Water sector development and governance : complementarities and synergies between sector-wide approach and integrated water resource management.
Date: 2010-09-08
Institutions: EuropeAid Co-operation Office
Subjects: international cooperation, structural policy, water management, water resources

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Water Sector 
Development and Governance:

Complementarities and synergies  

between Sector-Wide Approach  

and Integrated Water Resource  

Management

December 2009

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Reference Document No 7

Water Sector  
Development and Governance:

Complementarities and synergies between 

Sector-Wide Approach and Integrated Water 

Resource Management

December 2009

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R E F E R E N C E   D O C U M E N T   N O   7   —   W A T E R   S E C T O R   D E V E L O P M E N T   A N D   G O V E R N A N C E

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This document is the product of consultations among the actors of the water sector in the course of national and  
regional seminars organised by the DG EuropeAid—European Cooperation Ofﬁce—in several partner countries. 

The whole water sector of the Unit E7 of EuropeAid actively participated in the preparation and drafting of this docu-
ment and in particular Cédric Merel and Benoist Bazin, currently working at the Delegations of the European Union 
to Ghana and Zambia.

The Unit E7 is responsible for this document and its updating which will aim to be, like for this ﬁrst version, as  
consultative as possible. 

This document is a translation into English of the original text in French.

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T A B L E   O F   C O N T E N T S

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abbreviations 

Introduction 

1. The water sector 

1.1. 

1.2. 

The complexity of the sector 

Challenges faced by the sector 

2. Approaches and deﬁnitions 

2.1. 

Integrated water resource management 

2.1.1.  Origin, deﬁnition and principles 

2.1.2. 

IWRM problems and lessons learned 

2.2. 

 The sector-wide approach, the sector programme and the sector policy  
support programme 

2.2.1.  Origin, deﬁnitions and criteria 

2.2.2.  Sector-wide approach and sector programme: lessons learned 

3. Complementarities and synergies between the sector-wide approach and IWRM 

3.1. 

3.2. 

3.3. 

3.4. 

3.5. 

Contribution made by IWRM to sector policy and strategy 

IWRM and the medium-term expenditure framework 

Sector coordination, a common principle 

Performance monitoring system 

Institutional capacity building 

Annexe 1: Drawing up and implementing a roadmap 

1.  

2.  

3.  

4.  

5.  

6.  

Analysis of governance in the water sector 

Raising awareness about a national dialogue 

Dialogue preparation 

Ofﬁcial launch of the dialogue: the ﬁrst stakeholder forum 

Sector diagnoses by working groups 

Annual sector reviews (stakeholder forums) 

Annexe 2: Governance: a stakeholder analysis methodology 

Annexe 3: Arrangements for water supply and sanitation service management 

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R E F E R E N C E   D O C U M E N T   N O   7   —   W A T E R   S E C T O R   D E V E L O P M E N T   A N D   G O V E R N A N C E

ABBREVIATIONS

IWRM

SWAP

MDG

MTEF

NSA

SBS

SP

Integrated Water Resource Management

Sector Wide Approach

Millennium Development Goals

Medium-Term Expenditure Framework

Non-State Actors

Sector Budget Support

Sector Programme

SPSP

Sector Policy Support Programme

The full text of the document can be downloaded from AquaKnow: 
http://www.aquaknow.net/wg/water-sector-development-and-governance

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INTRODUCTION

Over the course of the UN’s “Decade of Water” (1981-
1990), international organisations focused on promot-
ing access to drinking water. The goals set were not 
achieved as a result not only of insufﬁcient investment, 
but also because of a too strong focus on building infra-
structures and a too weak focus on sustainability and 
management.

Experience and careful consideration have shown that, 
although additional ﬁnancial efforts had to be made in 
order to achieve the goal of universal access, it was 
just  as  important  to  take  into  account  matters  such 
as  governance.  This  implies  considering  organisa-
tional arrangements speciﬁc to each individual coun-
try  towards  a  policy  for  water  use  and  management 
focused  on  sustainable  development,  environmental 
protection and socio-economic factors.

Following the International Conference on Water and the 
Environment held in Dublin in January 1992, and over 
the course of the subsequent decade1, principles were 
laid down with a view to ensuring the effective and sus-
tainable management of water resources. An approach 
was  developed  with  this  in  mind:  Integrated  Water 
Resource Management (IWRM).

Later, at the end of the 1990s, at the same time as this 
thematic tool was established, it became clear that it 
was necessary to rethink development aid and deal with 
sectors in their entirety by means of the sector-wide 
approach, as opposed to isolated interventions as part 
of traditional projects. 

The European Commission advocates the use of both 
IWRM and the sector-wide approach for cooperation 
programming and implementation.

After setting out the context of the water sector (Chapter 
1), this paper goes on to explain the principles of IWRM 
and the features of the sector-wide approach (Chapter 
2).  Then,  the  merits  of  integrating  IWRM  principles 
when implementing a sector programme are consid-
ered  (Chapter  3),  with  a  view  to  combining  the  two 

I N T R O D U C T I O N

approaches  with  the  goal  of  better  water  resource 
management. On the basis of this joint contribution, a 
number of possible ways forward are proposed in the 
annexe for the development and implementation of a 
roadmap for the sector in a particular country.

The purpose of this document is to highlight common 
principles and synergies between sector-wide approach 
(SWAP) and Integrated Water Resource Management 
(IWRM) in order to show how these two processes can 
make a joint contribution to the development of the sec-
tor. The aim is not to identify arguments in favour of one 
or the other approach. Nor is this paper intended to set 
out the European Commission’s vision and objectives 
for the sector. Separate guidelines also produced by 
Unit E7 of EuropeAid will focus on these aspects. The 
document is nonbinding and intended as a guidance 
tool for use by European Commission Delegations and 
other partners involved in the water sector.

Although, by deﬁnition, IWRM can involve a geographi-
cal area covering more than one country at river basin 
level, in practice it tends to be developed at sub-basin 
and national level. For its part, the sector-wide approach 
is a country policy. This document will therefore focus 
primarily on national issues. Even though issues relat-
ing to transboundary basins are not the main topic of 
this document, their implications at national level (par-
ticularly as regards institutional and budgetary matters) 
will be considered.

For both approaches (IWRM and SWAP), it may prove 
necessary for practical reasons to focus on sub-sec-
tors (particular uses of water such as irrigation, san-
itation,  etc…)  which  could  particularly  benefit  from 
national ownership and political support. Nevertheless, 
the concepts of sector-wide approach and IWRM will 
continue to be used in this document even in the case 
of sub-sectors.

The integration of the two processes is proposed as 
general guidance; however the approach will have to 
be tailored to countries and sub-sectors peculiarities.

The main conferences were held in Dublin (International Conference on Water and the Environment – 1992), Rio de Janeiro (United 

(1) 
Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Earth Summit – 1992), Bonn (International Conference on Freshwater – 2001) and 
Johannesburg (World Summit on Sustainable Development – 2002). In particular, the Bonn Conference recommended that priority action 
be taken in the following areas: governance, mobilising financial resources, capacity building and sharing knowledge. The content of 
these various declarations was reproduced in the Ministerial Declaration at the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico (2006).
For information, Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishes a framework for 
Community policy in the field of water, the content of which could be a source of inspiration for other regions.
Finally, Communication COM/2002/132 from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament of 12 March 2002 sets out 
the broad lines of the European Commission’s vision of supporting developing countries in the field of water management, as does the 
Council’s response (Resolution 8951/02 – May 2002). Waternet

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R E F E R E N C E   D O C U M E N T   N O   7   —   W A T E R   S E C T O R   D E V E L O P M E N T   A N D   G O V E R N A N C E

CHAPTER 1: THE WATER SECTOR

“Water is a primary human need and water supply and sanitation are basic social services. It is a fundamental eco-
nomic and environmental resource, and is thus a key issue for poverty reduction and sustainable development.” 

(Draft Resolution of the Council of the European Union of 17 May 2002) 

1.1. The complexity of the sector

The distinguishing feature of the water sector as com-
pared to other sectors is its complexity:

The many, and sometimes conﬂicting, uses  
of such a unique natural resource as water

In addition to being used for domestic consumption, 
water  is  required  for  a  number  of  activities,  particu-
larly agriculture and industry. Over the years, the world 
demographic growth and the subsequent increase in 
demand for water lead to greater pressure on water 
resources.

Unlike other natural resources, water can be found both 
at surface level [surface water] and below the surface 
[ground  water]  and  ﬂows  gravitationally.  As  a  result, 
upstream water usage can have a negative impact on 
downstream users.

Careful consideration must be given to the water cycle 
at the level of the river basin in order to guarantee the 
renewal of freshwater supplies, taking into account that 
a river basin can cross national borders.

In the Middle East, where water resources are 
inadequate and unequally distributed, access to 
water is crucial and constitutes a major geopo-
litical challenge. The Jordan River ﬂows through 
Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine and Jordan and 
is of strategic importance in providing these coun-
tries with access to water. Similarly, the ground-
water  in  the  West  Bank  is  a  source  of  tensions 
between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Water: a human right, a public good, an 
economic commodity and a vulnerable 
resource

Water is necessary for life, so having access to it is vital. 
In spite of this, access to water is not currently interna-
tionally recognised as a universal human right, and the 
2009 World Water Forum in Istanbul did not establish a 
consensus on that point2.

Water is a public good and access to it should not be 
restricted or called into question. However, it is also an 
economic  good  which  can  be  traded.  Therefore,  its 
value can be calculated according to the law of supply 
and demand and even, in the absence of any state reg-
ulation, be subject to speculation.

Water supply services are also subject to different eco-
nomic and political criteria depending on whether they 
are being delivered by a private sector or public sector 
operator. However, all citizens need to have sustaina-
ble access to good quality water, and therefore water 
access management and quality control must remain in 
the hands of the public authorities.

In 2000, the Cochabamba valley in Bolivia saw 
clashes between public authorities and farmers, 
when  the  latter  refused  to  pay  for  water  trans-
ported by means of water supply networks which 
they had built themselves at a time when the gov-
ernment was failing to fulﬁl its obligations in that 
regard.

Varying interest in a cross-cutting sector which 
unites several actors

In the revenue-generating sub-sectors, water resources 
attract  much  interest  both  from  businesses  and  the 
government. Conversely, water supply services in rural 
areas or sanitation services have, essentially, a social 
dimension and there can be a lack of interest on the 
part of leaders at the highest level in ﬁnancing the sector.

As a resource which impacts on a number of sectors 
(agriculture, industry, health, tourism, environment etc.), 
water is different from other issues such as education 
or health in that it is rarely the responsibility of just one 
minister of a national government.

Finally, the complexity of the water sector arises from 
the broad range of stakeholders: public bodies – both 
at central and decentralised levels – users, private sec-
tor, civil society etc.

(2)  See boxed text in section 2.1.
(3) 

 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Article 14), the Convention on the Rights of the 
Child (Article 24) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (Article 14) all recognise the right to water for women 
and children.
See also the box “Is water an economic good?”, chapter 2.1 

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C H A P T E R   1 :   T H E   W A T E R   S E C T O R

1.2. Challenges faced by the sector

Rationalisation of water use

The challenge over the coming decades will be less one 
of dealing with the scarcity of water resources than one 
of encouraging sensible water use. Despite the growing 
pressure on water resources, few countries have made 
progress in the rationalisation of the sector.

therefore, be distinguished from access to water sup-
ply services.

The question of water supply service pricing currently 
constitutes a real challenge in a number of countries.  
It is worth noting, in particular, that ﬁnancing the sector 
exclusively through water tariffs, without any contribu-
tions from the State budget, conﬂicts with governments’ 
commitments to the poorest.

Pressure on water resources in Latin 
America

A  large  proportion  of  the  world’s  freshwater 
resources are in Latin America. However, water 
resources  within  that  region  are  very  unevenly 
distributed, essentially because of its geography. 
Furthermore, the population distribution in Latin 
America is not always such that the areas where 
water is accessible and abundant are the most 
densely  populated,  and  often  the  poorest  seg-
ments of society living in suburban and rural areas 
suffer the worst water supply service coverage. 

The Economic Commission for Latin America has 
indicated that water demand has increased dra-
matically, primarily as a result of world population 
growth, but also due to the uncontrolled expansion 
of agriculture (which accounts for 70 % of water 
use), livestock farming and industry, urbanisation 
and the reduction in the quantity of water available 
due to soil sealing and deforestation.

As  regards  water  quality,  in  addition  to  natural 
sources  of pollution,  failure to treat wastewater 
accentuates the vulnerability of water resources 
and  explains  the  serious  water  contamination. 
Agricultural and mining practices are the principal 
causes of this rapid degradation.

Access to water for the poor and the question 
of pricing

Equitable access to water is not often guaranteed, nor 
is it uncommon for peripheral areas in developing coun-
tries to be deprived of the continuous water supply serv-
ice enjoyed in towns. In the suburbs particularly, those 
who live in the most disadvantaged areas pay the high-
est price for their water supply, as it is provided by pri-
vate companies which can be unscrupulous or may be 
experiencing difﬁculties.

It is commonly accepted that water is a public good, 
which means that every person should have access to 
drinking water within a reasonable distance, but does 
not imply that water should be free or that, in particu-
lar, water distribution services should be provided free 
of charge. Access to water and the water itself must, 

Water pricing in Samoa and South 
Africa 

For social reasons, it is often favourable to intro-
duce an increasing block rate pricing system, 
with a low block rate for the ﬁrst litres of water 
consumed by individual users. This allows users 
to satisfy their basic water needs at low cost.

In Samoa, the “Water for Life” government policy 
established that households would receive their 
ﬁrst 500 litres of water per day free of charge3. 
Although this is clearly a social policy, it could 
endanger the sustainability of the whole system, 
since for that reason in particular, the Samoan 
water agency cannot ensure a balanced budget.

In South Africa, the 2001 water pricing review 
established  a  tariff  where  6m3  of  water  per 
household  per  month  would  be  free.  That 
equates to 200 litres per household per day or 
40 litres per person per day for a family of ﬁve or 
25 litres per person per day for a family of eight.

Changing mentalities

In a sector as complex as the water sector, rationalis-
ing the use of resources often raises another challenge: 
that of changing the mentalities and behaviours both of 
individual water users and, in particular, of agricultural 
and industrial businesses.

In many developing countries, where the lack of coor-
dination between the actors in the water sector and the 
lack of expertise of local stakeholders are highly preju-
dicial, changing the mindset also involves strengthening 
national capacities. The most unstable countries, in par-
ticular, are incapable of fulﬁlling their minimum respon-
sibilities, such as providing basic services, or enforcing 
laws and rules, where they exist.

(4) 

The minimum threshold is normally considered to be approximately 20 litres of water per person per day. 

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Learning from experience

Another major challenge in the water sector is to learn 
from past experience, namely to:

•  ensure transparency and active involvement so that 
all the actors in the sector take ownership of the proc-
ess and contribute to its regulation,

•  manage water demand equitably by involving both 

men and women,

•  develop  mechanisms  and  instruments  to  improve 
coordination and dialogue between actors from dif-
ferent sectors and institutional levels,

•  provide access to information for all the actors and 
ensure that the information available is reliable and 
consistent,

•  develop mechanisms and methods for planning the 

use of water resources,

•  adopt an approach, at national and decentralised lev-
els, which takes into account all the sub-sectors.

Changing habits…

A number of current practices should be improved, 
in particular by:

 (cid:206) avoiding the discharge of untreated wastewa-
ter  used  in  agriculture,  industry  or  domestic 
settings,

 (cid:206) improving  the  management  of  the  currently 
uncontrolled  and  unregulated  underground 
aquifer exploitation by digging wells,

 (cid:206) improving  the  efficiency  of  irrigation  systems 
such as flooding, which requires large quanti-
ties of water and causes soil compaction and 
salination and organic matter decline,

 (cid:206) reducing deforestation, which seriously affects 
the  recovery  capacity  of  underground  aqui-
fers and can result in soil erosion and abnor-
mal flooding,

 (cid:206) improving  methods  for  biofuel  production, 
which leads to a further increase in water con-
sumption etc.

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CHAPTER 2: APPROACHES AND DEFINITIONS

C H A P T E R   2 :   A P P R O A C H E S   A N D   D E F I N I T I O N S

2.1.  Integrated Water Resource 

Management

Dublin in 1992. The principles of the Dublin state-
ment are as follows:

2.1.1. Origin, deﬁnition and principles

Water governance

The concept of governance in the water sector arose 
in order to guarantee more rational water resource man-
agement, ensure that the poorest people have access 
to water and generally contribute to changing attitudes 
within the sector.

Governance comprises the range of measures, rules, 
decision-making  bodies,  information  services  and 
supervisory bodies which make it possible to guaran-
tee the proper functioning and monitoring of a State, 
organisation or, in this case, a sector.

Its main concern is to ensure that the interests of “right-
holders” (citizens, public authorities, partners etc.) are 
respected and it is underpinned by four fundamental 
principles:

•  accountability (reporting etc.), according to which 
policymakers must prove to stakeholders that public 
goods are being managed properly,

•  participation of all the actors in the sector and their 

ownership of governance processes,

•  inclusion of all actors in the sector, particularly the 
most vulnerable, such as women and children, who 
have the same rights as other stakeholders,

•  transparency in financial management, the award 
of contracts and the results obtained as well as pro-
viding easy access to information.

Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) is the 
approach that implements governance measures aimed 
at conserving and ensuring the sustainability of water 
resources.

The origins of IWRM

From a historical perspective, Integrated Water Resource 
Management (IWRM) was conceived by water sector 
experts as a way of dealing with structural water crises 
at local and regional level, for example in Gujarat (India), 
in the Sahel and even in large areas of Spain. 

IWRM  came  about  as  a  result  of  the  International 
Conference  on  Water  and  the  Environment  held  in 

•  freshwater  is  a  finite  and  vulnerable  resource, 
essential  to  sustain  life,  development  and  the 
environment,

•  water  development  and  management  should  be 
based  on  a  participatory  approach,  involving 
users, planners and policy-makers at all levels,

•  women play a central part in the provision, manage-

ment and safeguarding of water,

•  water has an economic value in all its competing 
uses,  and  should  be  recognised  as  an  economic 
good.

Since the Dublin conference of 1992 there has been a 
long list of interpretations and revisions of these prin-
ciples (WHO, AGENDA 21, GWP, etc…) which anyhow 
remain the agreed reference. In the following paragraph 
they have been analysed and grouped following general 
governance principles.

Is water an economic good?

The  fourth  principle  (above)  has  long  been  the 
subject  of  debate  because  it  places  greater 
importance on water’s economic value – which 
is  undeniable  where  agricultural  or  industrial 
interests  are  concerned  –  than  on  the  univer-
sal human right of access to water. The debate 
is ongoing to this day: several countries formally 
recognise  access  to  water  as  a  universal  right 
(Venezuela,  Bolivia,  Uruguay)  and  South  Africa 
has  even  incorporated  it  into  its  constitution.  
At the 2006 World Water Forum held in Mexico, 
the  European  Parliament,  for  its  part,  unani-
mously adopted, on 16 March, a resolution calling 
for access to water to be recognised as a human 
right, but many Member States were opposed to 
this principle.

Deﬁnition

IWRM is deﬁned as a process aimed at ensuring that 
water is used more efﬁciently (economic dimension), 
promoting  equitable  access  to  water  (social  dimen-
sion)  and  guaranteeing  sustainability  (environmental 
dimension).

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 R E F E R E N C E   D O C U M E N T   N O   7   —   W A T E R   S E C T O R   D E V E L O P M E N T   A N D   G O V E R N A N C E

IWRM principles

The above deﬁ nition makes reference to some of the 
constituent aspects of IWRM (the following list provided 
by think-tanks is not exhaustive) which are shared at an 
international level and can be grouped according to the 
four principles of governance. These are closely linked 
to one another and some aspects of IWRM can relate 
to more than one principle of governance, as indicated 
in the diagram in Fig. 1.

 (cid:206)The term “integrated” stresses that there is a need 
to adopt a global (holistic) approach which brings 
together different sectors such as health, agriculture 
and industry – horizontal integration – and different 
levels (regional, national, municipal, household etc.) 
– vertical integration.

In its action plan for Integrated Water Resource 
Management, Burkina Faso deﬁ nes IWRM as “a 
process which promotes the co-ordinated devel-
opment  and  management  of  water,  land  and 
related resources, in order to maximise the result-
ant economic and social welfare in an equitable 
manner without compromising the sustainability 
of vital ecosystems (…).

By  favouring  an  integrated  approach,  the  new 
method of water management seeks to contribute 
signiﬁ cantly to the integration between water pol-
icy and the policies of other sectors, in particular 
agriculture, livestock rearing, environment, health, 
industry and mining and land-use planning.”

Fig. 1: Position of IWRM aspects in relation to the four principles of governance

ACCOUNTABILITY

PARTICIPATION

Relevance of legal and institutional 
frameworks

Human resource capacity

Adequacy of ﬁ nancial resources

Planning

Water quality

Quality of service

Sound ﬁ nancial management

Communication

Information

Decentralisation

Bottom-up approach

High-level dialogue

Coordination

Holistic approach

Subsidiarity

Ownership

Involvement of civil society

Right to water

Pricing

Involvement of women

Solidarity

Equity between rich and poor

Equity between men and women

Rights of the child

TRANSPARENCY

INCLUSION

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2.1.2. IWRM problems and lessons learned

The need for strong political will

The adoption of an integrated view of water resources 
has most frequently manifested itself in proposals to 
amend  or  reformulate  legal  frameworks.  However, 
political progress has been slow: although IWRM has 
appeared occasionally on political parties and govern-
ments  agendas,  the  actual  implementation  of  IWRM 
principles has been limited. Political will and engage-
ment are essential to translate declarations of princi-
ple into action.

IWRM is not an end in itself

In the past, IWRM was promoted largely as an objective 
of the sector. IWRM came to be considered a sub-sec-
tor of the water sector, just like, for example, sanitation 
or irrigation. Quite the opposite, IWRM must remain an 
approach for dealing with a given problem in the water 
sector.

IWRM: integration beyond the water sector

By deﬁnition, IWRM is concerned with the water sector. 
However, in order to follow the principle of taking a holis-
tic view of the sector, it may be necessary to extend that 
view and consider integration with other sectors. For 
example, rainwater puriﬁcation should not be divorced 
from urban development policies.

An urban development project  
in Senegal

The aim of the restructuring plan in the districts of 
Pikine and Khouma is to install sustainable drain-
age systems in the areas affected by ﬂooding due 
to rainfall.

In order for the project to be successful, a full range 
of urban integration measures were planned: relo-
cation,  compensation,  resettlement,  land  reg-
ularisation,  granting  title  deeds,  building  road 
infrastructure, moving electricity and telecommu-
nications networks, collection of solid waste etc.

As a result of its holistic approach, some conclu-
sive  results  can  be  achieved  in  terms  of  trafﬁc, 
improved access, land valuation and, of course, 
water management, but this last result cannot be 
reached alone.

Problems in river basin management

The main difﬁculties encountered by IWRM arise from 
the cross-border application of IWRM and the oper-
ation of the river basin management agencies. There 
are, however, also problems at national level. Firstly, 
the link between river basin agencies and traditional 

C H A P T E R   2 :   A P P R O A C H E S   A N D   D E F I N I T I O N S

administrative structures (national, regional or municipal) 
is often poorly deﬁned, and secondly, there is frequently 
no ﬁnancing facility in place for the river basin agencies.

River basin agencies

Today, it is a recognised fact that the river basin 
level is the most suitable level at which IWRM can 
be applied. A river basin is a natural unit providing 
resources which can be shared between all the 
potential users.

When a river basin crosses national borders, it is 
most often regional authorities which are respon-
sible for the management of water resources in 
that area. Those authorities, known as river basin 
agencies, appear to have a key role to play in the 
management and regulation of such resources in 
the countries of the region.

These  agencies  are  a  relatively  new  arrival  in 
developing and emerging countries, their role is 
not always clearly deﬁned or recognised and they 
often struggle to fulﬁl their duties as moderator and 
regulator. However, the river basin agencies have 
an essential role to play in respect of the allocation 
of water resources among different countries and 
the management of the water cycle, and although 
the operating processes of the agencies are slow 
and complicated they are of fundamental impor-
tance in the long term.

Some of the actors in the sector are keen to pro-
mote an approach whereby, through decentralisa-
tion, IWRM is applied at a local level with a view to 
those initiatives contributing to IWRM at river basin 
level later (see section on ‘light’ IWRM below).

Lessons learned: IWRM tools

A number of management tools for institutional develop-
ment, which vary depending on the country, have been 
put in place to promote cross-sector coordination and 
capacity building:

•  IWRM action plans

Burkina Faso’s Action Plan for Integrated Water 
Resource  Management  was  approved  in  March 
2003. The main objectives of this new tool, covering 
the period 2003-2015, are to refocus the missions 
undertaken by the State, set up a national water 
council bringing together State, local authorities, pri-
vate sector and civil society, establish new manage-
ment areas based on river basins and strengthen 
the intervention capacity of local authorities, private 
sector and civil society in the water sector.

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•  Comprehensive Memoranda of Understanding

‘Light’ IWRM: a local solution

In Ethiopia, the water, health and education minis-
ters have signed a Memorandum of Understanding 
on arrangements for implementing integrated pro-
grammes in the water distribution, sanitation and 
health sectors. This document sets out the respec-
tive responsibilities of the principal partners con-
cerned and is aimed at facilitating their cooperation 
in terms of the planning, implementation and mon-
itoring of activities in communities, schools and 
health centres, with the shared objective of attain-
ing the Millennium Goals.

•  Platforms for dialogue

National platforms – coordinated, for example, by the 
Global Water Partnership (GWP) in Central America – 
have  been  created  to  promote  the  participation  and 
involvement of all partners within the sector through 
coordination  and  consultation  forums,  but  they  still 
have only a minor inﬂuence on decision-making. There 
are ongoing reforms to introduce participatory mecha-
nisms on an equitable and sustainable basis. The proc-
ess is, therefore, underway but it remains a politically 
and socially sensitive subject. As all social process, also 
a participatory multi-stekeholders’ dialogue in the water 
sector is a slow and long process.

When IWRM cannot be implemented fully because 
the river basin in question is too large, because 
the involvement of all the sub-sectors is too com-
plex or even because the authority responsible 
for the sector is ineffective, it can prove useful to 
adopt a pragmatic approach and implement IWRM 
principles at local level or to a single sub-sector. 
As a result, the different sub-sectors progress at 
different speeds and fulﬁl the need for ﬂexibility. 
This is known as ‘light’ IWRM. Adopting a ‘light’ 
IWRM approach does not mean that larger-scale 
reforms are no longer necessary, but it can lead 
to more global integration if local initiatives prove 
successful.

Source: Integrated Water Resources Management 

and the domestic water and sanitation sub-sector – 

Thematic Overview Paper by Patrick Moriarty (IRC), 

John Butterworth (NRI) and Charles Batchelor, reviewed 

by Annette Bos and Frank Jaspers (IHE) 

2.2  The sector-wide approach,  
the sector programme and  
the sector policy support 
programme

2.2.1. Origin, deﬁnitions and criteria

•  ‘Light’ IWRM

Origin

In line with the principle of subsidiarity, according to 
which water resources should be managed at the low-
est possible geographical level, as close as possible to 
the resources in question, and in the belief that partic-
ipation should be the rule, the river basin level is often 
not the only relevant level. National administrative bod-
ies – districts, towns, communities – need to be made 
more aware, so that they may contribute to the par-
ticipatory decision-making process and that the small-
est possible geographic unit is used for water resource 
management.

Until the mid-1990s, the project-based approach was 
the  predominantly  used  ﬁnancing  modality  used  by 
the cooperation agencies to give aid to third countries. 
However, after thirty years of cooperation, the results 
have  proved unsatisfactory:  ownership by the bene-
ﬁciary countries was weak, aid was fragmented and 
transaction costs were high. The subsequent lack of 
sustainability of the interventions – stand-alone, unco-
ordinated projects of limited duration – led to a re-think 
of the cooperation at a more strategic level.

As a result, and in order for the government, the devel-
opment  partners  and  other  key  actors  in  the  sector 
to  unite  behind  a  joint  programme,  the  sector-wide 
approach was born. The sector-wide approach, coher-
ently with the Paris Declaration4, aims to ensure that 
external resources are used consistently and effectively.

The 2002 Monterrey Conference followed by the 2003 Rome Forum provided the basis for the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness 

(5) 
(March 2005) and the sector-wide approach was thus redefined. In fact, according to the Declaration, the sector-wide approach is 
specifically focussed on the following principles: 
ownership: partner countries exercise effective leadership over their development policies and strategies and co-ordinate development 
actions, 
• 
• 
•  managing for results: managing resources and improving decision-making for results,
•  mutual accountability: donors and partners are accountable for development results.

alignment: donors base their overall support on partners’ national development strategies, institutions and procedures,
harmonisation: donors’ actions are more harmonised, transparent and collectively effective,

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Deﬁ nitions

The sector-wide approach is a joint dialogue proc-
ess (government, technical and ﬁ nancial partners, other 
actors in the sector) which allows the government to 
deﬁ ne and implement its sector programme.

The government’s sector programme (SP) includes 
all the documents required to establish and implement 
its vision for the sector, with particular regard to pol-
icy, strategy, budget and the coordination framework 
of the sector.

 The sector policy support programme (SPSP) is 
the  European  Commission’s  strategy  to  support  the 
government of a given country in its sector programme.

Fig. 2 : The SPSP as part of the SP

SPSP

SP

 (cid:206)Logic dictates that the SPSP should support a sec-

tor programme, not just the sector policy.

 (cid:206)Depending on the donors, the terms used to identify 
the sector-wide approach and the sector programme 
may differ, but the content is the same.

C H A P T E R   2 :   A P P R O A C H E S   A N D   D E F I N I T I O N S

The South African model: 
Masibambane

In 1994, South Africa had a population of 45 mil-
lion, water was scarce and water service struc-
tures were fragmented.

At a time of democratic change, the sector was 
facing a number of challenges, but the beginnings 
of a sector-wide approach were there: there was 
a  real  political  will  to  foster  the  development  of 
the sector. In 1997, the traditional project-based 
approach  was  abandoned  and  a  programme-
based  approach  was  implemented.  In  2000,  a 
political decision was made to decentralise the 
water supply service at the community level. This 
was followed by the launch of a EUR 335 million 
programme, three-quarters ﬁ nanced by the gov-
ernment,  and  supported  also  by  the  European 
Commission  and  certain  Member  States.  The 
sector-wide approach was encapsulated by the 
term  “Masibambane”,  which  means  “let’s  work 
together” in Nguni, and consisted of two key con-
cepts:  a  shift  from  a  traditional  project-based 
approach to a sector-wide vision and a real gov-
ernment-led coordination between the actors in 
the sector.

The success of the sector-wide approach is also 
owed to the fact that the IWRM principles were 
integrated (see next chapter).

Core elements of a sector programme

Where  a  sector-wide  approach  is  adopted,  govern-
ments  gradually  develop  their  sector  programmes. 
A sector programme comprises the following three core 
elements:

 (cid:206)sector policy and strategy: a sector policy is a state-
ment of a government’s long-term vision (ten years 
or more) for the sector, setting out the government’s 
objectives for that period. The sector policy also spec-
ifies the institutional aspects (roles of different actors 
in the sector, division of responsibilities, financing, 
etc.), sets out the main principles of service manage-
ment (state control, private operator etc.) and the pri-
ority action areas (geographical areas, maintenance 
or extension of the network etc.) and explains which 
legal and regulatory decisions are deemed neces-
sary. The sector strategyaction plan, also known as 
master plandescribes how, in terms of the physical 
and financial execution, the government intends to 
implement  sector  policy  over  a  medium-term  per-
spective (3-5 years). It may be necessary to set inter-
mediate targets or priorities to meet policy objectives;

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 (cid:206)the sector budget and its expenditure perspective 
(known  as  Medium  Term  Expenditure  Framework 
MTEF): the two must form the financial expression, on 
an annual and multi-annual basis, of the sector strat-
egy. They are drawn up in conjunction with the sector 
strategy and on the basis of the available resources 
in the sector;

 (cid:206)a sector coordination framework, through which the 
sector policy, action plans and budget are reviewed 
and updated.

Together with those three core elements, there are also 
two key components: the monitoring system and insti-
tutional capacity. These two components are of equal 
importance and often constitute stumbling blocks within 
sector programmes. Sector programme monitoring sys-
tems are often weak, which is detrimental to future man-
agement and programming in the sector and can call 
into question, from the European Commission’s point 
of view, the use of sector budget support as a ﬁnancing 
modality, for instance. As regards institutional capacity, 
capacity building assistance must be targeted and often 
involves most national partners.

The mnemonic device used to illustrate these sector 
assessment criteria is the diagram of the ﬂower below. 
The “root” of the ﬂower consists of two contextual ele-
ments:  the  macro-economic  context  and  the  public 
ﬁnance management.

 (cid:206)These factors also serve as assessment criteria 

for the sector programme.

Fig.  3:  “Flower”  showing  the  seven  assessment 
criteria for a sector programme

Sector policy/strategy

Sector and donor
coordination

Institutional
setting-capacity

Sector budget
& medium term
perspective

Performance
monitoring system

Macro economic context

Public financial management

Moving towards a sector-wide approach

This transition comprises certain key stages,  
in particular:

•  moving away from individual projects towards a har-
monised system in terms of approach and procedure,

•  reorganising  institutions  by  replacing  individual 
[project] implementation units with a single executive 
agency for the sub-sector (such as the Community 
Water  and  Sanitation  Agency  in  Ghana)  or  a  joint 
implementation unit within the ministry,

•  implementing  a  pool  fund  which  should  ultimately 
be  the  State  budget  in  place  of  individual  project 
accounts.

Financing modalities

In the European Commission’s view, an SPSP can be 
ﬁnanced using project procedures, pool funds or sec-
tor budget support.

The use of different ﬁnancing modalities depending on 
the planned approach is illustrated in the diagram below.

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C H A P T E R   2 :   A P P R O A C H E S   A N D   D E F I N I T I O N S

Fig. 4: Links between the approach and the ﬁnancing modality according to the European Commission

Approach

Financing modality

Project

Sector

Global (macro-economic)

Project procedures

Pool funding

Budget support

 (cid:206)There may be some confusion between the project 
approach  and  the  project  procedures  financing 
modality, due to the fact that the term “project” is 
used to identify both an approach which is now no 
longer in use (isolated actions and fragmented aid) 
and  a  financing  modality  which  refers  to  specific 
procedures and financial instruments (e.g. European 
Development Fund) used to implement cooperation, 

through an action which is also of limited duration, but 
is coordinated and appropriate within the context of 
a sector-wide approach.

Summary

The  diagram  below  illustrates  the  different  ﬁnancing 
modalities available to contribute to governments’ sec-
tor programmes.

Fig. 5: Financing modalities available for sector programmes

Other 
national 
revenue

Sector 
budget 
support

Pool fund

Donor 
A

Donor 
E

(including  
global budget 
support)

(donors A, B)

(donors C, D)

 Via the treasury

Co-ﬁnanced 
actions

Projects

Sector programme

To ﬁnd out more…

For  further  information,  please  refer  to  the 
European  Commission’s  Guidelines  No  2  on 
Support to Sector Programmes

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Different levels of progress in different 
countries 

In the majority of countries in Africa, the Caribbean 
and the Paciﬁc, the sector-wide approach in the 
water sector is in its infancy. However, sector-wide 
approaches have been adopted in other closely 
related sectors, such as rural development, and 
in  certain  sub-sectors  (in  Uganda,  Tanzania, 
Mozambique,  for  example).  Project  procedures 
are the most commonly utilised ﬁnancing modality.

In some countries, such as Lesotho, Burkina Faso 
and Samoa, where the governments’ sector poli-
cies are solid enough, the European Commission 
has chosen to show its support through sector 
budget support. The funding, which is about to 
be implemented, was structured on the basis of 
the experiences of other countries such as Bolivia, 
Morocco, Egypt, South Africa and Mauritius, which 
have made greater progress and can already reap 
the beneﬁts of the knowledge they have acquired 
from past experiences. 

2.2.2.  Sector-wide approach and sector  
programme: lessons learned

Past experience has shown that:

•  leaders need time to fully develop a sector policy 
and embarking on a sector-wide approach is point-
less without full government involvement. If the gov-
ernment is not ready for this, it is up to the donors to 
begin discussing and reviewing the situation together, 
drawing  on  the  experiences  of  other  countries  or 
any training on the subject etc., if necessary. This 
relatively new approach requires all those involved, 
including the donors, to engage in a collective learn-
ing process;

•  it is essential to try to build trust between the actors 
in the water sector and to establish mechanisms for 
sharing information which itself generates trust within 
the sector;

•  developing  a  sector-wide  approach  must  be  a  

participatory process;

•  it is necessary to produce a sector diagnosis which 
consists of analysing the water sector in order to for-
mulate and update the sector programme;

•  capacity building is essential, from the formulation of 
the sector-wide approach until the implementation of 
the sector programme;

•  donors  must  take  a  coherent,  common  stance  in 
order to assist the government in establishing its posi-
tion on, for example, the respective roles of the pub-
lic and private participants;

•  donors should be more engaged in the process in 
order to adapt to the new framework for coopera-
tion  (with  resources  dedicated  to  the  various 
cooperation frameworks within the sector): the 
principle of appointing lead donors for each area of 
activity makes it possible to dedicate sufficient human 
resources to policy dialogue and to the consultation 
framework within the sector;

•  monitoring and measuring indicators is paramount 
for the success of any programme which, even if well-
prepared, may be unsuccessful in the absence of a 
proper framework.

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CHAPTER 3:  COMPLEMENTARITIES AND SYNER-
GIES BETWEEN THE SECTOR-WIDE 
APPROACH AND IWRM

IWRM  can  be  described  as  a  process  of  integra-
tion  (between  sectors  partially  involved  with  water 
resources and stake holders in the sector), a tool of gov-
ernance and a way of understanding the issues faced 
in the sector, whereas the sector-wide approach is an 
organisational process, a structured methodology 
which enables a sector programme to be deﬁ ned and 
implemented.

This chapter will look at the possible complementarities 
and synergies between the two processes by consid-
ering how IWRM principles can be integrated into the 
sector-wide approach.

Given the importance of taking into account governance 
at all levels and of accepting the principle of complex 
management, IWRM must no longer be viewed from a 
purely technical point of view but rather from a more 
political perspective. Accordingly, IWRM principles can 
be adapted for each component of a sector programme 
(policy and strategy, medium-term budget, coordination 
mechanisms, monitoring system, institutional capacity) 
so that they can be integrated into one single coherent 
approach. The sector-wide approach may be under-
stood through the “lens” of IWRM.

Fig. 6: Integration of IWRM principles into the sector-wide approach

A

P

I

Sector policy/strategy

I

A

P

Sector and donor
coordination

Institutional
setting-capacity

Sector budget
& medium term
perspective

A

T

A

P

Performance
monitoring system

T

A

P

A:  Accountability
P:  Participation 
I: 
Inclusion 
T:  Transparency

Macro economic context

Public financial management

3.1.  Contribution made by IWRM 
to sector policy and strategy

IWRM and sector policy

The aim behind the process of drawing up a sector pol-
icy is to strengthen the vision, and therefore the govern-
ance, of the sector. Such a policy comprises a statement 
of sector-speciﬁ c goals and the ways to achieve them, 
which will  involve in particular the legal, institutional, 
administrative and budgetary decisions necessary for 
its implementation.

When deﬁ ning or redeﬁ ning sector policy, provisions will 
have to be made to modify the legal and institutional 
frameworks and align such modiﬁ cations with IWRM 
principles.

Ideally, sector policies should emerge from wide con-
sultation processes between the legislative and exec-
utive branches of government, other national actors and 
donors, and form the subject of a focussed high-level 
dialogue,  so  that  subsequent  political  acts  can  be 
taken in line with resolutions.

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IWRM and sector strategy

Sector strategy describes how the government intends 
to implement its sector policy in the medium term. This 
action plan may establish intermediate goals or priori-
ties amongst the goals. It enables the global coordi-
nation of all interventions in the sub-sectors (the links 
between ﬁnancing for drinking water and sanitation in 
urban areas, for example) to ensure that they are well 
integrated.

Any action required in order to make changes to legal 
and institutional frameworks or strengthen human 
resources and logistics, for example, is set out as part 
of this strategic planning work. Identifying areas of 
weakness makes it possible to target the appropriate 
actions and necessary ﬁnancial resources in order to 
achieve, ultimately, the sector goals.

This strategic plan is likewise an occasion to deﬁne meth-
ods of implementation and monitoring based on the prin-
ciples of equity, ownership, information etc.

In addition, it also provides an opportunity to redeﬁne, 
at local level, the role of the decentralised services. 
These actors, who play a key role when a traditional 
project is implemented within their area of responsibility, 
could ﬁnd themselves marginalised if a sector-wide ap-
proach was to be adopted by central government with-
out consultation. Dialogue and subsidiarity can help 
to avoid this risk and strengthen the decentralised au-
thorities, and the resources needed to implement these 
principles should be provided for in the action plan.

 (cid:206)The relationship between the decentralised author-
ities and central government can, to a degree, be 
reproduced  in  the  context  of  a  review  of  the  river 
basin agencies.

In  conclusion,  if  everyone  involved  in  the  sector  is 
able  to  contribute  to  the  dialogue,  innovations  and 
improvements are possible, on the basis of which pol-
icy and strategy goals can be readjusted a posteriori 
(bottom-up approach).

3.2.  IWRM and the medium-term 
expenditure framework

A State’s budget is the ﬁnancial expression of its gov-
ernment’s political decisions and is the ﬁnancial coun-
terpart of the action plan. When the strategy is deﬁned, it 
will be possible to plan and decide the programmes and 
the multi-annual budget for the sector, the most devel-
oped form of which, in sector budget support, is the me-
dium-term expenditure framework – MTEF. The MTEF 
includes not only ﬁscal revenues – taxes, duties, etc – 
but also external resources provided by international co-
operation agencies in the form of loans or grants. 

Over the period of the following three to ﬁve years, this 
MTEF  brings  together  the  estimated  contributions  to 
the  water  sector  of  the  ministries  responsible  for  the 
management of one part of water resources – environ-
ment, agriculture, health etc. The MTEF is therefore an 
integrated document from the perspective of IWRM. 
The sector MTEF will not be an extract from the overall 
MTEF, or a consolidated version of all the departmentals 
MTEFs, but coherence is necessary between all the doc-
uments. The purpose of producing a document speciﬁc 
to the water sector is to coordinate interventions and op-
timise resources (particularly human and ﬁnancial).

However,  for  practical  reasons,  MTEFs  may  be  pro-
duced at sub-sector level. For example, where a direc-
torate-general of a ministry is responsible for water and 
sanitation in rural areas whilst the management of the 
service in towns and cities is entrusted to the private 
sector, it will be able to draw up its integrated MTEF for 
rural areas, leaving aside issues relating to urban areas.

 (cid:206)Where water service management is entrusted to a part-
ly state-owned enterprise in the form of a public utility 
or to the private sector, an MTEF will not generally be 
drawn up. Instead a business plan will be produced for 
the company, normally for a longer period of time cor-
responding to the term of the concession, for example.

Bringing together all State budget expenditure in the 
water sector in a sector MTEF means that all publicly-
ﬁnanced interventions will be set out in this document. 
This provides an opportunity to:

•  compare the physical programming of sector inter-
ventions with the financial resources necessary for 
its implementation,

•  bring together local demands and government priori-

ties in a coherent and coordinated way,

•  promote suitable mechanisms and tools for decen-

tralisation and participation. 

 (cid:206)Fiscal decentralisation is a key factor in the suc-
cess of decentralised water management. Aside from 
the financial aspects, this involves strengthening local 
government bodies in order to enable them to per-
form their functions as the authorities responsible for 
regulation, financial resource monitoring and service 
supply at local level under the best conditions.

Furthermore, managers at both central and decentral-
ised level will provide proof that income and expendi-
ture are being managed properly, by accounting for 
the use of funds to the public, the parliament and the 
cooperation agencies.

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 (cid:206)With regard to the financing of cross-border resource 
management, ad hoc budgetary measures must be 
integrated into the national budgets of the countries 
concerned. 

3.3.  Sector coordination, a common 

principle

Under the sector-wide approach, the government is the 
driving force behind the sector’s development. It is 
for the government to provide leadership and ensure 
coordination between the national actors – both gov-
ernmental and non-governmental – and donors. In the 
context of IWRM, this leadership can be shared with 
the other actors in the sector. This is the case in the 
Netherlands, for example.

The two approaches agree on the need for the sector 
to be well coordinated. Extensive consultations must 
enable local actors and non-State actors to get 
involved – the two groups which are often the most 

marginalised. The interaction between the stakehold-
ers can be shown in the diagram below, which is taken 
from the reference document on governance, written 
by EuropeAid Unit E4, entitled “Addressing Governance 
in  Sector  Operations”  (Waternet).  The  relationships 
between those who govern (the bodies or ofﬁ cials in 
charge) and those who are governed (the people on the 
demand side of governance) are shown by arrows repre-
senting the demand for governance and accountability.

 (cid:206)Annexe 2 provides further information on governance 

analysis and national dialogue.

Government coordination of donors offers several key 
advantages when applying IWRM principles as part of 
a sector-wide approach:

•  planning  interventions  by  donors  into  the  State 
budget will enable public funds to be used in a joined-
up and effective way,

Fig. 7: Governance and accountability relationships between actors in the sector

CONTEXT

Government and 
political system
Legislative and executive 
authorities

Donors
and international 
organisations 
(including international 
NGOs)

Supervisory and 
regulatory organisations
Financial and legal 
monitoring, complaint 
handling, etc.

Non-state actors
Citizens, voters, user 
associations, consumers, 
economic operators, media

Core public agencies
Sector ministries, 
implementing agencies, 
regional directorates, etc.

Service providers
Public companies or 
private companies 
entrusted with service 
delivery

Governance

Accountability

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•  consultation  on  the  conditions  laid  down  and 
requirements made by donors will make it possible 
to guarantee that goals are realistic and convergent, 

•  trust  between  the  various  donors  and  between 
donors and the government will generate a virtuous 
circle as far as progress in the sector is concerned,

•   keeping in mind a holistic vision of the water sec-
tor,  communication  pursued  with  development 
partners in neighbouring countries will facilitate the 
integration  of  the  different  actors  into  a  regional 
framework.

 (cid:206)The harmonisation process can be illustrated by the 

figure below.

Fig. 8: Donor harmonisation and coordination process

Full coordination

Partial coordination

Pooling of funds 
(pool fund, SBS)

Common 
implementation  
units

Joint annual 
programming and 
reviews

Exchange  
of information

3.4. Performance monitoring system

As an essential element of the sector-wide approach, 
performance monitoring is key to tracking the develop-
ment of the sector and rectifying any slips. This is in line 
with the principles of results-oriented management set 
out in the Paris declaration. Two methods are generally 
used to provide such monitoring:

•  data collection and processing at State level, on the 
assumption that a reliable and organised structure 
exists to perform these functions. The data must in 
general be collected at regional level, and the more 
advanced the process of decentralisation the eas-
ier such activity will be.

•  Access to an improved source of drinking water and 
to improved sanitation, both of which are Millennium 
Development Indicators, should be measured on a 
country-by-country basis and, in this regard, the role 

of the local authorities and regions in data collection 
is fundamental.

•  specific studies to gather the data necessary to cal-
culate the indicatorsthe number of connections to a 
public sewage network, for example.

In  so  far  as  possible,  preference  should  be  given  to 
a system of data collection and processing which is 
integrated within the competent ministry and can be 
repeated, over speciﬁc, irregular studies. The institu-
tional system may need to be bolstered to allow the 
State to perform this function.

However,  performance  assessments  conducted  by 
independent bodies should also be undertaken on a 
regular basis (once a year, for example) in order to guar-
antee sector transparency.

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 (cid:206)Where the European Commission contributes to the 
financing  of  the  government’s  sector  programme 
in  the  form  of  sector  budget  support,  payment  of 
the  successive  tranches  is  dependent  on  compli-
ance with the general conditions (fixed tranches) and 
achievement of the target value of sector indicators 
(variable tranches). The values of these indicators are 
measured by government monitoring and/or assess-
ments conducted by independent bodies.

With regard to water quality, inspections by independ-
ent bodies are necessary in addition to those carried out 
by the implementing agency or the enterprise operating 
under a concession.

Communication  of  the  outcomes  (institutional  and 
legal reforms, balance sheet, service functionality, water 
quality) is a requirement of governance which the gov-
ernment should accept. It can represent an opportunity 
to gather useful information to improve management of 
the sector.

3.5. Institutional capacity building

National capacities could be built up, as required, at the 
following levels:

•  government,  where  political  will,  which  is  proof  of 
ownership of the sector, and competence of individ-
uals are essential conditions in terms of leadership,

•  local authorities, decentralised bodies, water agen-
cies  and  deconcentrated  structures,  which  are  to 
implement policy on a day-to-day basis,

•  concession holders, other contractorswhether pub-
lic or privateor water cooperatives, which must have 
the technical and management skills to provide the 
water service,

•  user  associations  and  beneficiaries,  in  general  by 
means  of  communication,  information  and 
awareness campaigns,

•  structures responsible for monitoring management 
(audits), to ensure that performance monitoring 
skills exist nationally.

The dynamism of the sector will be dependent on a 
strong political will, and the quality of the water service 
on the redeﬁnition of the institutional and legal frame-
work.  However,  these  essential  conditions  are  not 
enough: the actors must also have a vision for the sec-
tor and a genuine capacity to give effect to legal and 
institutional provisions. 

 (cid:206)The various ministries, local authorities, agencies, 
associations  etc.  of  the  country  concerned  and 
of  neighbouring  countries  involved  in  sector-wide 
approaches  could  benefit  from  joint  training.  The 
development of training channels in the beneficiary 
States and regions could make capacity building a 
sustainable process. 

From an institutional point of view, it is important that 
the organisation of public structures and any partners 
from the private sector or civil society is functional. 
Accordingly,  it  is  essential  to  understand  the  roles, 
responsibilities and resources of the various actors in 
the sector. 

 (cid:206)Experience  shows  that  the  structures  required  to 
implement sector policy must take account of the 
existing institutions and their capacities, and that the 
establishment of new institutions and platforms is not 
always the best solution, let alone the simplest. 

It is also vital to have the right number of competent 
staff. Individual capacity should be assessed in partic-
ular in terms of ownership, motivation and experience.

 (cid:206)These principles apply at both national and regional 
level. The particularities of cross-border management 
lie in the fact that it adds an additional institutional 
level – the river basin agency – as compared with 
national management.

In conclusion, the principles of IWRM, a governance 
tool in the water sector, are embedded in each of the 
assessment criteria under the sector-wide approach.

Over time, the two approaches have shared an increas-
ing number of principles and, in this sense, the modus 
vivendi – IWRM – and the modus operandi – the sec-
tor-wide approach – can be said to be gradually becom-
ing one and the same tool.

Annexe 1 proposes stages for a roadmap to take forward 
the implementation of a sector programme based on the 
principles of water governance. It is necessary to specify 
that since such an exercise is quite a new approach, only 
very minimal experience exists in the area. 

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ANNEX 1.  DRAWING UP AND IMPLEMENTING  

A ROADMAP

A  roadmap  is  a  document  setting  out  the  stages  of 
the process agreed with all the actors concerned: the 
sector-wide approach. This does not involve working 
through the different assessment criteria of a sector pro-
gramme in sequence. The focus is rather on proposing 
an organisational structure and a timeline of activities 
to be undertaken in order to progress the step-by-step 
implementation of the programme. The roadmap, which 
is the product of agreement among all the partners, 
deﬁnes clear and speciﬁc goals to be achieved within 
agreed timeframes. 

At each of the stages proposed below, the assessment 
criteria and the principles of governance and IWRM will 
be integrated, in particular participation and inclusion 
through dialogue with all the partners in the sector.

This tool can be produced at any time in the course 
of  the  sector’s  development  and  then  updated  sub-
sequently. There are no prerequisites to satisfy before 
beginning to adopt a sector-wide approach and draft-
ing an initial version of the roadmap. Where exceptional 
circumstances dictate, the roadmap could even be the 
ﬁrst of the documents belonging to the government’s 
sector programme.

Implementation  of  the  roadmap  through  the  differ-
ent stages is a constantly evolving process, the detail 
and scope of which will be addressed in progressively 
greater depth (see ﬁgure below).

 (cid:206)The stages proposed below are indicative only. They 
are neither exhaustive nor unique and, most impor-
tantly, they should be tailored to the particularities of 
each country.

Fig. 9: Implementation stages of the roadmap

Governance analysis

Raising awareness about  
a national dialogue

Dialogue preparation
(content, actors, organisation)

1

2

3

Review of various issues
 (sector diagnosis—the ﬁrst year)

Annual sector reviews  
(dialogue launch—the ﬁrst year)

5

4

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1.  Analysis of governance  

in the water sector

In order to encourage the government to embrace the 
dynamic aspects of a sector-wide approach, the techni-
cal and ﬁnancial partners, and in particular the European 
Commission delegation, must have a good knowledge 
of the governance-related issues, both in the country in 
general and in the water sector in particular.

With delegations in mind, EuropeAid’s thematic unit E4, 
which has responsibility for governance, has developed 
a stakeholder analysis methodology with a view to 
identifying potential drivers of change towards better 
governance. Waternet

 (cid:206)Sharing this analysis with all the actors in the sec-
tor may be not be an easy task, since its focus is 
not only to highlight the drivers of change but also 
to indicate which actors wish to maintain the status 
quo, because change would threaten their interests. 
A shared and transparent analysis may be possible 
on the basis of participative or self-evaluation meth-
ods.  However,  this  does  not  mean  that,  in  some 
countries, such an analysis cannot be performed in 
a discrete and confidential way.

This methodology, set out in detail in Annexe 2, is made 
up of four stages:

•  evaluation of the context of water governance,

•  inventory of the actors: interests, powers and 

motivations,

•  evaluation of the relationships between those who 

govern and those who are governed,

•  a summary forming the basis of evaluation of the 

sector’s readiness for governance reform.

The objective of this exercise is to inform the delega-
tion,  the  other  technical  and  ﬁnancial  partners  or  all 
the actors in the sector, so that the partners who most 
favour change are able to argue in favour of appropri-
ate reforms.

2.  Raising awareness about  

a national dialogue

“National dialogue” is the term used to describe a proc-
ess consisting of a series of meetings, round tables, 
forums etc. These allow all stakeholders in the water 
sector  to  meet  and  get  to  know  each  other,  and  to 
exchange views so that a consensus can be reached 
vis-à-vis the development of the sector, sometimes from 
a starting point of differing opinions.

A N N E X   1 .   D R A W I N G   U P   A N D   I M P L E M E N T I N G   A   R O A D M A P 

Meetings between actors are generally organised on a 
regular basis at different levels of participation. In par-
ticular, a high-level dialogue is essential in order to inject 
dynamism at a political level. Equally, all the actors must 
come together in order to ensure inclusion in and own-
ership of the process. 

A national dialogue can be established only by govern-
ment initiative and only when the government feels ready 
for such dialogue. This means that awareness-raising 
work – on the part of the different actors driving forward 
governance identiﬁed in the course of the governance 
analysis (and in particular the donors) – may be neces-
sary beforehand in order for people to realise that the 
way things are done must be changed.

 (cid:206)Establishing this dialogue represents the first con-
crete  stage  in  the  sector-wide  approach,  but  the 
dialogue itself should be continued throughout and 
beyond the process which is to result in the imple-
mentation of a sector programme.

3. Dialogue preparation

Once the government has decided that it itself will be 
the driver of change (principle of accountability), several 
points must be decided:

Identiﬁcation of the leaders

•  which ministry (or institution) will take the lead role on 
behalf of the government and who will therefore be 
responsible for organising and chairing the dialogue;

 (cid:206)In some countries, if the Environment Ministry were 
to play that role, it may offer the advantage of not 
being focussed on one particular sub-sector (drink-
ing water, sanitation, agriculture etc.) and having the 
holistic vision required by IWRM. By contrast, it may 
not have the political weight which, for example, the 
ministry responsible for water resources and mining 
might have.

•  who will be the lead donor and represent all 

the donors in the sector.

 (cid:206)Donors are often represented in the beneficiary coun-
tries and regions but may also be active in the country 
in which they are established, where thematic experts 
are often located. It is therefore interesting to note that 
there may be a broader coordination platform than 
just the actors on the ground, with the aim of guar-
anteeing complete harmonisation.

 (cid:206)The  choice  of  a  lead  donor  can  be  made  within  
a multi-sector framework, with this role being shared 
between  different  partners  and  different  sectors. 

(cid:58)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:20)(cid:17)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:21)(cid:22)

23

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R E F E R E N C E   D O C U M E N T   N O   7   —   W A T E R   S E C T O R   D E V E L O P M E N T   A N D   G O V E R N A N C E

Appropriate human resources within each coopera-
tion agency are necessary for participation in a sec-
tor-wide consultation framework.

Choice of forum participants

The invitations to be launched will have to be largely 
open at this stage, both in terms of the sectors and 
sub-sectors of intervention (for example, the Ministry 
of Education should be involved, taking into account 
the  issue  of  raising  children’s  awareness  of  hygiene 
and sanitation issues) and the nature of the participants 
(supervisory and regulatory organisations, government 
and the political system, public agencies in the sector, 
donors, non-State actors, service providers, universities 
and research centres).

Participants at the 2006 Stakeholder 
Forum in Ethiopia

 (cid:206) Federal governments: ministries responsible 
for  water  resources,  education,  health  and 
agriculture*

 (cid:206) Local governments: regions and districts

 (cid:206) Development partners: donors and NGOs

 (cid:206) Civil society organisations

 (cid:206) Universities

 (cid:206) Private  sector:  operators,  sub-contractors, 

consultants

*  Difficulties  associated  with  involving  the 
Ministry of Finance slowed down the ﬁnancial 
integration of the process

Preparing the dialogue methodology

The facilitator is the person or an organisation chosen 
by the leaders to organise the dialogue before its formal 
launch. The work involved should be carried out by a 
non-political individual or group, who neither contrib-
utes to nor is involved in the discussions. The facilitator 
is to assist the dialogue but under no circumstances to 
direct it. The role of facilitation is fundamental requiring 
high level of knowledge and dedicated skills. 

 (cid:206)In addition, this facilitator, whether national, foreign or 
a mixed group, should also possess discussion-lead-
ing and organisational skills and have a good general 
knowledge of the water sector.

The  methodology  used  to  establish  the  dialogue  is 
determined by the facilitator, in agreement with the gov-
ernment and possibly the donors. The work of the facil-
itator in this regard is solely to provide organisational 
and logistical support to facilitate and give structure to 
this dialogue.

This support may, for example, take the form of pre-
paring guidance documents relating to the operation 
of each stage of the dialogue (an example of one such 
document  produced  in  Ethiopia  is  available  on  the 
Waternet site).

In order to facilitate the authorities’ launch of the dia-
logue, the facilitator may also be called upon to prepare 
draft agendas and draft presentations of the principle 
of the national dialogue (organisation, functioning, cal-
endar, terms of reference of the forum’s different work-
ing groups – see below).

A status report can be produced as part of work carried 
out prior to the involvement of the facilitator. This exer-
cise involves gathering, for the beneﬁt of the actors in the 
sector, a certain amount of objective and veriﬁed data to 
serve as the basis for the sector diagnosis.

The status report may consist of:

•  general background information: key figures in the 
sector (levels of access to water and sanitation etc.), 
quality and quantity of water resources, different uses 
of water, actual and potential conflicts relating to the 
use of water;

•  a report on the sector from an institutional point of 
view: organisation of the sector and the institutions 
(organigrams etc.), centralisation / decentralisation, 
service management, actors (interests, organisation, 
capacity etc.);

•  details  of  the  legal  situation:  legislation,  regula-
tions and standards in force, their consistency, their 
implications;

•  data  on  financial  investments  and  commitments 

made to benefit the sector in the medium term;

•  other factors such as the operation of the sub-sectors 
linked to the water sector and the links between them, 
the integration of the sector into existing national and 
regional initiatives, the current monitoring system etc.

A summary of the key points contained in all existing 
documents will enable all stakeholders to have the same 
level of understanding of the sector from the moment 
the dialogue is launched.

24

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(cid:22)(cid:18)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:18)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:29)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:36)(cid:48)

 (cid:206)Production of the status report may be preceded by 
an exhaustive study in order to determine the “zero 
value” of some of the indicators which are difficult 
to  obtain  via  the  national  statistical  system.  This 
exercise, consisting in the collection and definition 
of values at the very beginning of the sector-wide 
approach, can also be a subject for discussion and 
be carried out as part of the dialogue itself.

4.  Ofﬁcial launch of the dialogue:  

the ﬁrst stakeholder forum

Taking place over the course of one or two days, the ﬁrst 
meeting of the forum which brings together all stake-
holders is the opportunity for an ofﬁcial ceremony which 
should be chaired by the minister responsible for sector 
policy, in conjunction with other ministers, on behalf of 
the government. Ideally, the minister should be assisted 
by a director-general from a technical ministry respected 
within the water sector in order to give the dialogue the 
dual focus, i.e. political and technical. 

Presentation of the principle behind  
the dialogue

Following an opening speech by the minister, the dia-
logue  can  be  presented  by  the  director-general,  for 
example, who will be involved throughout the dialogue. 
Information  relating  to  the  methodology  behind  the 
organisation, operation and objectives of the dialogue 
is to be provided to all participants.

The deﬁnition of the ﬁeld of intervention and the asso-
ciated priorities (sector in its entirety, sub-sector, urban/
rural areas etc.) may be decided by the government if it 
takes the view that only part of the water sector is ready 
for a sector-wide approach, or form the subject-matter of 
wider consultation as part of which all the actors decide 
on the scope of the dialogue jointly.

A N N E X   1 .   D R A W I N G   U P   A N D   I M P L E M E N T I N G   A   R O A D M A P 

Identiﬁcation of the representatives for each 
category of actors

The actors will meet in groups according to their cat-
egory,  in  order  to  decide  within  their  group  who  will 
be their representative on the steering committee (see 
below). 

 (cid:206)In the case of both the donors and the government, 
this decision is taken in advance because it may be 
more difficult to reach agreement during the forum 
than it is for the other actors (the donors’ choice must 
be made giving due regard to multi-sector consider-
ations, whereas for the government the choice is a 
policy decision).

 (cid:206)The  selection  of  representatives  is  an  opportunity 
to identify so-called “champions”, i.e. motivated and 
competent partners in each category. In addition to 
the fact that attendance fees are not paid, member-
ship of the steering committee on a voluntary basis 
could alone be proof of genuine commitment. 

Steering committees and discussion leaders

A national steering committee is formed in order to to 
accompany the dialogue, respond to questions put by 
stakeholders at any time during discussions and dis-
seminate certain information amongst the different cat-
egories of actors. Its role is not to approve the work 
carried out and it must offer guidance to the participants 
solely in terms of organisational matters rather than con-
tent. The steering committee is made up of one repre-
sentative from each of the categories of stakeholders, 
plus the facilitator – a minimum of around ten people 
are therefore involved – and chaired by the government 
representative.

 (cid:206)For  practical  reasons,  given  that  the  discussions 
should  take  place  simultaneously  throughout  the 
country, in particular where a process of decentrali-
sation is ongoing, it may also be a good idea to have 
steering committees in the different regions of the 
country. In this case, the organisation described cen-
trally is mirrored at regional level.

(cid:58)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:20)(cid:17)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:21)(cid:24)

25

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R E F E R E N C E   D O C U M E N T   N O   7   —   W A T E R   S E C T O R   D E V E L O P M E N T   A N D   G O V E R N A N C E

Burkina Faso: National steering committee, regional steering committees

Autres 
ministeres 
concernes

Autres 
directions 
centrales 
concernes

REGION

Autres 
directions 
regionales 
concernes

MAHRH

Comite national 
de pilotage

DGRE

ONEA

Comite regional 
de pilotage

DRAHRH

COMMUNES

cadres 

nationaux de 

concernation

cadres 

regionaux  

de 

concernation

L
A
R
T
N
E
C

U
A
E
V

I

N

L
A
N
O

I

G
E
R

U
A
E
V

I

N

L
A
C
O
L

U
A
E
V

I

N

I

S
G
N
O
T
E
S
E
C
V
R
E
S
T
E
S
N
E
B
E
D
S
R
U
E
S
S
N
R
U
O
F

I

I

NIVEAU CENTRAL = CENTRAL LEVEL Autres Ministères concernés = Other Ministries involved Cadres Nationaux 
de Concertation = National Consultation Frameworks Autres Directions Centrales concernées = Other Central 
Directorates involved Comité national de pilotage = National steering committee MAHRH = MAWRF [Ministry of 
Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries] DGRE = DGWR [Directorate-General for Water Resources] ONEA = NOWS 
[National Ofﬁce of Water and Sanitation]

NIVEAU REGIONAL = REGIONAL LEVEL Cadres Régionaux de Concertation = Regional Consultation Frameworks 
Comité regional de pilotage = Regional steering committee Autres Directions Régionales concernées = Other Regional 
Directorates involved DRAHRH = RDAWRF [Regional Directorate for Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries]

NIVEAU LOCAL = LOCAL LEVEL COMMUNES = LOCAL AUTHORITIES Fournisseurs de biens et services et ONGs 
= Providers of goods and services and NGOs

Discussion leaders are the people who, in the course of 
a stakeholder forum, support the facilitator in the man-
agement of the forum, in particular during the working 
sessions of the different groups. The members of the 
steering committee plus one resource person – with 
experience if possible – per working group play the role 
of the discussion leaders. 

Deﬁning areas of work and group composition

Distributing a copy of the status report to all participants 
will provide everyone with objective information previ-
ously unknown to them. The participants will decide on 
the areas to be focussed on during the diagnosis on the 
basis of the status report.

From the point of view of methodology, discussion as 
to the choice of areas of work could take place in ple-
nary session – despite the number of participants – in 
order to ensure that the exercise is participative from the 
very start of the dialogue. As part of a “brainstorming 
session”, and focussing on the current situation, partic-
ipants would suggest areas of work which they con-
sider to be important for their country. There could be 
between three and ﬁve such areas.

 (cid:206)In a country which has no sector policy or whose 
policy needs to be updated extensively, the general 
objectives of the sector are not well understood. This 
can have a detrimental effect on the quality of the 

26

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(cid:22)(cid:18)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:18)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:29)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:36)(cid:48)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A N N E X   1 .   D R A W I N G   U P   A N D   I M P L E M E N T I N G   A   R O A D M A P 

discussion of other areas of work. A specific area of 
work could therefore be previously devoted to sector 
policy and be the focus for a dynamic and receptive 
group. That group’s preliminary findings could then 
be  communicated  to  the  other  discussion  groups 
instead of waiting for approval by all participants at 
the next forum.

 (cid:206)Potential  areas  of  work  are  likely  to  include 
assessment criteria for sector programmes and 
IWRM principles. The areas of work will be decided 
on a country-specific basis and depend on progress 
in the sector and sector weaknesses.

The three areas of work forming  
the focus of the national dialogue  
in Ethiopia:

 (cid:206) Policy and regulation

Drawing up and approving the roadmap  
in plenary sessions

Based  on  the  activities  planned  within  the  different 
working groups, an initial, generic roadmap is drawn up, 
setting out the milestones to be achieved and the provi-
sional calendar. The content of the roadmap is approved 
by all the stakeholders. This content will be updated at 
the subsequent forum, on the basis of the ﬁndings of the 
diagnostic exercise – see below.

 (cid:206)The roadmap may be accompanied by a timetable of 
activities, as was the case in Burkina Faso. Waternet

 (cid:206)The  roadmap  in question  here is  the sector road-
map,  not  the  roadmap  prepared  by  the  European 
Commission, purely for internal purposes, with a view 
to providing sector budget support. However, the lat-
ter should to a great extent be guided by the former.

 (cid:206) Planning, financing, information, monitoring 

and evaluation

 (cid:206) Implementation and coordination

A summary of the discussions and the roadmap should 
be sent by the steering committee to all participants as 
soon as possible.

5.  Sector diagnoses by working 

groups

Unlike the status report which provides a snapshot of 
the sector at a given time, a diagnosis consists of an 
analysis of the situation carried out by working groups 
across  the  country,  which  subsequently  make  their 
recommendations to the steering committee on how 
to achieve sector objectives. The steering committee 
brings together all the recommendations and coordi-
nates them.

 (cid:206)Working group representatives may be called to the 
capital to participate in steering committee meetings, 
share their thoughts and enable the committee to 
ensure a good level of coordination between the work 
of individual groups. 

In order to facilitate their discussions, the working groups 
are advised on diagnostic appraisal methods such as, 
for example, carrying out an analysis of the strengths, 
weaknesses, opportunities, threats/risks, requirements 
etc. A methodology document was drawn up as part of 
the dialogue in Ethiopia. Waternet

Working groups corresponding to the different areas 
of work decided in plenary sessions are to be formed 
according  to  the  interests  of  the  participants.  Each 
group should have an acceptable number of represent-
atives from each category of actors.

 (cid:206)These groups should also be formed on the basis of 
geographical location. Aside from the financial impor-
tance of limiting travel, the more spread out a country 
is, the more difficult it is to travel around, and the need 
for such travel could prevent certain actors from form-
ing part of groups based in the capital. Furthermore, 
setting up discussion groups within the country which 
have links with the regional steering committees is a 
way of ensuring ownership and communication within 
the different geographical areas themselves.

Guided in their working methods by the facilitator and 
the  discussion  leaders,  the  groups  decide  on  activ-
ities and priorities, assign responsibilities within each 
group (group representative, rapporteur etc.), specify 
the resources required for their work (meetings, exter-
nal support etc.) and determine indicators and deadlines 
for the lists of tasks to be performed.

 (cid:206)The  costs  associated  with  the  various  meetings 
forming part of the dialogue (forum, groups) should 
be borne by the government, but the donors most 
involved  in  the  sector  could  also  provide  financial 
support.

(cid:58)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:20)(cid:17)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:21)(cid:26)

27

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R E F E R E N C E   D O C U M E N T   N O   7   —   W A T E R   S E C T O R   D E V E L O P M E N T   A N D   G O V E R N A N C E

The working groups are to focus on different areas such 
as, for example:

Sector policy

This group will:

•  set the sector objectives: safeguarding environmen-
tal heritage and biodiversity, providing better access 
to water or sanitation for the poor etc.,

Some sector policy objectives in Lesotho:

 (cid:206) Improving  water  resource  management  

at national level

 (cid:206) Improving  management  of  transboundary 

watercourses

 (cid:206) Safeguarding water quality

 (cid:206) Increasing access to water resources

 (cid:206) Promoting equal treatment

 (cid:206) Increasing  awareness  of  water  resource 

allocation

The theoretical objectives need to be translated into 
concrete  objectives  and,  in  particular,  must  be 
measurable:  for  example,  one  objective  may  be  to 
meet  Millennium  Development  Goals  (MDG).  Firstly, 
these objectives must be realistic and tailored to the 
needs of the country: it may be more appropriate to give 
up meeting the MDGs, to focus, instead, on providing 
good sanitation in public places (which are not taken into 
account by MDG indicators), promoting the thorough 
clean-up of villages for health reasons etc.

•  draw  up  strategy  guidelines:  ownership  of  the 
resources  (country,  town,  community),  decentrali-
sation policy, priority action areas, compliance with 
IWRM principles, choice of service management sys-
tem, water pricing policy etc.

Sector strategy

The sector strategy:

•  sets out how those objectives will be achieved.

If, for example, meeting the MDGs is an objective, the 
aim would be to “cut in half, by 2015, the proportion 
of  people  without  sustainable  access  to  safe  drink-
ing water and basic sanitation”. Accordingly, if 46% of 

people had access to drinking water and 14% to sanita-
tion in 1990 (reference year for the MDGs, ﬁgures from 
World Health Organisation), the goal would be for these 
ﬁgures to rise to 73 % and 57% respectively in 2015. 
Furthermore, since the status report will have allowed 
these percentages – often in the form of estimates – 
to be calculated for the year in which the diagnostic 
appraisal was carried out, it will therefore also be pos-
sible to determine what remains to be achieved, identify 
how much progress is being made annually and, above 
all, establish (on the basis of the population) the impact 
in terms of the new infrastructures which need to be built 
and maintained. On that basis, the action plan can set 
out the nature and number of works to be completed 
in line with the available ﬁnancial resources, as well as 
envisage the necessary supporting measures (trainings, 
communication, etc…)

•  determines the choice of water service management 
system for drinking water distribution and for sanita-
tion in both urban and rural areas on the basis of the 
guidelines provided in the sector policy statement.

The most frequently used methods of manage-
ment  in  the  water  sector  are  direct  state  con-
trol and lease contracts. The adoption of one or the 
other depends on the country’s experience on each 
management system, its political choices and those of 
its government at that time, and its different possible 
capacities. 

 (cid:206)The most commonly used service management con-
tracts, which involve varying degrees of delegation, are 
listed in the table in Annexe 2 and Annexe 3.

In any event, the State must retain control over certain 
key elements such as water quality and pricing policy, 
bearing in mind that pricing policy will have an impact 
on the operator’s proﬁts.

 (cid:206)Some small centres in Rwanda, Madagascar, Uganda 
and Benin, have opted for delegated management 
instead.

 (cid:206)Establishes the pricing structure for the water sup-
ply and/or sanitation service in urban and rural areas 
on the basis of the guidelines provided in the sector 
policy statement.

28

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(cid:22)(cid:18)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:18)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:29)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:36)(cid:48)

A N N E X   1 .   D R A W I N G   U P   A N D   I M P L E M E N T I N G   A   R O A D M A P 

The World Bank has carried out a study 
on water pricing, the main ﬁndings of 
which are as follows:

 (cid:206) the  principle  of  a  social  pricing  structure 
whereby industrial users are charged more 
than domestic users is encouraged;

 (cid:206) as  regards  price  structure,  block  pricing 
arrangements whereby the first block of water 
consumed is supplied free of charge, or for 
a low flat rate, is also looked upon favoura-
bly. However, if the first block is charged at a 
flat rate, this is discriminatory to low consum-
ers who do not reach the required threshold 
usage;

 (cid:206) the highest operating costs are the costs of 

network extension and user connection;

 (cid:206) for this reason, users have to pay a connection 
charge, and this penalises the poorest people 
who, in addition, are sold water from a stand-
pipe which costs more than water distributed 
by the network;

 (cid:206) the  principle  of  block  pricing  means  that 
heavy consumers pay more, which enables 
good  recovery  of  running  costs,  but  not  of 
investment costs;

 (cid:206) sewerage fees are often included in water bills 
because this sub-sector often receives insuffi-
cient funding from the State budget. With the 
possible exception of irrigation water, where 
the amounts of water discharged are approx-
imately equal to the amounts drawn, a sew-
erage charge added to the water bill appears 
to be fair.

 (cid:206)Depending  on  the  complexity  or  sensitivity  of  the 
issue in the country in question, the choice of service 
management system and the issue of pricing could 
constitute whole areas of work in themselves.

In Senegal, the key player in the sub-sector is 
the  National  Sanitation  Utility  [Ofﬁce  national 
d’assainissement du Sénégal] (ONAS), an agency 
with the status of a public institution of an indus-
trial and commercial nature, which is responsible 
for the collection, treatment, recovery and dis-
posal of wastewater and rainwater in urban and 
suburban areas. In fact, ONAS also undertakes 
typically governmental activities such as planning 
and regulation. It proved necessary to develop 
and secure the sector’s ﬁnancial resources and 
to redeﬁne the role and responsibilities of ONAS 
in favour of delegating water service operation to 
local authorities or private companies.

In the Ivory Coast, a lease contract to supply 
drinking water in urban areas was awarded to 
SODECI (SAUR)* in 1991. In the area of sanita-
tion, SODECI is responsible for maintaining and 
operating sewerage and drainage networks and 
works exclusively in the town of Abidjan, in return 
for which it levies a sewerage charge which is 
included in users’ water bills.

*Note: The Ivory Coast Water Distribution Company 

(French acronym: SODECI) replaced its parent com-

pany SAUR [Urban and Rural Development Company] 

in 1960.

Access to water for the poorest people 
in suburban areas

Community management of water services has 
been developed as a solution in the most dis-
advantaged  suburban  areas.  The  populations 
in  these  areas  form  user  associations,  water 
committees,  community  assemblies  or  water 
cooperatives. The recipient population makes 
the investments, thereby compensating for the 
authorities’ inability to provide the service.

The absence of control measures to guarantee 
water quality, along with maintenance problems 
and the lack of sanitation, limit the success of 
solutions such as community management. The 
networks are not interconnected and, since each 
network has its own water supply system, there 
is no control over how the resources are used.

Making  changes  to  the  legal  and  institutional 
framework to enable community management 
and ensure that appropriate support is provided 
remains one of the sector’s greatest challenges.

(cid:58)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:20)(cid:17)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:21)(cid:28)

29

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R E F E R E N C E   D O C U M E N T   N O   7   —   W A T E R   S E C T O R   D E V E L O P M E N T   A N D   G O V E R N A N C E

Sector ﬁnancing and medium-term expenditure 
framework

The medium-term expenditure framework includes all 
the ﬁnancing requirements to achieve the intermediate 
sector policy objectives over the duration of an action 
plan. It covers, in particular:

•  the  costs  of  building  and  maintaining  infrastruc-
tures, pollution control etc. which are directly linked 
to objectives,

•  the costs of introducing and implementing institu-
tional,  legislative,  regulatory  and  normative  proc-
esses, matching the needs of the sector to human 
capacities (staff, skills) and materials, ensuring that 
there is sufficient knowledge and monitoring of water 
resources and generally promoting the sector.

This  working  group,  in  conjunction  with  the  sector 
strategy working group, prioritises the available ﬁnan-
cial resources, deﬁnes programme stages according 
to those priorities and formulates valid arguments to 
attempt to persuade sector partners to invest.

This group will also look at how to make the best use of 
resources across the whole sector.

In  Burkina  Faso,  the  government  and  nine 
donors  have  signed  a  Memorandum  of 
Understanding to implement the national pro-
gramme for drinking water supply and sanitation. 
Although there have been no ﬁrm commitments 
in terms of ﬁnancing, this move shows recogni-
tion of the framework set out by the government 
for the implementation of its sector programme 
and an interest in principle in ﬁnancing the sector.

Institutional capacity

By  means  of  the  sector  diagnosis,  the  sector-wide 
approach also aims to identify services where the exist-
ing human resources need to be strengthened to ensure 
that the whole sector has the capacity to operate at 
optimum level. Working groups in this area must, there-
fore, produce a capacity inventory and compile a list of 
human needs, which, depending on the country, can 
occupy all of a working group’s time.

Furthermore, it is clear that this working group would 
have to collaborate with other groups, such as those 
with strategy or budgetary responsibilities.

Implementation and monitoring modalities

Examining the modalities for implementing the sector-
wide approach makes it possible to determine control 
and coordination mechanisms (within each category of 
actors and between categories), rules, norms, stand-
ards (e.g. which models of latrine should be taken into 
account when calculating levels of access to improved 
sanitation) etc.

The  sector’s  performance  monitoring  system  is 
essential and should be established during the diagno-
sis. Working groups may request that further studies be 
carried out if necessary. A number of ‘families’ of indi-
cators can be identiﬁed (for example: action indicators, 
result indicators, public service performance indicators, 
ﬁnancial performance indicators, governance indicators 
etc. Waternet) and, depending on the sector objectives, 
the selected indicators should be used to monitor the 
implementation of the sector-wide approach from start 
to ﬁnish.

Information and communication

Communication and dissemination of information guar-
antee transparency and act as vehicles for reporting to 
the various actors in the sector, particularly water serv-
ice users.

Knowledge management and capitalisation of expe-
riences and results can be considered in connection 
with  access  to  information.  A  specially  constructed 
website dedicated to the process could represent an 
easy-to-use source of documentation which would be 
available to all. Modern technologies such as content 
management systems (e.g. Wiki) provide a large com-
munity of actors with an easy way to upload information 
to websites and share information amongst one another. 
Interfaces must also be provided for interlocutors who 
do not have access to IT equipment or the internet.

Communication  within  the  sector  must  also  include 
increasing user awareness, which will be achieved by 
alternative means such as posters, radio and television. 
Actors in the sector can use their experiences in the 
ﬁeld as part of communication campaigns: for exam-
ple, it is interesting to note that the improvement in water 
quality and the reduction in medical expenses incurred 
as a result of waterborne diseases have made certain 
groups, particularly in rural areas, more aware of the 
economic beneﬁt of funding the maintenance of water 
supply systems. Indeed, some people have suggested 
that for every euro invested in the sanitation sub-sector, 
eight euros are saved in the health sector.

Depending on the country in question, other areas of 
work, such as decentralisation or institutional reform, 
may be appropriate.

30

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(cid:22)(cid:18)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:18)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:29)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:36)(cid:48)

A N N E X   1 .   D R A W I N G   U P   A N D   I M P L E M E N T I N G   A   R O A D M A P 

 (cid:206)For countries which did not have a sector policy, or 
which chose to reformulate their sector policy dur-
ing the course of their sector diagnosis, gaining the 
approval of all the stakeholders is an essential stage 
in the process in terms of ownership. At the end of the 
approval process, the policy can be ratified by national 
authorities, such as the parliament, which may have 
had some involvement at the dialogue stage. Similarly, 
in order to make changes to the institutional and leg-
islative framework, it is generally necessary to adopt 
implementing laws and decrees.

 (cid:206)Although the stakeholder forum is the key decision-
making body in the process, round table meetings may 
be held throughout the year in order, for example, to at-
tract new financial contributions to the sector.

After the diagnosis, the steering committee coordi-
nates the dissemination of information based on the 
contributions made, without however changing the con-
tent. Its aim is to produce, with the help of the regional 
committees if they exist, a document which is consist-
ent across the different areas of work and which can 
ultimately form the basis of a text to be discussed at a 
future stakeholder forum. 

6.  Annual sector reviews  
(stakeholder forums)

Depending  on  the  country,  stakeholder  forums  are 
referred to as, inter alia, “annual sector reviews” or “joint 
reviews of the progress of the sector programme”.

Just as the working groups begin with many partici-
pants which decline as the process continues until only 
a hard core of the most motivated participants remain, 
the new stakeholder forums are likely to attract slightly 
different actors to those who were present at the launch 
of the process, in order to refocus on the real actors: 
the drivers of change and, conversely, those who are 
resisting the change expected to be brought about by 
governance.

Forum to approve the diagnosis and update  
the roadmap

The working group forums at which the diagnosis ﬁnd-
ings  are  reported  can  take  place  over  several  days. 
Additional workshops are run to help all the actors to 
reach a consensus, which will eventually lead to the 
endorsement by the government and other actors of 
long-term policies and priorities for the year in progress.

The  recommendations  of  the  working  groups  are 
amended and translated into resolutions. Those res-
olutions are then adopted by all the stakeholders.

This  is  the  case  in  Ethiopia,  where  the  three 
groups  each  identiﬁed  three  priorities  for  the 
sector. Those nine priorities, approved by all the 
actors,  became  resolutions  which  were  to  be 
implemented the following year.

The diagnosis ﬁndings also make it possible to update 
the roadmap and establish more speciﬁc objectives 
and ways forward than were possible at the ﬁrst forum. 
The annual review also provides the opportunity for the 
government,  cooperation  agencies  and  all  the  other 
actors to make joint pledges to implement the updated 
roadmap.

(cid:58)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:20)(cid:17)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:22)(cid:20)

31

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R E F E R E N C E   D O C U M E N T   N O   7   —   W A T E R   S E C T O R   D E V E L O P M E N T   A N D   G O V E R N A N C E

Subsequent annual reviews

In the years that follow during the period in question, 
more forums are held to take stock of the past, set new 
priorities, endorse the updated action plan, etc. Different 
working groups are created to meet the new needs of 
the sector.

Unlike the ﬁrst forum, which is a meeting of the different 
actors, subsequent annual reviews are more demanding 
as far as the accountable bodies and ofﬁcials are con-
cerned. Monitoring the sector-wide approach will actu-
ally point to the successes and failures of the activities 
implemented. Through collective learning, the different 
actors will report on the choices best suited to their par-
ticular level and identify ways in which the sector policy 
might be amended.

By way of example, the following diagram illustrates the 
cycle of the main stages of the sector-wide approach 
(year N), giving an indication of the months in year N in 
which activities take place.

 (cid:206)Even  in  the  case  that  the  initial  stages  of  imple-
mentation of a sector-wide approach do not com-
ply  with  the  most  basic  governance  principles  or 
with other aspects which seem to be institutional or 
legal preconditions, and even though progress has 
been slower than anticipated, it will be necessary to 
remain flexible to ensure that participants in the sec-
tor remain motivated.

At the end of each annual review, aide-mémoires should 
be produced, so that the progress made in the sector can 
be measured. Evaluation of the activities carried out and 
the initiatives taken since the launch of the national dia-
logue will also make a positive contribution to the proc-
ess of adopting a sector-wide approach. 

 (cid:206)At European Commission level, it may be advisable 
to feed the assessments carried out as part of Result 
Oriented Monitoring, mid-term reviews etc. into the 
sector agenda as far as possible.

Status report/ diagnosis

N-1

Ref. values and  
target values

MTEF N to N+2

Take stock  
N-1

January

Updated MTEF N+1  
to N+3

Budget requirement  
N+1

Year  
N

Sept.-Oct.

February

Annual review

March

32

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(cid:22)(cid:18)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:18)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:29)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:36)(cid:48)

A N N E X   2 .   G O V E R N A N C E :   A   S T A K E H O L D E R     A N A L Y S I S   M E T H O D O L O G Y

ANNEX 2.  GOVERNANCE: A STAKEHOLDER  

ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY

1.  Assessing the context of water 

governance

•  focus on the sector by the political governmentlegis-

lative and executive,

Documents assessing the general context of govern-
ance in the country (or region) often already exist and 
may prove useful when analysing the water sector. 

The assessment can be summarised in a table identify-
ing the key factors linked to that context and the sources 
of veriﬁcation, both at national level (or regional level in 
the case of river basin management) and at sector level.

The following general issues may prove relevant to the 
sector:

•  capacity of the institutional system (judicial and finan-

cial capacity in particular),

•  other information such as the management of public 
finances, depending on whether or not it has been 
the subject of reforms, the country’s position inter-
nationally, whether positive or negative: ratification of 
protocols, money laundering hub etc.

An example is provided in the table below.

Level

Key factors

Source of veriﬁcation

General weakness of the legislative  
and regulatory framework

Signiﬁcant delay in the promulgation  
of draft laws, implementing decrees are  
published long after the laws or are not 
published at all

National

Insufﬁcient State capacity, poor 
decentralisation

Signiﬁcance of the informal sector,  
poor access to services in rural areas

Effective parliamentary powers

Parliament has a genuine decision-making 
role in relation to the national budget and 
exercises its right to monitor government 
acts

Resistance of the Urban Water Agency 
(UWA) to separation of the State’s  
governing powers and service provision; 
lack of work maintenance; UWA’s Executive 
Director highly politicised

Sector

UWA has full powers (programming,  
service provision, cost recovery), poor 
access to water in towns and cities

Donors heavily involved in the sector,  
ongoing process of decentralisation

Signiﬁcant ﬁnancial commitments  
to the sector

2.  Inventory of the actors: interests, 

powers and motivations

This involves identifying the categories of actors who are 
or should be involved effectively – whether formally or 
informally – in governance or accountability.

The  categories  of  actors  are  as  follows:  non-State 
actors, supervisory and regulatory organisations, gov-
ernment and political system, public agencies in the 
sector, service providers and donors.

For  each  actor,  consideration  will  have  to  be  given  to 
whether they are on the “demand side of governance” or 
the “supply side”, i.e. a government body or ofﬁcial which 
should be accountable. The people on the demand side of 
governance are those who would beneﬁt from a change, 
whereas those on the supply side are the bodies or ofﬁcials 
with the formal means to effect the change.

Finally, it is appropriate to determine the interests and 
decision-making powers of each actor, as well as their 
motivation for change, as shown in the example below 
concerning the supply of drinking water in urban areas.

(cid:58)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:20)(cid:17)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:22)(cid:22)

33

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R E F E R E N C E   D O C U M E N T   N O   7   —   W A T E R   S E C T O R   D E V E L O P M E N T   A N D   G O V E R N A N C E

Actor

Supply side / 
demand side

Interests, powers

Motivation 
for change

Non-State actors

Water user  
associations

Demand side

Interest  in  transparent  management  in 
order to lower the cost of water. Powers of  
inﬂuence depend on number of “members”

Driver of 
change

Media

Demand side

Quest for the “sensational”: interest in cases 
of  poor  governance.  Very  considerable  
powers of disclosure

Driver of 
change

Supervisory and monitoring organisations

Audit authorities

Demand side

Own  governance  problems.  Legislation  
confers considerable institutional powers, but 
such powers are weak in practice

Poor driver  
of change

Government and political system

National Author-
ising Ofﬁcer

Supply side / 
demand side

Interest in effective cooperation with donors. 
Powers of inﬂuence over the Water Minister

Potential driver

Parliament 
(Water Sector 
Committee)

Supply side / 
demand side

Interest highly dependent on the committee 
members. Genuine legislative powers

Potential driver

Ministries and public agencies in the sector

Ministry of Water

Supply side

Urban Water 
Agency (UWA)

Supply side

Ministry  also  responsible  for  other  sectors 
(mining etc.), little interest in principle in the 
water sector, which is managed by the UWA. 
Key to achieving institutional reform

Resistance / 
potential driver 
of change

Interest  in  the  status  quo  to  ensure  
non-transparent management of sub-sector 
funds. Strong link between UWA’s Executive 
Director and the party in power

Strong resist-
ance to 
change

Regional  
Directorates for 
Water  
(decentralised)

Supply side

Budget  and  prerogatives  of  the  central 
administration.

Resistance to 
change

Service providers

UWA

Supply side

Multiple functions (see above)

Strong resist-
ance to 
change

Donors

European  
Commission

Supply side / 
demand side

Sector of concentration

Driver of 
change

Bilateral  
development 
agencies 

Supply side / 
demand side

Campaigns supporting decentralisation: the 
(deconcentrated) regional directorates could 
disappear

Drivers of 
change

34

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A N N E X   2 .   G O V E R N A N C E :   A   S T A K E H O L D E R   A N A L Y S I S   M E T H O D O L O G Y 

3.  Assessing the relationships 
between those who govern 
and the governed

Having identiﬁ ed the main actors in each sub-sector 
examined (in the example above, the supply of drinking 
water in urban areas only), consideration is now given 
to the relationships between them in terms of govern-
ance and accountability. Those who govern are on the 
supply side of governance and should be accountable 
to stakeholders, the governed, who on the demand side 
of governance.

 (cid:206)There are several possible ways of describing the 
relationships which exist between the actors: hier-
archical,  patrimonial,  market-based  and  voluntary 
network-based.

Supply side

Demand 
for governance

Accountability

Demand side

The result here is to show the relationships between 
actors through the use of diagrams.

The ﬁ gure below is a possible representation of the rela-
tionships between the actors referred to in the example 
above. The red bubbles and arrows indicate the main 
actors and relationships.

Context

•  Stong parliament,
•  Committed NSAs
•  Ongoing (but weak) 
decentralisation
•  UWA = agency 

and service provider

Government and 
political system
National Authoring Ofﬁ cer, 
Parliament

Supervisory and 
regulatory organisations
Audit authorities

Non-state actors
Water user associations, 
media

Core public agencies
Water ministries, UWA, 
regional directorates

Service providers
UWA

Donors
European Commission 
Bilateral agencies

Governance

Accountability

(cid:58)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:20)(cid:17)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:22)(cid:24)

35

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R E F E R E N C E   D O C U M E N T   N O   7   —   W A T E R   S E C T O R   D E V E L O P M E N T   A N D   G O V E R N A N C E

4.  Summary: assessment of  

readiness for governance reform

The ﬁnal stage of the analysis of governance in the sec-
tor consists in summarising the ﬁndings. The purpose 
of this consolidation exercise is to anticipate governance 
trends in the sector and measure the sector’s readiness 
for change.

In certain circumstances, if the sector does not appear 
ready to comply with the principles of governance, it 
might be more appropriate for the European Commission 
and the other technical and ﬁnancial partners to focus 
on support for civil society and the private sector, whilst 
maintaining dialogue with the key ministries and possible 
drivers of change within government, rather than support 
actors opposed to the principles of governance.

The table below summarises the analysis of governance in the example given above.

Characteristics

Strengths / 
opportunities

Weaknesses / 
threats

Trend

Context

•  Strong parliament,

•  Committed NSAs,

•  Ongoing 

(but weak) 
decentralisation,

•  UWA opposed to 

change

Decentralisation 
may require  
the complete  
reorganisation of  
the urban water  
sub-sector  
(disappearance  
of regional 
directorates)

The Executive 
Director of the 
UWA plays an 
inﬂuential role  
and is resistant  
to change

The decentralisation 
process will continue 
– this is an oppor-
tunity to make the 
authorities aware  
of the need to 
reform the UWA

Actors,  
interests and 
motivations

•  National 

Authorising 
Officer, parliament

•  water user 

associations,

•  Water Ministry

•  UWA: agency and 
service provider

•  donors

Possible inﬂuence 
of parliament, user 
associations, the 
National Authorising 
Ofﬁcer and donors 
on the Water 
Ministry

Reluctance on  
the part of the 
Water Minister 
to replace the 
Executive Director 
of the UWA

Governance 
relationships

Demands for  
governance are 
made by the users, 
the state apparatus 
and the donors to 
the Water Minister 
and the UWA

The demands  
for greater transpar-
ency are converg-
ing: establishment 
of a national dia-
logue could be a 
catalyst for change

Individually, those 
on the demand 
side of governance 
have less weight 
than governments 
resistant to change

General elections 
are planned in the 
medium term

Other  
factors

Political parties are 
more concerned 
about meeting  
citizens’ expecta-
tions in the run-up 
to elections

The re-election of 
the party in power 
could strengthen 
the government’s 
position in relation 
to its management 
of the sector

It will be difﬁcult  
to relieve the 
Executive Director 
of the UWA (who 
enjoys political  
support) of his 
duties. He could, 
however, ﬁnd himself 
isolated and have to 
negotiate with other 
actors

Unless work is  
carried out to raise 
awareness and 
coordinate the  
different drivers of 
change, the situation 
could remain the 
same for years yet

Trend depends in 
part on the election 
results

To ﬁnd out more…

For further details, please refer to the reference document “Addressing Governance in Sector Operations” 
produced by the European Commission  

36

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(cid:22)(cid:18)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:18)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:29)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:36)(cid:48)

A N N E X E   3 .   A R R A N G E M E N T S   F O R   W A T E R     S U P P L Y   A N D   S A N I T A T I O N   S E R V I C E   M A N A G E M E N T

ANNEXE 3.  ARRANGEMENTS FOR WATER 

SUPPLY AND SANITATION SERVICE 
MANAGEMENT

Public service delegation is a contractual arrangement 
under which a legal person in public law (a local author-
ity, for example) entrusts the management of a public 
service for which it is responsible to a public or private 
delegatee, whose remuneration is substantially linked to 
the results of its operation of the service. The delega-
tee can be commissioned to build structures or acquire 
goods necessary for the service. The key difference 
between a public work or supply contract and public 

service delegation lies in the method of remuneration.  
In the case of a public work or supply contract, payment 
is made immediately and in full by the public buyer.  
As far as public service delegation is concerned, remu-
neration is determined by the operation of the service.  
In all cases, the person under public law remains the 
owner of the installations, irrespective of whether or not 
they were built and ﬁnanced by a private company. 

(cid:58)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:20)(cid:17)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:22)(cid:26)

37

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R E F E R E N C E   D O C U M E N T   N O   7   —   W A T E R   S E C T O R   D E V E L O P M E N T   A N D   G O V E R N A N C E

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Reference Document N°7: Water Sector Development and Governance

Luxemburg: Publications Ofﬁce of the European Union

2010 – 38 p. – 21x29.7 cm

ISBN 978-92-79-14535-3

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