate on the emerging issues from the fall out of this approach and agree on the way forward, let us reflect on the long term vision for sustainable service delivery.

Recommendations

Leadership, recording keeping, funds mobilization, retention of staff, adherence to financial management rules, and monitoring as well as compliance / gazetting facility model bye laws, norms and standards were critical tenets to move the sector forward.