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Review of Community-Managed Water Supply—Factors Affecting Its Long-Term Sustainability. WATER 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/w14142209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Although water is considered a human right, rural communities in many countries face challenges related to the lack of a safe water supply. In rural areas, where there is no access to public or private water supply, populations have no other choice than to rely on other unsafe sources of water. Community-managed water supply (CMWS) has emerged as an alternative to address the lack of access to safe water. Nonetheless, this alternative has several critical characteristics that harm the sustainability of water supplies. Studies on sustainability and the long-term impact of the CMWS were explored through a review of recent literature using Scopus and Web of Science databases, which analyzed 86 papers reporting on research into the sustainability and efficiency of water supply systems managed and operated by local communities, as well as the long-term critical factors that can interfere with the functionality of these systems. Based on the critical factors most cited in the literature, we proposed a framework of strategies that interrelate and integrate the critical factors into levels of responsibility. The most critical factors are related to the community level, such as inadequate capacity and ineffective systems. This demonstrates the relevance of local characteristics in the implementation of water management systems. The most cited sustainability strategies refer to the local level as the one requiring action to promote effective community involvement and post-construction support. The framework helps to conceptualize what we called an enabling environment for decision-making, and thus, the achievement of the long-term sustainability of water supply.
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Assessing the Climate Resilience of Community-Managed Water Supplies in Ethiopia and Nepal. WATER 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/w14081293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the resilience of water supplies to climate change is becoming an urgent priority to ensure health targets are met. Addressing systemic issues and building the resilience of community-managed supplies, which serve millions of people in rural LMIC settings, will be critical to improve access to safe drinking water. The How Tough is WASH (HTIW) framework to assess resilience was applied to community-managed water supplies in Ethiopia and Nepal to assess the effectiveness of this framework in field conditions. The resilience of these water supplies was measured along six domains—the environment, infrastructure, management, institutional support, community governance and supply chains—that can affect how they respond to climate change effects. We found that the HTIW framework provided an objective measure of resilience and could be used to rank water supplies in order of priority for action. We also found that systemic issues could be identified. The tools and methods used in the framework were easy to deploy by field research teams. The water supplies studied in Ethiopia and Nepal had low to moderate resilience to climate change. Service management and institutional support were weak in both countries. The data from Ethiopia and Nepal suggests that many water supplies in rural and small-town communities are unlikely to be resilient to future climate change without increased investment and support. The use of simple frameworks such as HTIW will be important in supporting decisions around such investments by identifying priority communities and actions.
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Cord C, Javernick-Will A, Buhungiro E, Harvey A, Jordan E, Lockwood H, Linden K. Pathways to consumer demand and payment for professional rural water infrastructure maintenance across low-income contexts. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 815:152906. [PMID: 34998778 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2021] [Revised: 12/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/31/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Systems for regular, preventive maintenance of infrastructure are needed to ensure safe water access globally. Emerging and growing across rural sub-Saharan Africa, professionalized maintenance arrangements feature legal, regulated service providers who maintain infrastructure in exchange for consumer payment through contracts. However, little is understood about the conditions that enable service providers to retain consumer contracts, an important component of their sustainability that indicates consistent demand and payment. This paper uses fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis to identify combinations of operational, natural, physical, political, and social conditions enabling high contract retention across 22 implementation cases in Uganda, uncovering 2 pathways to success. In both pathways, consistent expansion by the service provider normalizes concepts such as tariff payment and local government participation increases trust and accountability between the service provider and consumers. The predominant pathway features one additional condition, coordinated sector aid, ensuring consistent implementation and mitigating harmful dependencies. The alternative pathway relies on large user communities and ease of access to those communities to counteract uncoordinated aid. Thus, operational, social, and political conditions may be sufficient to enable high contract retention irrespective of natural and physical conditions. This paper uncovers the combined efforts required of service providers, service authorities, international donors, and local aid actors to ensure the sustainable maintenance of rural water infrastructure for reliable safe water access.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caleb Cord
- Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, UCB 428, Boulder, CO 80309-0428, USA.
| | - Amy Javernick-Will
- Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, UCB 428, Boulder, CO 80309-0428, USA.
| | | | - Adam Harvey
- Whave Solutions, P.O. Box 72305, Clock Tower Post Office, Kampala, Uganda.
| | | | - Harold Lockwood
- Aguaconsult, 4 Pearl Walk, Cooks Shipyard, Wivenhoe, Colchester CO7 9GS, United Kingdom.
| | - Karl Linden
- Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, UCB 428, Boulder, CO 80309-0428, USA.
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Nelson S, Drabarek D, Jenkins A, Negin J, Abimbola S. How community participation in water and sanitation interventions impacts human health, WASH infrastructure and service longevity in low-income and middle-income countries: a realist review. BMJ Open 2021; 11:e053320. [PMID: 34857572 PMCID: PMC8640661 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To understand how, and under what circumstances community participation in water and sanitation interventions impacts the availability of safe water and sanitation, a change in health status or behaviour and the longevity of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) resources and services. DESIGN Realist review. DATA SOURCES PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases were used to identify papers from low-income and middle-income countries from 2010 to 2020. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES Criteria were developed for papers to be included. The contribution of each paper was assessed based on its relevance and rigour (eg, can it contribute to context, mechanism or outcome, and is the method used to generate that information credible). ANALYSIS Inductive and deductive coding was used to generate context-mechanism-outcome configurations. RESULTS 73 studies conducted in 29 countries were included. We identified five mechanisms that explained the availability, change and longevity outcomes: (1) accountability (policies and procedures to hold communities responsible for their actions and outcomes of an intervention), (2) diffusion (spread of an idea or behaviour by innovators over time through communication among members of a community), (3) market (the interplay between demand and supply of a WASH service or resource), (4) ownership (a sense of possession and control of the WASH service or resource) and (5) shame (a feeling of disgust in one's behaviour or actions). Contextual elements identified included community leadership and communication, technical skills and knowledge, resource access and dependency, committee activity such as the rules and management plans, location and the level of community participation. CONCLUSIONS The findings highlight five key mechanisms impacted by 19 contextual factors that explain the outcomes of community water and sanitation interventions. Policymakers, programme implementers and institutions should consider community dynamics, location, resources, committee activity and practices and nature of community participation, before introducing community water and sanitation interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Nelson
- School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Dorothy Drabarek
- School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Aaron Jenkins
- School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- School of Science, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Joel Negin
- School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Seye Abimbola
- School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Sanitation Upgrading as Climate Action: Lessons for Local Government from a Community Informal Settlement Project in Cape Town. SUSTAINABILITY 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/su13158598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
In light of the increasing call for climate action, there is a growing body of literature studying the ways in which informal settlements in the Global South are adapting to the impacts of climate change. In these particularly vulnerable communities where the existing infrastructural vulnerabilities faced by residents are exacerbated by the hazards of climate change, multi-level approaches involving more inclusive forms of governance are needed for the implementation of climate action. Drawing from the case of a sanitation upgrading project in the informal settlement of Murray, located in Philippi, Cape Town, this paper adds to current understandings of multi-level rapid climate action in informal settlements by endeavouring to address two gaps in this body of literature. Firstly, this paper demonstrates a link between climate change and sanitation which has received little attention by showing that improving sanitation infrastructure makes communities more resilient to extreme weather events associated with climate change. Secondly, the paper addresses how and by whom rapid climate action can be implemented in complex socio-institutional contexts such as informal settlements where the impacts of climate change are felt particularly strongly. This paper identifies what enabled and constrained climate action in the Murray informal settlement in an attempt to provide lessons for local government from the case of the sanitation upgrading project. Bottom-up initiation of multi-level climate action is dependent on fragile partnerships which require the support and involvement of a skilled and dedicated local government. Nevertheless, co-operative and transparent engagements across levels hold the potential to contribute to transformative adaptation through the establishment of new partnerships and forms of governance which recognise community groups as legitimate stakeholders and acknowledge the importance of lived experiences and mentalities.
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Integrated Assessment—How Does It Help Unpack Water Access by Marginalized Farmers? WATER 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/w12123444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Water is critical to the lives and livelihoods of rural communities in developing countries; however, access to water can be inequitable within communities. This paper uses a generalized integrated assessment approach to explore the determinants of water access by marginalized farmers in two villages in coastal Bangladesh, before and after the setup of local water institutions. The study was part of a broader project aimed at promoting socially inclusive agricultural intensification. An integrative framework was developed in this study to capture and link the diverse range of factors that influence the distribution of water, including the often-overlooked role of social dynamics and governance arrangements. While interventions around improving water resource infrastructure can be critical for freshwater availability, the case studies show that a breakdown of asymmetric power structures may also be needed for water access to all individuals, especially marginalized groups. Establishing a community-based water institution on its own does not necessarily address power issues in a community. It is imperative that the agency and capacities of the marginalized members are developed and that the institutional arrangements foster an enabling environment for marginalized members to influence decision making. Integrated assessment allowed the case studies to be explored from multiple perspectives so as to gain a greater understanding of the barriers and levers to obtaining equitable outcomes from water interventions.
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Overview of 12 Years of Special Rapporteurs on the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation: Looking Forward to Future Challenges. WATER 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/w12092598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The year 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of the United Nations (UN) resolution that recognized the human rights to water and sanitation (HRtWS), and is the last year of the second mandate of the Special Rapporteurs (SRs), spanning 12 years in total. This paper discusses the challenges in the fulfilment of the rights through the work of the SRs, based on an analysis of the twenty-three country visits, seven follow-up reports, and twenty-two thematic reports elaborated during this time. While policy, regulation and finance receive the most attention from the SRs, the analysis of the follow-up reports show that the SRs’ recommendations alone might not be enough to trigger structural changes at country level. Aspects of accountability, equality and nondiscrimination also stand out in the work of the SRs. Based on the analysis, the last section identifies topics, settings, and groups that require further attention from a human rights perspective including: extraterritorial obligations, including transboundary waters; the UN and the HRtWS; climate change; public provision of water and sanitation services; drinking water quality control and surveillance; rural sanitation; indigenous peoples; sanitation workers; informal settlements; and capacity development.
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Abstract
Water governance has emerged as an important topic in the international arena and is acknowledged to be a crucial factor for adequate and sustained progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6. However, there is not enough clarity about the practical meaning of the term “water governance” and how to work with it. This paper reviews the term’s use, to reveal how the concept is understood, referred to, and implemented in practice by different stakeholders. Based on literature review and consultations with experts, we identify and describe the core components of water governance (functions), describe their potential qualities when performed (attributes), and how they interrelate with the values and aspirations of the different stakeholders to achieve certain outcomes. These different components are described in detail to construct an operational framework to assess and work with water governance, which covers water and sanitation services delivery, water resources management and transboundary waters. This paper’s findings provide practical guidance for decision makers and practitioners on how action-oriented water governance processes can be meaningfully designed, and ultimately, how to strengthen efforts aiming to improve water governance.
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Factors Affecting Consumption of Water from a Newly Introduced Safe Drinking Water System: The Case of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) Systems in Bangladesh. WATER 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/w11122459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Rather than committing exclusively to one drinking water option, households in Bangladesh often use a portfolio of sources that, in varying ways, to varying extents satisfy one or more out of several preferences they hold with regard to their drinking water. What happens if a new option is added to that mix? In communities of Bangladesh’ Southwestern coastal region where a new option (managed aquifer recharge, or MAR) was recently introduced, we observe variation in the extent to which this source contributes to satisfying households’ drinking water needs. Using multiple linear regression (n = 636 households), we found that perceived risk, costs, taste, self-efficacy, and form and intensity of competition with alternative drinking water options matter significantly.
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Setty K, Cronk R, George S, Anderson D, O'Flaherty G, Bartram J. Adapting Translational Research Methods to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2019; 16:E4049. [PMID: 31652610 PMCID: PMC6843932 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16204049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2019] [Revised: 10/04/2019] [Accepted: 10/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Translational research applies scientific techniques to achieve practical outcomes, connecting pure research and pure practice. Many translational research types have arisen since the mid-1900s, reflecting the need to better integrate scientific advancement with policy and practice. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) development efforts have aimed to reduce morbidity and mortality and improve service delivery; thus, associated research has a strong orientation toward applied studies that use diverse methods to support decision-making. Drawing from knowledge that emerged to support other professional fields, such as manufacturing and clinical healthcare, we characterize different types of translational research and clarify nomenclature and principles. We describe study approaches relevant to translational research questions, and offer overarching recommendations, specific examples, and resources for further study as practical advice to professionals who seek to apply translational methods to WaSH problems. To enhance collective outcomes, professionals should mindfully align projects within the translational spectrum. We further recommend overarching good practices such as documenting intervention adaptations, overtly considering contextual factors, and better distinguishing efficacy from effectiveness research by replicating studies in different contexts. By consciously improving the compatibility and linkages between WaSH science and practice, this guide can accelerate urgently needed progress toward global development goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Setty
- The Water Institute at UNC and Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 166 Rosenau Hall, CB #7431 Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7431, USA.
| | - Ryan Cronk
- The Water Institute at UNC and Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 166 Rosenau Hall, CB #7431 Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7431, USA.
| | - Shannan George
- The Water Institute at UNC and Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 166 Rosenau Hall, CB #7431 Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7431, USA.
| | - Darcy Anderson
- The Water Institute at UNC and Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 166 Rosenau Hall, CB #7431 Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7431, USA.
| | - Għanja O'Flaherty
- The Water Institute at UNC and Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 166 Rosenau Hall, CB #7431 Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7431, USA.
| | - Jamie Bartram
- The Water Institute at UNC and Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 166 Rosenau Hall, CB #7431 Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7431, USA.
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