Dr. Helen Pankhurst's presentation - Addis Ababa, April 2013
In community management of water services, four elements of good governance - participation, inclusion, accountability and transparency - are pivotal to the success or failure in the short run and are even more critical for long-term sustainability. To explore the relationship between functionality and sustainability, CARE USA developed a functionality, governance and finance snapshot tool for community-managed water systems. This paper shares the findings of the tool as to the Global Water Initiative (GWI) in East Africa in 2012.
http://water.care2share.wikispaces.net/file/view/GWI_GovernanceSustainability_4page%20GWI%20branded.pdf
Women's experiences are not homogeneous and yet water+ programs often report benefits to them as a whole, for example in terms of reduced burden, increased dignity, and livelihood and empowering opportunities. To better understand the real impact of water+ services on particular categories of women and how the demographics of the beneficiaries might affect the outcomes of a program, the Global Water Initiative (GWI) East Africa, led by CARE, administered a women's experience snapshot questionnaire. The aim of the study is to promote further discussion and analysis of the two-way impact of women's heterogeneity on their experiences and the effectiveness of water+ services.
http://water.care2share.wikispaces.net/file/view/GWI_WomensExperiences_4page%20GWI%20branded.pdf
4. Most
Environment
important
Second most
Technology important
Third most
Finance important
Least
Governance important of
the four
0 100 200
Figure 1: Factors affecting sustainability (n = 269)
4
5. 281 schemes, developed or rehabilitated by GWI East
Africa program
Mainly water for domestic use, also water for
irrigation, clothes washing and cattle troughs
The snapshot was filled in by, mixed interest groups:
women and men, community members and
committee leaders
5
6. 5% Not
9% functioning
Functioning
with
difficulties
Functioning
86% well
Figure 2: Functionality status (n = 278)
6
7. Some of the feedback on the initial governance of systems
developed is likewise very positive
E.g. in terms of inclusion, 95 % reporting that all
community members use the services equally and
equitably
Generally strong areas in terms of initial participation and
inclusion
7
8. The committee and
2% office bearers were
selected not elected
18%
It is unclear, mixture of
selection and community
voice
The committee and
80%
office bearers were
elected by the
community
Figure 3: Committee and officer bearer selection (n = 276)
8
9. 83% of schemes plan for O&M
32%, indicated that the tariffs had
increased
21 % had made advanced expenditure
on spares, etc
However, only 67% are just about
covering costs
Funds not generated in advance in
43% of cases
In 39 % there is no regular reporting
back
9
10. Looked at three indicators of functionality; 15
indicators significant for all three
1. Existence and functionality of bylaws
2. The process regarding committee elections
(selected or elected)
3. Community awareness of committee roles and
responsibilities
4. Training and capacity regarding basic maintenance
# 5 – 15 continued on next slide…
10
11. 5. Length of time to fix if broken due to a financial
problem
6. Purchase of parts for preventative maintenance
7. The overall financial situation of the scheme
8. How funds needed for O&M are raised
9. Where funds are kept
10. Committee knowledge/practice of record keeping
11. Presence of at least two people involved in finances
12. Community knowledge of finances of scheme
13. Existence of audits or external finance checks
14. Plan for break downs & loss of trained staff
15. Forward planning
11
12. Front-end: initial community
participation and inclusion done
well, but the back-end is given
less attention
E.g. election vs. re-elections;
initial financial discussions vs.
mechanisms for regular financial
report-back
By-laws, need to be documents
that people know about, refer to
and update over time
12
14. Water+ programs often report benefits to them as a whole
But particular women’s experiences mediated by
age, position in the household, wealth, disability etc so
how do these factors affect how women experience project
and how effective it is?
A women’s experience snapshot questionnaire developed
to look at these issues
14
15. Tool used in 2012 in GWI East Africa
program
Small sample of 191 women with
differences in location, marital
status, income, household position
and composition, educational
level, wealth, disability
Small, non-randomized
sample, findings need to be treated
with caution, but 1st step to think
about the differentiated experience of
women, and the impact of these
differences on the program itself
15
16. Young dependent 9%
Older adult 10%
Wife of head of household 43%
Head of household 29%
Elderly relative 10%
16
17. 80%
70%
60%
50% Time taken to
40% collect water
30%
20%
10% Amount of water
0% collected
Quality of water
17
18. Dignity: (86%) Heads of households rather than elderly
relatives, young dependents or other adults in the
household were more likely to report increases in
respect/dignity
Leisure Time: (74%), time for socializing (77%).
Relatively poor women more likely to report
improvements compared to women in the middle
income status
18
19. 2.7%
10.4% Worse than before
14.8%
Not very different
A bit better
27.5%
Significantly better
No answer
44.5%
19
20. Married women in particular but also widowed
women were more likely than single women to take
on these roles. Also women with young and old
children were more likely than women with no
children and wives of heads of households were more
likely to take be involved compared to another adult
living in the household.
20
21. 25 % of women reported that their voices within the
community had improved.
Women with young and old children were more likely
to report an improvement than women with no
children, likewise married women were more likely
than divorced women to report improvements, other
adults within the household also more likely than old
parent/relative or young dependants and wives of
heads of households more likely than old parent or
young dependents.
21
22. 80% of women felt the initiative
had contributed to greater
equality.
Disabled women were more
likely to report this benefit
compared to non-disabled
women and likewise women
with children more likely to do
so than women with no
children.
22
23. Women’s experiences not homogeneous
Figures just reflecting existing differences?
Program reinforcing existing patterns. Some women -
namely those that are successful and at their peak in
terms of society’s expectations of them as mothers
and wives - have more opportunities to be heard and
involved than others?
23
24. Further studies - Whose voice dominates? Whose is
least likely to be heard? What’s the effect on
effectiveness of the initiative? How equitable and
transformative is it?
Clear that women experience’s are mediated not only
by differences in relative wealth and disabilities, but
also by position in, and composition of, households.
Developing an understanding of the heterogeneity of
women’s experiences is the first step. We need to be
much more sensitive to the heterogeneity as this can
affect both the effectiveness of the service
provided, and its potential for transformative impact.
24
Snapshot methodology, consisting of short, primarily numeric surveys in which most questions have a one to three scale for their answers and the option of additional commentary on the responses. Sharing findings from use of tools in 2012 in GWI, Global Water Initiative East Africa program, (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda)
A key question for the data analysis is how important governance issues are to sustainability.? We asked respondents to rank the factors they thought were most likely to affect the sustainability of their own scheme comparing four factors: environment, finance, governance and technology. In the GWI case, a very clear ranking emerges as seen in the bar-chart in Figure 1 with governance ranked as most important, finance as second, then environmental factors and technological ones lastWhat this study does is focus on governance and finance, unpacking what the critical areas are within these that affect functionality/sustainability
Schemesproviding water to around 290,000 peopleSnapshot filled in through a participatory process, so this is a quantification of subjective viewsTool has been used annually, being adapted/improved over time
Current functionality levels of 86%functioning well, 9% functioning but with difficulties and 5%not functioning are also excellent.Also other indicators with the same message: 97%positive feedback to the question on whether the water scheme provided a good service since it was built. There is no doubt that the regular functionality monitoring has contributed to ensuring that the figures are high, significantly more so than is common for work in the sector,30% non-functionality is probably a good overall estimate.
Of the remaining 4% indicated that nobody is excluded but that a few do not use the services and 1% indicated there were community members excluded/marginalized from using the service.
Another very positive example is in terms of the election of committee members, 80% indicating that committee and office bearers being elected by the community, 18% that it’s unclear with a mixture of selection and community voice and 2% that committee and office bearers were selected rather than elected.
In terms of financial governance issues, there are also some very positive findings, (first three bullet points)However,second three batch more worrying
Of all the questions that could be asked around governance, which are the most critical to sustainability? we ran correlation tests between the different governance questions namely: i) water points that are reported as providing good service since they were built, ii) waterpoints currently providing water and iii) waterpoints currently functioning well. For the GWI 2012 data, the tests identified almost all the questions as statistically relevant to one or other of the functionality tests; however, the following factors were significantly correlated with all three:(Fischer’s exact tests were performed on multi-level categorical variables. Overall significance levels available).
To improve short-term functionality and long-term sustainability more attention needs to be given to governance issues. This includes committee formation and training as well as the way the relationship between committee, community and government is formulated.
for example in terms of reduced burden, increased dignity, livelihood and empowering opportunities.
The aim of the study is to promote further discussion and analysis of the two-way impact of women’s heterogeneity both on their experiences, and on the effectiveness of the water+ services that are put into place.
An example of some of the difference in composition of respondents, namely differences of position within households.All of the respondents interviewed had access to an improved water system and 85 percent had access to a household latrine, mostly a pit latrine. Sixty-four percent of the women had a handwashing facility near their latrines, while the remainder had facilities near their houses rather than by the latrines.
It is clear from the aggregated responses that access to clean water and sanitation transformed most women’s lives and has a positive effect on development. Women reported reduced time to collect water, increased amounts collected and improvements in the quality of water collected for example, see Figure 5. The impacts on health, economic opportunities dignity, reduced stress and conflict, personal development and time to be engaged more in other activities – including visiting neighbors – are some examples of changes reported. Perhaps more importantly, however, the snapshot starts to provide an analysis which disaggregates the feedback from different types of women where statistically significant. This provides an attempt to start understanding which women tend to benefit more or less from the interventions and in what way.
DignityThe availability of water and household sanitation resulted in 86 percent of respondents feeling an improvement in dignity.The reason for this difference was not stated, however, it could be that dignity is associated more with the household than with the individual and therefore the wife of the head of household or the female head of household would be the ones more clearly feeling the benefits of the change.Leisure TimeAn improvement in leisure time was also noted by 74 percent of respondents. Time for socializing and networking significantly increased for 40 percent of women and slightly increased for 37 percent of women. Relatively poor women were more likely to report improved time for socializing after intervention compared to women in the middle income status.
An improved financial situation was reported by 72 percent of the respondents (27 significant, 45 a bit better). However 15 percent of women felt their financial situation was no different and 3 percent indicated it had worsened because they now had to pay for water. Due to the availability of water, 64 percent of women reported an increase in resources (such as vegetables) for consumption or sale. Improvement in income generating activities (IGA) varied significantly by household position. Wives of heads of households, women heads of households and women with children (particularly older children) were more likely to report IGA benefits than young dependants or elderly relatives living within the household. Engagement in economic groups (such as savings and credit associations) improved for 63 percent of women. Women with young and old children were more likely than women with no children to report greater engagement in economic groups, divorced women likewise were more likely than single women and married women more likely than single women to report benefits
Married women in particular but also widowed women were more likely than single women to take on these roles. Also women with young and old children were more likely than women with no children and wives of heads of households were more likely to take be involved compared to another adult living in the household.
Voice in the community
What this study has tried to do is highlight through statistical analysis what is an obvious point, namely that women’s experiences are not homogeneous. It could well be that these statistically relevant findings are just a reflection of women reporting existing differences, i.e. that the findings are a reflection of women reporting the underlying existing differences, rather than ones specifically affected by the water+ initiative. However, it could also be that the initiative is reinforcing existing patterns, in which some women – namely those that are successful and at their peak in terms of society’s expectations of them as mothers and wives - have more opportunities to be heard and involved than others
More studies are needed which can make stronger statistically statements - backed up by wider narrative analysis, in particular of the negative experiences, i.e. where women report no improvements or the situation for them getting worse. Fundamentally, however, the message is that programs need to be aware of the fact that how women experience the initiatives are mediated not only by differences in relative wealth and disabilities, but also by issues around position in, and composition of, households. Developing an understanding of the heterogeneity of women’s experiences is the first step. The question this leads onto is how targeting can improve the efficiency of the services put in place and the equity - in terms of which women benefit the most. In the selection of care-taker, committee member or trainee for additional income-generation opportunities, for example, it would be useful to understand who is most likely to be most effective at those roles and who is most likely to benefit in terms of reducing their economic or social vulnerability. The argument in this paper is that we need to be much more sensitive to the heterogeneity of women’s backgrounds as this can affect both the effectiveness of the service provided, and its potential for transformative impact on women.