REACH – Rural Water Supply Network

Pouring hope or pouring doubt – Navigating the aftermath of disasters in coastal Bangladesh

by Afsana Afrin Esha, REACH Research Associate and PhD student at Durham University, re-blogged from REACH

Every year, the southwestern coastal zone of Bangladesh faces weather-related disasters, worsening a perpetual drinking water crisis. Cyclone Sidr in 2007 and Cyclone Aila in 2009 caused widespread destruction. While people were still recovering, Cyclone Amphan caused heavy damage to infrastructure and contamination. Saltwater intrusion due to cyclones and storm surges is having devastating consequences on groundwater and freshwater resources. Different water treatment options and alternative strategies are being applied by the local government institutions, NGOs and aid agencies, whilst informal or small water service providers too, are on the rise, addressing critical gaps in public investments in the rural water sector. However, in the face of rising climatic changes along with other socio-political factors, water shortages persist. In this short piece, I portray the effects of disaster on drinking water sources to understand the nuances of climate resilience.

Making the Sum of All (WASH) Knowledge Freely Accessible: An interview with Elisabeth Von Muench

Paresh Chhajed-Picha interviews Elisabeth von Muench, former moderator of the SuSanA discussion forum and a dedicated Wikipedia editor. With over nine years of editing experience and nearly 50,000 edits to her name, she ranks among the top 2,000 editors globally for the English Wikipedia. Through volunteer work and paid assignments, she has improved and written numerous Wikipedia articles on WASH, climate change, and SDGs. In this interview, Elisabeth explains her motivation, the need for wider participation in editing Wikipedia articles, and the challenges in doing so.

Re-blogged from SuSanA

RWSN at the REACH Conference – Within reach: a water secure world

The RWSN secretariat team (Sean, Meleesa and Aline) participated in the REACH conference (20 to 22 September), and the REACH internal meetings that preceded.

RWSN has been a knowledge broker for the REACH programme since its inception. This has included support to translate research into practice, including the delivery of several publications, such as a global diagnostic survey to evaluate the status and prospects of rural water service providers for results-based funding and a study on the evolution of rural water policy in francophone West Africa.

At the conference and internal meeting, RWSN was involved in:

a session of the internal meetings on “REACH Exit Strategy: Planning activities and delivering impact”; in the session, participants took stock of the impact pathways and engagement activities of the Programme. Challenges and best practices were discussed, as well as the implementation of REACH’s Exit strategy.
We co-led the the organisation of a session on innovative service delivery models to address rural water service delivery models to address rural water risks along with Dr Johanna Koehler, with case studies from Kenya, Bangladesh and West Africa.

Que peut apprendre le secteur de l’eau rurale de l’expérience de l’Afrique de l’Ouest francophone ?

De nombreux pays cherchent à développer les services d’eau en milieu rural et à améliorer les niveaux de service pour les habitants des petites villes et des zones rurales en investissant dans des réseaux d’eau décentralisés et de petite taille. L’Afrique de l’Ouest francophone a une longue histoire de délégation des services d’eau potable (généralement des petits réseaux) dans les petites villes et les zones rurales à des opérateurs professionnels, qui peuvent être des associations publiques ou des opérateurs privés.

Le Secrétariat du RWSN, en partenariat avec le programme REACH, a passé l’année passée à enquêter sur l’expérience de la délégation des services d’eau et les moteurs des récentes réformes de la politique de l’eau potable en milieu rural dans plusieurs pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest francophone. Nous avons réalisé une étude documentaire détaillée et parlé à 25 experts du secteur de l’eau en milieu rural dans la région pour comprendre pourquoi et comment les réformes des politiques d’eau potable en milieu rural se sont produites, et quelles leçons peuvent être tirées des diverses expériences de délégation des services d’eau potables en milieu rural à des opérateurs professionnels.

3 ways to improve water security for climate resilience

1. More accurate and granular analysis of climate risk is needed to increase relevance of climate information
2. Metrics for monitoring climate resilience in water systems are critical to track progress and inform investments for water security
3. New institutional models that improve water security will be critical for climate resilience

Dr. Katrina Charles, REACH Co-Director

In case you missed it, last week REACH launched its new Water Security for Climate Resilience Report, synthesising six years of interdisciplinary research on climate resilience and water security in Africa and Asia. You can also read a summary of the full report with recommendations.

The REACH programme has been partnering with RWSN since 2015.

Water security and climate resilience are interlinked.

This may seem like a simple statement, but in reality it is a complex relationship. Water security and climate resilience are both about managing risks – from water-related issues and climate-related hazards, respectively – to achieve better outcomes for all sectors of society. There are intuitive relationships at large scales, but underlying them are complexities shaped by the environment, and our interactions with it.

Climate change headlines often focus on temperature increases. These changes will be significant and have severe impacts as highlighted by the heatwaves in recent weeks in North America, Pakistan and India. These increases in temperature come with dramatic changes to our weather, in turn affecting the complex water systems that are essential to so much of our lives and our planet. Floods and droughts are the most visceral example of this impact, which also receive regular coverage on the news. But climate change is affecting water security for humans and ecosystems in many more subtle ways.

Climate change is impacting our drinking water supplies. There is a limit to how much capacity they have to absorb weather extremes, especially for smaller systems. Heavy rainfall is linked to many major waterborne outbreaks in developed countries. A major drought led to severe water rationing in Cape Town in 2018, nearly causing the city’s taps to run dry, known as Day Zero. The report highlights that for smaller water systems that people outside cities rely on the impact of weather is often less clear, but the evidence is that there is limited climate resilience.

Water quality varies with weather. Rainfall increases the mobility of faecal contamination, with different types of system more vulnerable to heavy rainfall, exposing the users to diseases such as typhoid. Without reliable water supplies, people use a range of water sources to meet their water needs year-round, trading off risks between reliable water supplies that might be saline or expensive, with seasonal but unsafe water sources. Climate change will increase weather extremes leading to increased contamination and less reliability.

Fresh water scarcity is increasing. Industrialisation and urbanisation are increasing both the demand for fresh water and its pollution, with toxic compounds that are difficult to remove. Climate change is amplifying these threats by reducing the availability of reliable water, increasing salinity, especially in coastal areas, and changing river flows that flush saline and polluted water. Reduced river flows from changing rainfall patterns will increase exposure to pollution for those who rely on river water for washing and bathing, and increase saline intrusion from the coast. Building resilience requires better management of fresh water resources to reduce the increasing contamination that is making water harder to treat.

*Women using river water for washing in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Credit: Sonia Hoque*

To build the adaptive capacity of water systems to cope with changes in climate, climate information needs to be available to water managers at the appropriate spatial and temporal scale. Ensembles of global climate models provide useful information about global climate, but analysis is needed to identify the relevant climate models that best capture local climate. More investment is needed to provide the tools that water managers need to make informed decisions to increase climate resilience, such as accurate projections at local scales and seasonal forecasting based on understanding of local climate drivers. The information needed varies for different users, but is critical to build resilience for managers of small water systems, reservoirs, and basins.

The report synthesises six years of interdisciplinary research by the REACH team across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Collaborations in our Water Security Observatories have allowed us to understand how water security risks are experienced, how inequalities are created and reproduced with new policies, and how new tools and science can support better decision making. The report highlights the impact the REACH programme has achieved with funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), in partnership with UNICEF, for the benefit of millions of people. It concludes with three recommendations for to advance water security for climate resilience:

More accurate and granular analysis of climate risk is needed to increase relevance of climate information
Metrics for monitoring climate resilience in water systems are critical to track progress and inform investments for water security
New institutional models that improve water security will be critical for climate resilience

Climate change will increasingly affect water availability and quality, with devastating consequences for the most vulnerable. Improving water security is critical to build resilience to the changing climate.

REACH-RWSN 1 亿倡议

一项旨在为基于结果的资助提供信息的农村供水服务提供商的全球诊断。

问题是什么？

在 2017 年，仍有将近 8 亿人口面临基本供水不足的问题。这些人口中，有 80% 居住在农村地区，他们中的很多人曾在某些地方看到过供水点的修建。然而，经过数十年的投资，遗留下来的只有农村供水基础设施和服务失败的残迹。
总体上，行业合作伙伴一致认为：不仅需要增加运营和维护资金；投资和结果之间的关联也需要更加透明化，并且需要通过激励行业绩效、改进补贴目标以及完善行业规划和管理，将现有公共资助的价值最大化。

“我们认为，关键的答案在于将基于结果的资助用于农村供水服务”

基于结果的资助是什么？

很显然，需要特许资助来保证为每个人提供可靠的服务，特别是在农村地区。基于结果的资助是一种以有针对性的、透明的、数据驱动的且可扩展的方式对此类资金进行投资，同时激励提供商随着时间的推移不断改进服务的方法。
选定的绩效指标（例如，能够可靠地发挥作用的供水点的数量、生产的水量和所产生的当地收入金额）用于设计与服务提供商之间基于绩效的合同，并在验证结果时提供付款信息。

问题是什么？

100M Initiative 将开展一个多阶段的数据收集活动，以预估全球范围内基于结果的资助的规模和可能性。步骤包括：
• 确定并联系尽可能多国家/地区的农村供水服务提供商和服务主管部门，重点关注中低收入国家/地区；
• 开展一项收集数据的简短调查，为不同背景和服务类型间基于结果的资助合同的设计和可行性提供信息；
• 确定多个国家/地区的服务提供商参照组，这些服务提供商有意对基于结果的资助进行大规模建模；
• 利用收集的数据和分析制定最终战略，开展基于结果的资助，并在 2030 年之前为 1 亿人口的供水服务制定基于绩效的合同。

如何参与？

真正的全球诊断需要我们涵盖那些与 RWSN 和其他全球网络互联的提供商以外的农村供水服务提供商。为此我们寻求您的帮助，以尽可能多地识别此类提供商。
您是否：
• ……在农村地区工作或计划在农村地区工作且愿意完成本次调查的供水服务提供商？
• ……是监督供水服务提供商且愿意完成本次调查的国家或地方主管部门？
• ……正在效力于一个有意探索对农村供水服务基于结果的资助的组织？
• ……能够向我们提供联系方式，以帮助我们建立国家级别的农村水服务提供商和/或农村水计划管理者的全球数据库？

您是否：
• ……想进一步了解该计划？
• ……有意加入参照组？

请联系 Meleesa Naughton，邮箱 ruralwater[at]skat.ch

下载传单

REACH 是一项由外交、联邦及发展事务部 (FCDO) 资助，由牛津大学牵头的全球性研究计划，旨在于 2024 年之前改善非洲和亚洲地区 1000 万贫困人口的水资源安全。
由 Skat 基金会主办的农村供水服务网络 (RWSN) 是由 12,000 多名农村供水服务专业人士组成的全球网络，这些人士致力于提高自身的知识、能力和专业水平以实现 RWSN 为全人类提供可持续农村供水服务的愿景。
RWSN 正在与牛津大学合作开展 REACH 计划，旨在于 2030 年前为 1 亿人口提供基于结果的资助。这项工作与 Uptime 财团的成果相关联，可展示基于结果的资助以及可持续性资助逐步实现安全管理水资源目标的途径

普通话传单 Download

Iniciativa RWSN-REACH 100M

Um diagnóstico global de fornecedores de serviços de água rurais para informar o financiamento baseado em resultados.

Qual é o problema?

Em 2017, quase 800 milhões de pessoas ainda careciam de abastecimento básico de água. Oito em cada dez dessas pessoas viviam em áreas rurais, muitas em comunidades que, em um ponto ou outro, viram a construção de pontos de água. No entanto, depois de décadas de investimento, o que ficou para trás é um cemitério de infraestrutura e serviços de abastecimento de água rurais falidos.

De um modo geral, os parceiros do setor concordam: não somente há necessidade de aumentar as operações e financiamento de manutenção; as ligações entre os investimentos e os resultados devem ser mais transparentes e o valor do financiamento público existente deve ser maximizado incentivando o desempenho do setor, melhorando a segmentação dos subsídios e promovendo um melhor planeamento e gestão do setor.

O que é financiamento baseado em resultados?

Particularmente nas áreas rurais, é claro que o financiamento concessionário é necessário para garantir serviços confiáveis para todos. O financiamento baseado em resultados é uma forma de investir esses fundos de maneira direcionada, transparente, orientada por dados e escalonável, ao mesmo tempo que motiva os serviços a melhorar ao longo do tempo.

Métricas de desempenho selecionadas, como o número de pontos de água que funcionam de forma confiável, o volume de água produzido e a quantidade de receita local gerada, são usadas para projetar contratos baseados em desempenho com prestadores de serviços e informar os pagamentos quando os resultados são verificados.

O que vamos fazer?

A Iniciativa 100M empreenderá um exercício de coleta de dados em vários estágios para estimar a escala e o potencial do financiamento baseado em resultados globalmente. As etapas incluirão:

Identificar e alcançar fornecedores de serviços de água rurais e autoridades de serviços em tantos países quanto possível, com foco em países de baixa e média renda;

Administrar uma pequena pesquisa coletando dados para informar a viabilidade e o design de contratos de financiamento com base em resultados em diferentes contextos e tipos de serviço;

Identificar um Grupo de Referência de provedores de serviços em vários países interessados em modelar o financiamento baseado em resultados em escala;

Usar dados coletados e análises para finalizar uma estratégia para desenvolver financiamento baseado em resultados para apoiar contratos baseados em desempenho para fornecimento de serviços de água para 100 milhões de pessoas até 2030.

Como tu podes participar?

Um diagnóstico verdadeiramente global requer que alcancemos prestadores de serviços de água rurais além daqueles ligados à RWSN e outras redes globais. Procuramos a sua ajuda para identificar o maior número possível deles.

És tu:

…um provedor de serviços de água que trabalhas ou planejas trabalhar em áreas rurais e deseja responder à pesquisa?

…uma autoridade nacional ou local que supervisiona os fornecedores de serviços de água e desejas responder à pesquisa?

…trabalhando para uma organização interessada em explorar o financiamento baseado em resultados para serviços de água rurais?

…capaz de nos fornecer contactos para nos ajudar a construir o nosso banco de dados global de provedores de serviços de água rurais e/ou gestores de programas de água rurais em nível nacional?

Tu:

…gostarias de saber mais sobre esta iniciativa?

…terias interesse em fazer parte do Grupo de Referência?

Em seguida, entre em contacto com Meleesa Naughton em ruralwater[at]skat.ch

Sobre nós

REACH é um programa de pesquisa global financiado pelo Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) e liderado pela Universidade de Oxford que visa melhorar a segurança da água para dez milhões de pessoas pobres na África e na Ásia até 2024.

A Rede de Fornecimento de Água a Zonas Rurais (RWSN), hospedada pela Skat Foundation, é a rede global de mais de 12.000 profissionais de fornecimento de água a zonas rurais comprometidos em melhorar o seu conhecimento, competência e profissionalismo, para cumprir a visão da RWSN de serviços de água sustentáveis para todos em zonas rurais.

A RWSN está em parceria com a Universidade de Oxford no âmbito do programa REACH para obter financiamento baseado em resultados para 100 milhões de pessoas até 2030. O trabalho está vinculado às conclusões do Consórcio Uptime em demonstrar financiamento baseado em resultados e caminhos para financiamento sustentável para atender progressivamente às metas de gestão de água com segurança.

Folheto em português Download

Иницитива RWSN-REACH 100M

Глобальный анализ поставщиков услуг сельского водоснабжения в рамках ориентированного на результаты финансирования.

необходимость в увеличении финансирования операций и технического обслуживания. Связи между инвестициями и результатами должны быть более прозрачными, а существующее государственное финансирование необходимо использовать максимально эффективно за счет стимулирования производительности сектора, оптимизации распределения государственной помощи и содействия более качественному планированию и управлению сектором.

Что такое финансирование, ориентированное на результаты?

Очевидно, что льготное финансирование необходимо для обеспечения надежности услуг для всех жителей, особенно в сельской местности. Финансирование, ориентированное на результаты, — это способ целенаправленно и прозрачно инвестировать денежные средства в нужном масштабе с учетом имеющихся данных, при этом стимулируя постепенное совершенствование услуг. Выбранные показатели эффективности, такие как количество надежно и бесперебойно работающих пунктов водоснабжения, объем добытой воды и объем полученного на местах дохода, используются для составления договоров с поставщиками услуг, основанных на результатах, а также для определения суммы платежей после проверки показаний.

В чем заключается наша инициатива?

В рамках инициативы 100M будет проведен многоэтапный сбор данных для оценки масштабов и потенциала финансирования, ориентированного на результаты, во всем мире. Этапы реализации инициативы будут следующими:

Определение поставщиков услуг сельскоговодоснабжения и соответствующихрегулирующих органов в максимальновозможном количестве стран и установлениеконтакта с ними. Особое внимание будет уделено странам с низким и средним уровнем доходов.
Проведение небольшого опроса с целью сбораданных для определения целесообразностизаключения договоров на финансирование,ориентированное на результаты, а также ихструктуры в различных контекстах и для разныхтипов услуг.
Определение референтной группы поставщиковуслуг в нескольких странах, заинтересованных вмасштабном моделировании финансирования,ориентированного на результаты.
Использование собранных данных ирезультатов анализа для завершенияразработки стратегии ориентированного нарезультаты финансирования, которая обеспечитподдержку основанных на эффективностидоговоров на предоставление услугводоснабжения для 100 миллионов человек к2030 году.

Как вы можете принять участие?

Для проведения действительно глобального анализа требуется привлечь не только тех поставщиков услуг сельского водоснабжения, которые связаны с RWSN и другими глобальными сетями. Нам нужна ваша помощь в определении как можно большего числа поставщиков услуг в этом секторе.

Вы:

•…представляете регулирующий органнационального или местного масштаба,осуществляющий контроль надпоставщиками услуг водоснабжения, ижелаете пройти опрос?

•…работаете в организации,заинтересованной в изучениифинансирования услуг сельскоговодоснабжения, ориентированного на результаты?

•…можете предоставить нам контакты,которые помогут нам создать глобальнуюбазу данных поставщиков услуг сельскоговодоснабжения и/или руководителейпрограмм водоснабжения сельскойместности на национальном уровне?

Хотели бы вы:

•…узнать больше об этой инициативе?

•…присоединиться к референтнойгруппе?

Тогда свяжитесь с Мелиссой Нотон по адресу ruralwater[at]skat.ch

О нас

REACH — это глобальная исследовательская программа, финансируемая Министерством иностранных дел и международного развития Великобритании (FCDO) и возглавляемая Оксфордским университетом. Она направлена на улучшение безопасности водоснабжения для десяти миллионов малоимущих людей в Африке и Азии к 2024 году.

Сеть сельского водоснабжения (RWSN), организованная учреждением Skat Foundation, — это глобальная сеть, в которую входят более 12 000 специалистов в области сельского водоснабжения, стремящихся повысить уровень своих знаний, компетентность и профессионализм, чтобы реализовать видение RWSN по обеспечению бесперебойного водоснабжения для всех сельских жителей.

RWSN сотрудничает с Оксфордским университетом в рамках программы REACH с целью эффективной организации ориентированного на результаты финансирования для 100 миллионов человек к 2030 году. Эта инициатива опирается на данные исследований консорциума Uptime, демонстрирующих возможности ориентированного на результаты финансирования и способы перехода на устойчивое финансирование для постепенного достижения целей безопасного управления водными ресурсами.

Ресурсы

Ссылка на вебинар на русском языке: Вебинар, проведенный 8 июня 2021 года, был ориентирован на сельских операторов водоснабжения из Восточной Европы и Центральной Азии и объяснял, как операторы водоснабжения могут принять участие или поддержать исследование 100M Global Diagnostic для разработки ориентированного на результат финансирования услуг водоснабжения для 100 миллионов человек к 2030 году.

Листовка об инициативе 100M Download

RWSN/ REACH consultancy opportunities: your questions answered

On 30.11.2020 RWSN advertised two consultancies in partnership with the University of Oxford under the REACH programme (deadline for applications: 8th January 2020). The Terms of Reference for the consultancies are below:

We have received a number of questions in relation to these consultancies which we would like to respond here, to so that all applicants can refer to them.

Q: In the Terms of Reference, the essential qualification and age limit is not mentioned. Please inform us so that we know the eligibility criteria.

A: There are no essential (university) qualifications or age limit for these positions. All essential requirements are detailed in the ToRs.

2. Q: Kindly send to me necessary forms or information to enable me apply

A: You can download details via https://rural-water-supply.net/en/news/details/86 or here: https://reachwater.org.uk/about-reach/jobs/

3. Q: Is the offered position as “Researcher – Global Diagnostic on Rural Water Services” intended for one person? Or otherwise, could an organisation like the one I am part of apply?

A: Our thinking is that this is better suited to an individual, who can focus on the task rather than it being fragmented across a team. However, we are open to more creative solutions.

4. Q: I am interested in submitting an application to one of the consultancy opportunities for the global diagnostic of rural water service providers under the REACH programme. Now before I go any further I would like to get a better understanding of the programme and this assignment. By rural water service providers, do you mean (a) community members that have been trained to repair hand pumps (b) water utility companies, public and/ or private and/ or (c) rural water supply and sanitation units under the district or local authority?

A. The first point we need to clarify is that the proposed consultancy for the diagnostic of rural water supply providers is global in nature, and that arrangements will likely differ depending on the countries that are chosen for the study. For RWS providers to be considered, there would need to be some data related to basic operational and financial performance available to enable comparison between rural water service providers within and between countries. This would therefore probably mean that community members could not be considered, but rather (public and/or private) service providers with adequate data and scope of operations. This could mean for instance in the rural water supply and sanitation units under the district or local authority, or water utilities if they operate in rural areas. One of the first tasks under the consultancy will be to propose a typology of service providers (see activity 2 in the ToRs) that would enable us to determine exactly who/ which type of organisations we should target with the diagnostic.

5. Q: I have a question on one requirement in the desired experience section. In the sentence, “Experience in advanced data analytics, mapping and modelling, including GIS”: 1. Is there a specific model that RWSN would like the prospective consultant to use or can the prospective consultant select a model of their choice? 2. Are there parameters that RWSN would like the prospective consultant to use or can the prospective consultant select parameters they think would be informative to the study?

A. 1. There is no specific software that we would recommend to use for data analytics, mapping and modelling, and GIS but we would prefer that the consultant uses open-source software (e.g. QGIS) as we will not support the costs related to licenses for private software.

2. We would recommend that the prospective consultant thinks about potential parameters for data analytics, mapping and modelling as part of his/her proposal.

6. Q. Could you please clarify the following:

Geographic scope – the TOR and clarifications point to a global study, but the TOR highlights REACH’s work in Africa and Asia. Is the study likely to focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, or is the intention to gather examples of RWS providers from a much wider group of countries (including those in Eastern Europe given the reference to that consultancy).
Survey scope – can you clarify what the scope of the surveys is likely to be? Our assumption is that this would be online surveys of rural water service providers only (e.g. no household surveys, or attempting to survey service users). Is this correct?
Definition of advanced analytics – Do you have any examples of what you mean by ‘advanced analytics’? It may be challenging to get a high number of responses and in-depth answers to an online survey (particularly as the number of eligible RWS is unknown) which would limit the complexity of any analysis and/or modelling that would be possible.
Intensity of inputs – an earlier clarification was that the thinking of RWSN/REACH was this consultancy was best suited to an individual. Given that, the timeline, the scope of the project, and the budget available to you envisage that this will be (more or less) a full time role?

The intention is to gather examples of RWS from a wide group of countries/ geographies, not restricted to SSA and South Asia.
The survey is intended to be conducted remotely / online (no household or service user survey). The Marketing consultant will support this exercise to ensure that there is a wide variety of RWS providers who respond to the survey; responsibility for data collection and analysis remains with the diagnostic Consultant.
Advanced analytics: as you said this will depend on the quality of data collection, which is a risk we are hoping to mitigate through the Marketing consultant. For your proposal you could perhaps suggest what you might be able to do given ideal/ less than ideal data.
Intensity of inputs: the intensity of outputs for this consultancy will depend on the level of experience of the consultant/ team.

We will continue answering your questions here as they come along. Any questions can be addressed to ruralwater[at]skat[dot]ch.

(Photo credit: REACH)

Les populations rurales peuvent-elles payer pour l’eau en temps de crise ?

Les co-auteurs de ce blog invité sont le Professeur Rob Hope (REACH Programme) et le Dr Guy Hutton (UNICEF). Une version de ce blog an anglais est disponible sur le site web du programme REACH.

Rendre l’eau potable abordable pour les populations rurales a toujours été un défi. La COVID-19 exerce des pressions urgentes sur les gouvernements, les prestataires de services et les utilisateurs d’eau en milieu rural qui ont des besoins prioritaires en eau pour se laver les mains à la maison, dans les écoles et dans les établissements de santé.

Le 23 juin, le programme REACH et l’UNICEF ont organisé un webinaire en partenariat avec le RWSN afin de présenter de nouvelles données sur l’évolution de la demande et des revenus de l’eau, et d’étudier comment mesurer l’accessibilité économique de l’eau dans le but d’améliorer les réponses politiques et programmatiques. Le webinaire complet est accessible ici.

Nous avons identifié cinq leçons clés que nous présentons ci-dessous, en réponse à la question: Les populations rurales peuvent-elles payer pour l’eau en temps de crise ?

Leçon 1 – Cela est possible. L’expérience de la République centrafricaine (RCA) a mis en évidence un modèle de prestation de services professionnels qui a permis de fournir des services d’eau fiables pendant de nombreuses années à échelle, malgré la guerre civile et la stagnation économique. Des pays comme l’Inde sont en train d’étendre une plateforme de suivi pour améliorer les réponses, soutenue par des prestataires de services gouvernementaux établis sur place.

Leçon 2 – C’est plus difficile en temps de crise. Les pays sans données et sans réseau de prestataires de services responsabilisés sont confrontés à des choix plus difficiles. L’approvisionnement en eau, imposé par la loi, les politiques et la réglementation, est limité en l’absence de prestataires de services déjà établis au niveau local. Les prestataires informels, tels que les vendeurs, peuvent desservir des populations éloignées en temps normal, mais leur capacité à fournir de l’eau pendant la pandémie de la COVID-19 est limitée en raison des restrictions de voyage. Les règles doivent rester souples.

Leçon 3 – Les populations pauvres sont les plus vulnérables. Les données mondiales ont illustré les coûts plus élevés que payent les groupes aux revenus les plus faibles au Ghana, au Cambodge, au Pakistan et en Zambie, ainsi que les coûts importants liés au temps passé à transporter de l’eau, qui sont plus élevés pour les déciles aux revenus les plus faibles. La conception de tarifs mensuels plutôt que volumétriques peut éviter une contrainte de revenu liée à l’augmentation de l’eau pour les besoins d’hygiène. Les inondations et les sécheresses présentent un risque supplémentaire important. Le suivi des données est ainsi un outil clé permettant de fournir une alerte précoce pour cibler les ressources afin de limiter les dommages.

Leçon 4 – Assurer un financement durable. Une eau fiable peut coûter moins d’un dollar par personne et par an. Mais cela nécessite une subvention pour les prestataires de services locaux et les utilisateurs d’eau ont besoin d’un soutien pour maintenir les services en fonctionnement. Une large proportion des populations rurales ne paie pas l’eau aujourd’hui par choix ou en raison d’inégalités. Il a été noté que les gouvernements ne peuvent pas se permettre de ne pas assurer l’accès à l’eau pour les populations. Mais une “eau gratuite” causerait plus de tort, mettant en péril la capacité des prestataires à fournir et à maintenir des services pour tous. Il s’agit là de choix difficiles et les décisions dépendront du contexte.

Leçon 5 – Mieux reconstruire. La COVID-19 a mis en évidence les faiblesses connues de l’ approvisionnement en eau en milieu rural. Investir dans des prestataires de services locaux et responsabilisés est un élément clé de toute stratégie de durabilité. Les écoles et les établissements de santé sont au cœur de ce vaste réseau de services et constituent une priorité essentielle. Ces institutions partagent souvent des infrastructures hydrauliques avec les communautés rurales, et pourraient constituer un élément central et stratégique de l’approvisionnement en eau pour tous.

Le webinaire s’est déroulé en deux parties sur une durée d’une heure et demie. Tout d’abord, un aperçu du débat et des caractéristiques de l’accessibilité financière par le professeur Rob Hope (Université d’Oxford), présenté par Alice Chautard avant les présentations du Dr Guy Hutton (UNICEF), Andrew Armstrong (Université d’Oxford)et le Dr Sonia Hoque (Université d’Oxford). Cette présentation a été suivie par une session de questions-réponses facilitée par Alice Chautard. Le webinaire complet est accessible ici.

Si vous avez des questions ou des commentaires, n’hésitez pas à nous écrire : reach@water.ox.ac.uk et vous pouvez nous trouver sur Twitter @REACHWater @UNICEFWater @RuralWaterNet. Crédits photo: Mary Musenya Sammy et Cliff Nyaga.