U.S. Water and Sanitation Aid: Millions of Beneficiaries Reported in Developing Countries, but Department of State Needs to Strengthen Strategic Approach
Published: 2010-09-24T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: The Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 (the Act) made access to safe water and sanitation for developing countries a U.S. foreign assistance policy objective. The United States provides such assistance mainly through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The Act requires the Secretary of State to develop a water and sanitation assistance strategy with the Administrator of USAID; designate high-priority countries for assistance; and report annually to Congress on, among other things, implementation of the strategy and progress toward the U.S. policy objective. As requested, in this report GAO (1) describes USAID's accomplishments; (2) describes USAID's obligations of funds for water and sanitation assistance in fiscal years 2006-2009; (3) assesses the Department of State's (State) development of a U.S. water and sanitation strategy; and (4) examines State's designation of high-priority countries. GAO reviewed State and USAID documents and data and obtained the views of State and USAID officials in Washington, D.C., and 15 countries.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: State reported that USAID provided a wide range of water and sanitation activities in 2006 through 2009, such as installing community water taps, building latrines, and constructing major water treatment plants. Nearly 11 million of more than 24 million reported water beneficiaries and nearly 6 million of more than 10 million reported sanitation beneficiaries were in USAID's Middle East and North Africa region. USAID obligations of funds for water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) activities increased by approximately 82 percent from fiscal year 2006 to 2009, with the majority of funding supporting WASH activities in three USAID regions--sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia and the Pacific. In fiscal years 2008 and 2009, about $337 million and $495 million, respectively, of USAID obligations for water and sanitation activities was attributed to meet annual congressional appropriations directives that no less than $300 million be obligated for those years. In fiscal year 2009, about 80 percent of the attributed funds were obligated in countries that State designated as high priority. State has taken steps to develop a water and sanitation strategy. In 2008, State and USAID issued a joint strategic framework that, according to State, largely comprises the broad current U.S. strategy. State also identified its annual water and sanitation reports to Congress in 2006 through 2009 as containing elements of this strategy. However, the strategic framework and annual reports do not include specific and measurable goals, benchmarks, and timetables, which the Act requires and which are needed to measure progress toward achieving the overall U.S. foreign assistance policy objective. Further, State has not provided an assessment--also required by the Act--of funding needed to achieve such goals, benchmarks, and timetables. In fiscal year 2008, State began to designate countries as high priority for water and sanitation assistance, designating 36 countries in 2008 and 31 countries in 2009. Nearly half of these countries were in sub-Saharan Africa and more than a quarter were in Asia and the Pacific. State said that in making the designations, it considered USAID mission plans for water and sanitation activities. In addition, State's annual reports to Congress identify factors that are reflected in the high-priority designations, including two criteria specified by the Act: need for improved access to water and sanitation and the existence of conditions that would support long-term sustainable results. Additional factors reflected in the designations include consistency with U.S. foreign policy priorities and compliance with statutory directives. However, GAO found that State's high-priority designations excluded several countries where USAID had provided water and sanitation assistance and included one country where USAID had not provided such assistance. Moreover, the designations for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 are not linked to verifiable analysis. As a result, the basis for State's designations of high-priority countries is unclear.
section_title: What GAO Recommends
paragraphs: GAO recommends that State (1) ensure that the strategy for U.S. water and sanitation assistance addresses all requirements, including goals and benchmarks, and (2) clearly identify, in its mandated reports, the basis for its designations of high-priority countries. State accepted GAO's recommendations.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: In dozens of developing countries around the world, a lack of access to  safe water and basic sanitation severely limits economic growth and  development and leads to suffering and death for millions each year. To  improve health and quality of life in developing countries, the United  States and many other countries, as well as numerous organizations, have  provided water and sanitation assistance for decades. The United States  has provided such assistance primarily through the U.S. Agency for  International Development (USAID) in three broad sectors: water supply,  sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); water resources management, which  includes natural resources management and protection of watersheds and  ecosystems; and water productivity, which includes management of water  for agriculture, energy, and industry. USAID supports such assistance in  all five of its geographic regions: Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Eurasia,  Latin America and the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East  and North Africa.
In December 2005, Congress passed the Senator Paul Simon Water for the  Poor Act of 2005 (the Act) to make access to safe water and sanitation for  developing countries a specific U.S. foreign assistance policy objective. In  annual appropriations legislation for fiscal years 2008 and 2009, Congress  directed that at least $300 million be obligated for specific activities  authorized by the Act, including at least $125 million for such activities in  sub-Saharan Africa.
The Act requires the Secretary of State, in consultation with the  Administrator of USAID, to develop and implement a strategy to further  the U.S. foreign assistance policy objective of providing affordable and  equitable access to safe water and sanitation in developing countries. This  strategy is to include, among other elements, (1) specific and measurable  goals, benchmarks, and timetables for achieving the U.S. water and  sanitation objective; (2) an assessment of the funding needed to achieve  this objective; and (3) designations of high-priority countries where there  is the greatest need for increased access to safe water and sanitation and  where assistance can be expected to make the greatest difference in  promoting several aspects of socioeconomic development. In addition,  the Act requires the Department of State (State) to submit periodic reports  to Congress on the implementation status of, or changes to, the strategy;  progress toward achieving the U.S. foreign assistance policy objective; and  amounts of USAID’s obligations of funds for water and sanitation  activities.
Responding to your request that we review the efforts of State and USAID  in providing WASH assistance worldwide, this report    describes USAID water and sanitation activities and reported    describes USAID obligations for water and sanitation activities in fiscal  years 2006 through 2009, including obligations attributed to meet  minimum annual appropriations directives in fiscal years 2008 and 2009;    assesses State’s development of a U.S. water and sanitation strategy as  required by the Act; and   examines State’s process for designating high-priority countries as  required by the Act.
To address these objectives, we reviewed reports, documents, and data  from, and obtained the views of officials at, State, USAID, and  nongovernmental organizations (NGO) headquarters in Washington, D.C.  We also reviewed U.S.-funded water and sanitation activities and  interviewed State, USAID, and NGO officials during visits to six  countries—Ecuador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Jordan, Kenya, and Sudan—which  represent three of five USAID regions. In addition, we reviewed country-  or region-specific information on water and sanitation provided by USAID  missions in nine countries: Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the  Congo, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kosovo, Lebanon, Pakistan, and the West  Bank and Gaza. We focused our review primarily on USAID funding and  activities for the WASH sector. We conducted this performance audit from  August 2009 through September 2010 in accordance with generally  accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we  plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to  provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our  audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a  reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our work  objectives. See appendix I for a detailed description of our objectives,  scope, and methodology.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: Access to clean water and basic sanitation is essential for human health  and socioeconomic development; lack of clean water and basic sanitation  increases the prevalence of disease, malnutrition, and gender disparities.  Every day, millions of people around the world consume drinking water  from sources such as rivers and ponds and use either no or unhygienic  sanitation facilities.
In passing the Act and making access to safe water and sanitation for  developing countries a specific policy objective of U.S. foreign assistance  programs, Congress emphasized the importance, and raised the profile, of  the need for improving access in many countries. The Act supports  activities that (1) expand affordable and equitable access to safe water and  sanitation for underserved populations; (2) support the design,  construction, maintenance, upkeep, repair, and operation of water  delivery and sanitation systems; (3) improve the safety and reliability of  water supplies, such as through environmental management; and (4)  improve the capacity of recipient governments and local communities,  such as through capacity-building programs for improved water resource  management.
In addition, the importance of access to water was recognized in  September 2000 with the ratification of the United Nations (UN)  Millennium Declaration, whereby many countries and leading  development institutions agreed to work toward meeting the needs of the  world’s poorest people. Among the declaration’s eight Millennium  Development Goals is that of halving, by 2015, the proportion of people  lacking sustainable access to safe drinking water from 1990 levels. In 2002,  the UN recognized the importance of sanitation with a declaration that  included the goal of halving, by 2015, the proportion of people without  access to basic sanitation, also from 1990 levels. A recent African  Development Bank study found that, at current rates of progress, these  targets for access to water and sanitation in sub-Saharan Africa will not be  met until 2040 and 2076, respectively.
U.S. government water- and sanitation-related activities are funded mainly  through USAID and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. USAID  obligates funding for water and sanitation activities primarily in three  water sectors: WASH, water resources management, and water  productivity. While the majority of USAID WASH activities are funded  through accounts such as Development Assistance, Economic Support  Fund, and Global Health and Child Survival, USAID also implements some  water- and sanitation-related activities under the International Disaster  Assistance and Title II Food for Peace accounts. USAID categorizes its  WASH activities into two broad types of interventions:  1.  direct service delivery, such as providing community stand pipes for  household water and building latrines, and 2. institutional, policy, and behavioral interventions, such as improving  operations of drinking-water service utilities and improving household-  and community-level hygiene.
USAID identifies accomplishments for its water and sanitation activities as  providing either access to an improved source or improved access.
Access to an improved source of safe water generally refers to first-time  access to a source of uncontaminated water, while access to improved  sanitation generally refers to first-time access to a simple pit latrine, septic  system, or similar type of improved sanitary facility.
Improved access to safe water generally refers to improvement of existing  access to safe water, resulting in access to an increased amount or better  quality of water. Improved access to sanitation generally refers to  improvement of an existing sanitation facility, such as construction of a  wastewater treatment plant for a public sewer system that had no existing  treatment plant.
In fiscal years 2008 and 2009, Congress directly linked the annual  appropriations directives to the Act, requiring USAID to obligate at least  $300 million for such activities, with the additional requirement that no  less than $125 million of the $300 million appropriations directives be  obligated in sub-Saharan Africa. USAID interprets the directives as  allowing obligations for most USAID WASH sector activities and for some  water resources management and water productivity sector activities to be  attributed to meet the directives’ requirements. However, the language of  the directives, and USAID’s interpretation of the directives, changed from  fiscal year 2008 to fiscal year 2009.
Fiscal year 2008. USAID interpreted the fiscal year 2008 appropriations  directive as allowing attribution of an obligation for an activity in the  water resources management or water productivity sector only if the  activity had an explicit linkage to a WASH sector outcome. USAID further  interpreted the fiscal year 2008 directive as allowing partial attribution in  an amount proportional to an activity’s direct linkage to WASH outcomes.  For example, if a USAID mission made obligations to construct a school,  including installing a public water tap and latrines, the mission could  reasonably argue that the funding for the water tap and latrines was  attributable to the appropriations directive even if other aspects of the  school’s construction were not.
Fiscal year 2009. USAID interpreted the fiscal year 2009 directive as  allowing attribution of an obligation for an activity in the water resources  management or water productivity sector without a direct linkage to  WASH outcomes.
Figure 1 illustrates the attribution of USAID funding for water and  sanitation activities to meet the annual appropriations directives for fiscal  years 2008 and 2009.
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
section_title: USAID Implements Wide Range of WASH Assistance, with Largest Numbers of Beneficiaries in Middle East and North Africa Region
subsections: section_title: Largest Numbers of Beneficiaries Were Reported in USAID’s Middle East and North Africa Region
paragraphs: In fiscal years 2006 through 2009, about 45 percent of reported  beneficiaries of USAID water and sanitation assistance—almost 11 million  of the more than 24 million beneficiaries worldwide—were in the agency’s  Middle East and North Africa region (see fig. 4).
Most reported beneficiaries of USAID sanitation activities in this period  also were in the Middle East and North Africa region (see fig. 5). USAID  reported nearly 6 million beneficiaries in this region—about 53 percent of  the more than 10 million total reported beneficiaries of the agency’s  sanitation activities worldwide.
section_title: Reported USAID Water and Sanitation Beneficiaries Fluctuated Annually for Two Key Reasons
paragraphs: The numbers of beneficiaries of USAID water and sanitation activities  reported for fiscal years 2006 through 2009 fluctuated widely (see table 1).
USAID officials identified two key reasons for the yearly fluctuations in  the reported beneficiaries: a revision of the indicators used to report  results, and the approach used in reporting on projects with multiyear  time frames.
Revised indicators. A change in the indicators used to report  beneficiaries of USAID water and sanitation activities resulted in  substantial differences in the numbers of water beneficiaries reported for  fiscal years 2006 and 2007, according to State and USAID officials. For  fiscal year 2006, as for prior years, USAID reported the numbers of people  gaining first-time access, as defined in the UN Millennium Development  Goal, to an existing drinking water source or sanitation facility as well as  those gaining improved access. For fiscal year 2007, USAID reported only  the numbers of people gaining first-time access to an improved source of  drinking water, such as a protected water well, and numbers of people  gaining first-time access to an improved sanitation facility, such as a  latrine. According to USAID and State officials, the indicator used for 2007  can be a more challenging target to meet in generating numbers of  beneficiaries. According to USAID officials, the decrease in water  beneficiaries reported for fiscal year 2007 that resulted from the change in  the reporting indicator does not fully reflect the agency’s overall  accomplishments.
Multiyear project time frames. Results for some major water and  sanitation project activities, such as water and wastewater treatment  facility construction, are reported only when the facilities become  operational—often several years after the projects are initiated—causing  sudden increases in reported beneficiaries. For example, according to  USAID officials, the Jordan mission reported beneficiaries of a major  water treatment plant after its completion in 2008, although planning and  construction of the plant had begun several years previously.
section_title: USAID Funding for Water and Sanitation Increased, Exceeding Minimum Annual Congressional Requirements
subsections: section_title: USAID Obligations for Water and Sanitation Activities Rose from 2006 to 2009, with Largest Increase in Middle East and North Africa Region
paragraphs: USAID obligations for WASH activities rose from $265 million in fiscal  year 2006 to $482 million in fiscal year 2009—an increase of nearly 82  percent (see fig. 6). According to State’s June 2008 annual report to  Congress, the increased obligations for WASH activities reflect the  growing U.S. commitment to reduce water-related diseases and to increase  access to safe drinking water and sanitation in countries with critical  needs. State’s June 2008 report also notes that in some instances, the  increased obligations for WASH activities resulted in decreased emphasis  on activities in other critical development sectors, including water  resources management and water productivity.
In fiscal years 2006 through 2009, USAID obligated a combined total of 89  percent, on average, of annual WASH funding in three of its regions—the  Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia and the  Pacific—and obligations for WASH activities in these regions increased  overall. In Europe and Eurasia and in Latin America and the Caribbean,  USAID’s other two regions, the agency obligated a combined total of 7  percent, on average, of its annual WASH funding, and obligations  decreased overall.
Middle East and North Africa. Obligations increased by about 200  percent, from $59 million in fiscal year 2006 to $177 million in fiscal year  2009. During the 4-year period, both total obligations and the percentage of  increase were higher than in USAID’s other regions.
Sub-Saharan Africa. Obligations increased by nearly 104 percent, from  $81 million in fiscal year 2006 to $165 million in fiscal year 2009.
Asia and the Pacific. Obligations increased by about 197 percent, from  $36 million in fiscal year 2006 to $107 million in fiscal year 2009.
Europe and Eurasia. Obligations decreased by approximately 71 percent,  from about $7 million in fiscal year 2006 to about $2 million in fiscal year  2009.
Latin America and the Caribbean. Obligations decreased by  approximately 2 percent, from about $13.7 million in fiscal year 2006 to  about $13.5 million in fiscal year 2009.
Figure 7 shows USAID obligations for WASH activities in the five USAID  regions in fiscal years 2006 through 2009. (App. III provides information on  USAID water and sanitation obligations, as well as UN-reported access to  improved water and sanitation, by country.)
section_title: Attributed USAID Obligations Exceeded Appropriations Directives for WASH Activities Worldwide and in Sub- Saharan Africa
paragraphs: In fiscal years 2008 and 2009, the amounts of obligated funds that USAID  attributed to meet the annual appropriations directives for water and  sanitation activities pursuant to the Act exceeded the minimum amounts  required in the directives. To meet the annual directive to obligate not less  than $300 million for WASH activities worldwide, USAID attributed about  $337 million in fiscal year 2008 and about $495 million in fiscal year 2009.  Those amounts included about $136 million in fiscal year 2008 and about  $153 million in fiscal year 2009 for sub-Saharan Africa, which USAID  attributed to meet the annual directive to obligate not less than $125  million for projects in sub-Saharan Africa.
Figure 8 shows amounts that USAID attributed in fiscal year 2009 to meet  the directive to obligate not less than $300 million for WASH activities  globally.  (5.0%) (80.5%)
Water supply, sanitation, and  hygiene (WASH)
section_title: Most USAID Obligations Attributed to Meet Fiscal Year 2009 Appropriations Directive Were for High- Priority Countries
paragraphs: Of the approximately $495 million of fiscal year 2009 obligations that  USAID attributed to meet the overall annual appropriations directive for  WASH activities, about $397 million (80 percent) was obligated in the 31  countries designated as high priority. About $36 million (7 percent) was  obligated in 26 countries not designated as high priority, and another $61  million (12 percent) was obligated for USAID regional activities and other  programs. Five high-priority countries—the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan,  Pakistan, Sudan, and Afghanistan—received obligations totaling about  $269 million (54 percent). (See fig. 9.) According to State and USAID  officials, USAID obligated substantial amounts for water and sanitation  activities in these five countries because of the countries’ strategic  importance in relation to U.S. foreign policy and because of the relatively  high amounts of overall foreign assistance funding allocated to these  countries.
section_title: Some USAID Missions Altered Activities or Reporting after Passage of the Act
paragraphs: About half of the USAID missions that we contacted reported  implementing different types of WASH activities following the passage of  the Act and related annual appropriations directives. In our structured  interviews with officials at 15 missions in countries where USAID made  obligations for WASH activities in fiscal year 2009, 7 missions reported  having changed the types of activities they implemented. For example:    USAID mission officials in Sudan reported that they began implementing  new WASH activities after being directed by USAID headquarters, soon  after the Act was passed, to increase obligations for WASH activities.  According to these officials, beginning in fiscal year 2008, the mission  began activities such as installing community water taps and providing  hygiene and water purification training within their long-term  development portfolio while concurrently decreasing obligations for  shorter-term water and sanitation activities supported by disaster- and  emergency-related funding.
USAID mission officials in Kenya reported that after the passage of the  Act, USAID headquarters directed the mission to obligate approximately  $4 million for activities that could be attributed to meet the appropriations  directive in fiscal year 2006. The officials said that although the mission  had not previously implemented such activities, it quickly developed and  began implementing activities such as constructing public water taps and  latrines in urban areas and building sand dams to improve water access in  rural areas. USAID Kenya officials also noted that some obligations that  are currently attributed to meet the minimum amounts required by  Congress in the appropriations directive were previously used for other  mission activities, such as promoting economic growth.
The other seven missions that responded to our structured interviews  reported that the passage of the Act and related annual appropriations  directives had had little or no effect on the types or numbers of their  activities but had affected the way they reported the results of their  activities. For example:    USAID officials in Jordan reported that the mission began categorizing the  results of long-standing activities differently, so that obligations could be  attributed to meet the annual appropriations directives. According to the  officials, the mission has continued implementing the same general types  and numbers of activities—such as the construction of large-scale water- treatment facilities for urban populations in Amman and Aqaba—that it  implemented prior to passage of the Act.
USAID officials in Ecuador reported that the mission recategorized  existing activities so that obligations for these activities could be  attributed to the appropriations directives. According to the officials, the  mission recategorized municipal development activities—including  constructing potable water systems in small cities and building household  sanitation facilities in rural areas—that the mission had been  implementing for more than a decade as part of a program to assist local  governments in improving infrastructure.
section_title: State’s Current Water and Sanitation Strategy Lacks Required Elements Needed to Measure Progress
subsections: section_title: State Has Broad Strategy to Provide Affordable and Equitable Access to Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries
paragraphs: In a strategic framework developed jointly with USAID, and in its annual  reports to Congress on U.S. water and sanitation assistance, State has  presented a broad strategy for furthering the U.S. foreign assistance  objective of providing affordable and equitable access to safe water and  sanitation in developing countries, as required by the Act.
In June 2008, State announced a joint State-USAID strategic framework for  water and sanitation that, according to State and USAID officials,  represents the current U.S. water and sanitation strategy. Among other  things, the framework highlighted five WASH activity areas for focusing  U.S. investments:    strengthening capacity and sustainability of small-scale service providers;  improving the operating environment, operations and financial  sustainability of certain utilities;   mobilizing capital for infrastructure development;  improving household- and community-level hygiene and sanitation; and integrating water supply and sanitation with humanitarian and disaster- related assistance.
In announcing the strategic framework, State noted that the U.S. strategy  fully embraced the priorities and guiding initiatives of the Act, represented  the overarching strategic framework for U.S. water sector efforts, and  included the guiding principles for strategic action in the water sector. The  framework also includes discussions of other strategy-related issues. For  example, the framework describes the need to balance U.S. country-level  water-sector programs within the context of the overall U.S. assistance  portfolio in the country and notes the importance of having good  information for monitoring and evaluation of strategic plans.
Before and after the issuance of the joint strategic framework in 2008,  State’s annual reports to Congress presented various water- and  sanitation-related goals and objectives but noted that the development of a  U.S. water and sanitation strategy is ongoing. For example, the June 2006  report outlined three objectives for overall U.S. water and sanitation  assistance:  increase access to, and effective use of, safe water and sanitation;  improve water resources management and water productivity; and  improve water security by strengthening cooperation on shared waters.
However, State noted in the report that the information did not represent a  final statement of the U.S. water and sanitation strategy but, instead,  represented the beginning of a long-term process to develop and  implement a strategy. Since 2006, State’s annual reports to Congress have  regularly described various modifications to the stated objectives for  water and sanitation, noting that the modifications were intended to build  on the existing strategy. For example, in issuing the joint strategic  framework in 2008, State noted that the framework was to be considered a  work in progress rather than a final strategy and, in its 2009 report, State  acknowledged that it was continuing to build on the existing strategy.
section_title: State’s Strategy Lacks Key Elements Needed to Assess Progress in Meeting U.S. Foreign Assistance Objective for Water and Sanitation Assistance
paragraphs: State has not developed specific and measurable goals, benchmarks, and  timetables to assess its progress. Moreover, State has not developed an  estimate of funding needed for the United States to achieve its overall  foreign assistance policy objective.
State’s annual reports to Congress in fiscal years 2006 through 2009 do not  include performance measures, and the reports acknowledge that the  development of performance measures for U.S. water and sanitation  assistance is still in progress. For example:    Fiscal year 2006. In June 2006, State reported that it planned to begin  developing metrics for measuring progress and establishing time lines for  completing programs and projects.
Fiscal year 2007. State’s June 2007 report does not include metrics, time  lines, or other performance measures. In the report, State notes that  developing measurements for monitoring and assessing progress is  particularly challenging in the water sector due to, among other things,  questionable data quality and reliability as well as difficulty in correlating  the outputs of specific activities with the results achieved at the local,  regional, or national levels.
Fiscal years 2008 and 2009. State’s reports in June 2008 and 2009 include  descriptive information for some high-priority countries and geographic  regions, and the 2009 report includes some quantitative performance  measures for some countries. However, neither report contains  comprehensive metrics, timelines, or other performance measures needed  to assess overall progress.
In addition, State has not developed an assessment of funding needed to  achieve the U.S. water and sanitation objective, as required by the Act.  Such an assessment would involve developing metrics (i.e., specific and  measurable goals to be met within certain time frames) from which  estimated funding levels could be determined. According to State officials,  such country-level specific and measurable goals, timetables, and  benchmarks for water and sanitation have been developed by USAID  missions in some countries since 2009 and are currently being developed  in other countries. State officials also noted that WASH obligations have  exceeded the minimum required amounts in the annual appropriations  directives for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 and that USAID water and  sanitation activities implemented with these funds have continued to  generate additional beneficiaries. However, State and USAID officials  acknowledged that a comprehensive assessment of funding needed to  achieve the U.S. objective cannot be developed without a quantifiable  overall U.S. goal for WASH activities. As of September 2010, such a goal  had not been specified.
section_title: State Began Designating High- Priority Countries in 2008, but Basis of Designations Is Unclear
subsections: section_title: State’s Annual Reports to Congress Identify High- Priority Countries
paragraphs: State’s annual reports to Congress in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 identify  countries designated as high priority for water and sanitation assistance,  as required by the Act. The 2008 report lists 36 countries designated as  high priority for fiscal year 2008, and the 2009 report lists 31 countries  designated as high priority for fiscal year 2009 (see fig. 10). In both years,  nearly half of the countries identified as high priority were in USAID’s sub- Saharan Africa region; more than a quarter were in the Asia and the Pacific  region; and one country, Haiti, was in the Latin America and the Caribbean  region.
section_title: State Identified Factors That Influence High- Priority Designations
paragraphs: The joint State-USAID strategic framework and State’s annual reports to  Congress identify a number of factors, including the two criteria specified  in the Act, that influenced the designations of high-priority countries for  fiscal years 2008 and 2009.
A country’s level and type of need for water and sanitation (specified in  the Act)
Conditions in the country that would support long-term sustainable results  (specified in the Act)
The U.S. comparative advantage, such as level of expertise, relative to that    Opportunities to leverage U.S. foreign assistance through partnerships and  similar mechanisms with other donors and partners   Consistency with U.S. foreign policy priorities    Compliance with statutory directives that affect foreign assistance  According to the joint strategic framework and State’s annual reports,  USAID missions generally consider all of these factors, in consultation  with host governments, in planning for water and sanitation activities as  part of the missions’ overall development portfolios. In turn, as noted in  the framework and annual reports, and according to a key State official,  State considers USAID missions’ water and sanitation plans in designating  high-priority countries.
section_title: State’s Basis for Designating High-Priority Countries and Designations’ Relation to USAID Mission Allocations Are Unclear
paragraphs: The extent to which State considers USAID missions’ water and sanitation  plans in designating high-priority countries is unclear. In addition, State’s  designations are not clearly linked to verifiable analysis.
Role of mission plans in State’s designation process is unclear.  State officials said that they considered USAID mission plans in making  high-priority designations. However, in our structured interviews with  senior USAID officials at missions in 15 countries as well as our review of  USAID mission plans, we found several missions where State’s  designations did not reflect USAID mission planning for water and  sanitation activities. For example, in Kosovo, which was designated as  high-priority for fiscal year 2009, the mission’s plans did not include water  and sanitation activities. In contrast, the missions’ plans in Ecuador and  Egypt, which were not designated as high priority, included a significant  number and range of such activities. For example, the Ecuador mission’s  fiscal year 2009 plans included construction of drinking water supply and  sanitation systems, protection of watersheds, and management of water  resources. Similarly, for fiscal year 2009, the Egypt mission planned to  invest in technology to supply water for Bedouin communities and to  provide technical assistance to increase water use efficiency and  productivity, among other things.
High-priority designations are not clearly linked to verifiable  analysis. The strategic framework and the annual reports do not include  evidence of systematic or verifiable analysis that State conducted in  examining underlying USAID missions’ plans for water and sanitation  activities. In addition, the framework and reports do not specify the basis  for State’s designations of high-priority countries. Although the strategic  framework and annual reports emphasize that missions may consider a  number of factors in planning and allocating resources for water and  sanitation activities, the documents do not identify USAID missions’  processes for recording and quantifying the specific factors considered or  the relative weights given these factors and do not identify State’s  consideration of the factors. A State official acknowledged that State’s  review of missions’ water and sanitation plans and activities generally are  not based on systematic analysis.
In addition, we found that average percentages of USAID mission budgets  allocated for WASH activities did not reflect countries’ designations as  high priority and that missions were often unaware of the designations.
USAID missions’ allocations for WASH activities do not reflect  high-priority designations. Among countries where funding attributable  to the annual appropriations directives was obligated for water and  sanitation assistance in fiscal year 2009, the average percentage of USAID  mission budgets allocated for WASH activities in high-priority countries  did not differ significantly from the average percentage allocated in non- high-priority countries. USAID missions in high-priority countries  allocated an average of about 3.2 percent for WASH activities, while  USAID missions in non-high-priority countries allocated an average of  about 3.1 percent of their budgets for such activities.
USAID missions are often unaware of high-priority designations. At  missions in 11 of 13 high-priority countries where we conducted  structured interviews, senior USAID officials were unaware of, and had  not been consulted about, the country’s designation. Officials at USAID  headquarters acknowledged that, although State coordinates and consults  with USAID on a wide range of water- and sanitation-related issues at the  headquarters levels, USAID missions may not be aware of the designation  process.
section_title: High-Priority Designations Are Not Consistently Associated with Countries’ Need for Water and Sanitation
paragraphs: The designations of high-priority countries in State’s 2008 report are not  consistently associated with data on need for water and sanitation. State’s  2008 and 2009 annual reports both note that to identify a country’s level of  need for water and sanitation, among the other factors it considered in  prioritizing water and sanitation assistance, USAID referred to 2008 data  published jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United  Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). However, the countries designated  as high priority for fiscal year 2009 exclude 4 of the 10 countries that UN  data show with greatest need for access to improved water sources, as  well as 7 of the 10 countries that UN data show with greatest need for  access to improved sanitation. Figure 11 shows the 10 countries that the  UN ranked as having the greatest need for improved water and sanitation,  respectively, including those countries designated as high priority in  State’s 2008 report.
Moreover, as shown in figure 12, a number of the 31 countries that State  designated as high priority for fiscal year 2009 are not among those that  2008 UN data show as having the greatest need for water or sanitation.  For example:  In 5 of the 31 countries designated as high priority—Lebanon, Georgia,  Armenia, Jordan, and the West Bank and Gaza—at least 89 percent of the  population had access to both improved water and sanitation.
In 12 of the 31 countries designated as high priority, at least 75 percent of  the population had access to improved water, and in 24 of the countries,  more than half of the population had such access.
In 6 of the 31 high-priority countries, at least 75 percent of the population  had access to improved sanitation, and in 11 of the countries, at least half  the population had such access.
In response to these observations, State officials said that a variety of  issues are involved in considering level of need. For example, the officials  stated that in Jordan, although a relatively high percentage of the  population have access to safe water and improved sanitation, the use of  surface and ground water for vital economic development, including  agricultural purposes, has made water increasingly scarce—resulting in  low per capita water availability. Likewise, in India, although a relatively  large percentage of the population have access to safe water and improved  sanitation, more than 100 million people lack such access.
section_title: Conclusions
paragraphs: The Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 established the  U.S. foreign assistance policy objective of providing access to safe water  and sanitation in developing countries. Since fiscal year 2006, State has  annually reported to Congress, as required by the Act, on USAID’s  provision of water and sanitation assistance that has benefited millions in  developing countries. Reflecting growing U.S. government attention to  global water and sanitation needs, USAID obligations for WASH  activities—totaling more than $1 billion in fiscal years 2006 through 2009— increased substantially, with the greatest increases in the agency’s North  Africa and the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia and the Pacific  regions. In addition, USAID obligations for certain water and sanitation  activities exceeded the annual appropriations directive in fiscal year 2009  by a significant amount.
However, although State has taken steps to develop the water and  sanitation strategy required by the Act, the documents comprising the  strategy—State’s annual reports to Congress and the 2008 joint State- USAID strategic framework—do not include specific and measurable  goals, benchmarks, and timetables for U.S. water and sanitation assistance  or an assessment of needed funding. As a result, it is difficult to assess the  extent to which USAID’s reported accomplishments and funding levels  further the U.S. foreign assistance policy objective.
Additionally, because State’s fiscal year 2008 and 2009 reports to Congress  on water and sanitation activities do not clearly identify the basis for its  designations of high-priority countries, it is not possible to determine the  extent to which the designations meet the criteria put forward in the Act.  In particular, the reports do not clearly show the relation of State’s high- priority designations to USAID’s planned activities and reported funding.  In addition, although the reports list factors such as a country’s level of  need—one of the criteria specified in the Act—that may influence State’s  high-priority designations, the reports do not identify the specific factors  that influenced the designations for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 or identify  an objective and verifiable process for weighing these factors.
section_title: Recommendations for Executive Action
paragraphs: To enable State to fulfill requirements in the Senator Paul Simon Water for  the Poor Act of 2005, we recommend that the Secretary of State, in  consultation with the Administrator of USAID, take the following two  actions:    Ensure that the U.S. water and sanitation strategy addresses all  components required by the Act, including specific and measurable goals,  benchmarks, and timetables for achieving the U.S. foreign assistance  objective of providing affordable and equitable access to safe water and  sanitation in developing countries.
Explain, in the mandated annual reports to Congress, the basis for  designations of countries as high priority for water and sanitation  assistance, including specific factors considered—in particular, the two  criteria established by the Act—as well as any process used to weigh such  factors.
section_title: Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
paragraphs: We sent a draft of this report to State and USAID for their review. Both  provided written comments, which we reproduced in appendixes IV and V,  respectively. State and USAID also provided technical comments that we  incorporated as appropriate.
In their written comments, State and USAID accepted our findings and  State accepted our recommendations. Both State and USAID noted that  they had begun to review their current efforts and to address the issues  raised in our report. State observed that it and USAID designate as  “priority” those countries where water or sanitation is a key component of  the U.S. development strategy. State also noted that the designations are  driven primarily by the significance of water or sanitation challenges to  the country’s socioeconomic development and the likelihood that U.S.  assistance can make a meaningful difference. Our report acknowledges  that a number of factors are considered in the designations of high-priority  countries. However, we maintain that the precise basis for such  designations should be more transparent.
As we agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the contents  of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution of it until 6 days from  the date of this letter. At that time, we will send copies of this report to the  Secretary of State; the Administrator, USAID; and interested congressional  committees. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on the  GAO Web site at http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact me  at (202) 512-3149 or gootnickd@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of  Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page  of this report. Individuals who made key contributions to this report are  listed in appendix VI.
section_title: Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
paragraphs: We were asked to review efforts of the Department of State (State) and the  U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to respond to  requirements in the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005  (the Act). This report  1.  describes USAID’s water and sanitation activities and reported  2.  describes USAID obligations for water and sanitation activities in fiscal  years 2006 through 2009, including obligations attributed to meet  annual appropriations directives in fiscal years 2008 and 2009;  3.  assesses State’s development of a U.S. water and sanitation strategy as  required by the Act; and  4.  examines State’s process for designating high-priority countries as  required by the Act.
As agreed with our congressional requesters, we focused our review on  USAID funding and activities in the water supply, sanitation, and hygiene  (WASH) sector and excluded assistance provided through the Millennium  Challenge Corporation from the scope of our work.
In addressing these objectives, we reviewed the Act and related  appropriations directives, as well as State, USAID, and nongovernmental  organization (NGO) reports (including State and USAID annual reports),  documents, and data, and interviewed officials of these organizations in  Washington, D.C. We met several times with officials at State and USAID  to discuss their responsibilities, activities, progress, and challenges in  implementing the Act. We also reviewed reports from the Congressional  Research Service and the United Nations’ (UN) annual progress reports on  the UN Millennium Development Goals. We reviewed reports from several  NGOs and interest groups in Washington, D.C., including CARE USA,  Center for Strategic and International Studies Global Strategy Institute,  International Housing Coalition, Water Advocates, Woodrow Wilson  International Center for Scholars, and World Wildlife Fund, among others.  In addition, we reviewed and analyzed the authorizing legislation for the  Act and congressional committee reports, as well as various USAID policy  documents and implementing guidance.
We selected 15 countries for our review, as part of a judgmental sample of  countries where USAID had obligated funding for assistance associated  with the Act. To objectively select the sample of countries, we analyzed  various criteria and concluded that the following were most relevant: (1)  levels of funding for WASH activities; (2) geographic dispersion among  USAID’s five regions; and (3) magnitude of water- and sanitation-related  needs according to UN Millennium Development Goal indicators.
From September 2009 to February 2010, we visited 6 of the 15 countries— Ecuador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Jordan, Kenya, and Sudan—which represent  three of USAID’s five regions. In each country we reviewed U.S.-funded  water and sanitation project activities and priorities and interviewed  USAID officials. Additionally, in Jordan, we met with government officials  from the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, and in Sudan, we met with  officials from the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation and the  Southern Sudan Urban Water Corporation. We also interviewed USAID  implementing partners in the 6 countries, including the International  Organization for Migration and the Fund for the Protection of Water in  Ecuador; Development Alternatives, Inc., Mercy Corps, and ECODIT, Inc.,  in Jordan; Winrock International and Louis Berger Group in Sudan; Water  and Sanitation for the Urban Poor, the Aga Khan Foundation East Africa,  the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, and CARE USA in Kenya;  and CARE USA, the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children  United States, and the Relief Society of Tigray in Ethiopia. We met briefly  with officials of CHF International and the International Organization for  Migration in Haiti but were unable to obtain detailed information owing to  an earthquake on January 12, 2010, which coincided with our visit.
In addition, we reviewed country- or region-specific information on water  and sanitation activities for USAID missions in 9 of the 15 countries:  Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, India,  Indonesia, Kosovo, Lebanon, Pakistan, and the West Bank and Gaza. We  collected comparable information for these countries by conducting  structured interviews with mission officials in each country via telephone  or e-mail. However, because we judgmentally selected the sample of  USAID missions for the structured interviews, our findings from these  interviews cannot be generalized to all USAID missions.
To describe funding obligations and reported beneficiaries, we reviewed  numerous data sources. To review funding obligations for water and  sanitation and compare these data with country statistics, we collected  and examined data on obligations from State’s annual reports to Congress  and from data provided by USAID. We collected and examined USAID  mission budget data published in annual State Foreign Operations  Congressional Budget Justifications to determine the percentage of each  mission’s budget that was allocated to WASH activities. We also collected  country-specific World Bank population data, to calculate the amount of  WASH obligations in each country on a per-capita basis. To review and  describe reported beneficiaries, we analyzed country-specific data  published by the UN World Health Organization and the UN Children’s  Fund (WHO/UNICEF) Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and  Sanitation on (1) the proportion of the population with access to an  improved source of drinking water and (2) the proportion of the  population with access to an improved sanitation facility. We did not  conduct an independent data reliability assessment of the data published  in the UN report. However, because both State and USAID use these UN- published data and, according to State and USAID officials, these data are  sufficiently reliable for use in their reports, we determined the data from  these sources to be sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this report.
We conducted this performance audit from August 2009 through  September 2010 in accordance with generally accepted government  auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the  audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable  basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We  believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our  findings and conclusions based on our work objectives.
section_title: Appendix II: Observations from Visits to USAID Missions and Activities in Six Countries
paragraphs: During our visits to six countries in three of USAID’s five regions,  we  observed USAID water and sanitation activities such as hygiene education  for children and construction of latrines for individual households,  community water supply systems, and urban wastewater treatment  systems.
Figure 13 shows the six countries we visited.
Figures 14 through 19 present observations from our site visits.
We visited Ecuador and Haiti in the Latin America and the Caribbean region; Jordan in the  Middle East and North Africa region; and Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan in the sub-Saharan  Africa region. We chose these 6 countries, among the 15 selected for our review, because  they met our criteria (see app. I) and represented three of five—that is, the majority—of  USAID-defined regions.
subsections: section_title: Ethiopia
paragraphs: Ethiopia. We visited the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia where USAID’s  activities included constructing borehole wells and water taps and teaching basic  hand-washing and hygiene techniques in rural communities. Residents of several  communities in this region told us that, in addition to improving the quantity and  quality of water supplies, the wells and taps had improved the lives of women and  girls, who are typically responsible for obtaining water for their families. The  residents noted that, because women and girls no longer have to walk for several  hours each day—sometimes as far as 4 or 5 miles each way—to obtain water, they  are less susceptible to injury from carrying water over rugged terrain, are less  vulnerable to attacks in insecure areas, and have more time and energy to attend  school. The photos below show a community water tap and a woman  demonstrating hand-washing techniques taught by an Ethiopian nongovernmental  organization that had received USAID funding.
Jordan. We visited a wastewater treatment facility under construction in  northern Jordan and sites with household water cisterns on the outskirts of  Amman. According to USAID officials, the recycled wastewater from the  treatment facility in northern Jordan would be used for agricultural irrigation,  thus increasing the availability of potable water for household needs. This  project highlights USAID’s focus on water conservation in an arid region. At  another site, a municipality had installed water meters to track usage and  improve water use collection fees. In addition, we visited other sites where  homeowners had received water cisterns as part of rainwater catchment  systems for household use. The beneficiaries told us that, because local  aquifers are being depleted rapidly due to population increases, the water  cisterns have become increasingly important for providing household water.  The photos below show a water meter for an urban household and a family’s  water cistern funded by USAID.
section_title: Kenya
paragraphs: Kenya. We visited several sites in Kenya where USAID is conducting a wide  variety of water and sanitation activities. In Kibera, an urban slum near  Nairobi—the second largest slum in Africa—USAID funds have been used to  install community water taps and public shower and latrine facilities. In  contrast, we visited a sparsely populated area in the arid Mwingi District, east  of the capital Nairobi, where USAID funds have been used to construct basic  sand dams in river beds. The sand dam captures rainwater and reduces the  rate at which rainfall runs off, thereby raising the water table and increasing  water availability for households and livestock during several months of the dry  season. The photos below show a water tap in Kibera and a sand dam in  Mwingi District, Kenya.
section_title: Sudan
paragraphs: Sudan. In southern Sudan, we visited several types of water and sanitation  activities in the city of Juba. At one of the sites, a facility for loading treated  water onto tanker trucks was under construction. According to USAID officials,  when this facility becomes operational, tanker trucks will deliver clean water to  residents instead of the raw, contaminated river water that tanker trucks  currently deliver. At another site, we observed a staff member of a  USAID-funded NGO demonstrate proper hygiene and water-purification  techniques to women and children at a neighborhood meeting. Several of the  women who live in the neighborhood told us that their health and the health of  their children had significantly improved since they began applying the  techniques that were demonstrated. USAID/Sudan officials confirmed that  improvements had been achieved. The photos below show a water-loading  station under construction and an instructor demonstrating water purification  techniques.
section_title: Appendix III: USAID Obligations for Water and Sanitation in Fiscal Year 2009, with Countries’ UN-Reported Access
subsections: section_title: Dollars in millions, except WASH obligations per capita
paragraphs: Proportion  of  population  with  access to  improved  sanitation  Percentages of countries’ populations with access to an improved source of drinking water and  improved sanitation facilities are according to 2008 data from the UN World Health Organization and  the UN Children’s Fund (WHO/UNICEF) Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and  Sanitation.
OES = Bureau of Oceans, Environment, and Science, Department of State  Because of rounding, small amounts of WASH obligations per capita in some countries appear as  $0.00. These countries are Tajikistan ($0.005); India ($0.004); Niger ($0.003); Azerbaijan ($0.001);  and Russia ($0.001)because (1) it is the only State-designated high-priority country where USAID  made no obligations in any of the three water sectors and (2) UN data on access to water and  sanitation for Kosovo were not available.
Although designated as high priority for fiscal years 2008 and 2009, Kosovo is not shown because  USAID obligated no funds for water or sanitation assistance in Kosovo in those years.
Countries are listed in descending order according to the amount of USAID obligations for WASH  activities.
Includes the following USAID bureaus and missions: Asia Middle East Regional Bureau, Regional  Development Mission-Asia, Africa Regional Bureau, East Africa Regional Bureau, Southern Africa  Regional Bureau, West Africa Regional Bureau, Africa Office of Development Partners, Caribbean  Regional Bureau, Middle East Regional Bureau.
Includes Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance; Bureau for Economic  Growth, Agriculture and Trade; Bureau for Global Health; and Office of Development Partners.
section_title: Appendix IV: Comments from the Department of State
section_title: Appendix V: Comments from the U.S. Agency for International Development
section_title: Appendix VI: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments
subsections: section_title: GAO Contact
section_title: Staff Acknowledgments
paragraphs: In addition to the contact named above, Leslie Holen (Assistant Director),  Reid Lowe, Justin Mausel, and George Taylor made key contributions to  this report. Elizabeth Curda, Mark Dowling, Etana Finkler, Joel Grossman,  Jacqueline Nowicki, and Jena Sinkfield provided technical support.