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Direct support is structured support to service providers and users or user groups related to the operation and management of a water, sanitation and hygiene services. Expenditure on direct support is the costs of providing such support. Direct support includes the following types of activities:
* performance monitoring
* technical advice and information
* administrative support (e.g. help with tariff setting)
* organisational support (e.g. to achieve legal status)
* conflict resolution
* identifying [[Capital Maintenance Expenditure (CapManEx)|capital maintenance]] needs (including advice on financing)
* training and refresher courses.
The costs of support before and during the construction of a water or sanitation system are not included. They are considered to be [[Capital Expenditure (CapEx)|capital expenditure]] software. Most community-based water service providers seek and receive some degree of direct support (Whittington et al., 2009), though often in an ad hoc manner, typically when they encounter a problem.
Direct support is often used synonymously with institutional support, post-construction support and follow-up support.
====Difference between direct and indirect support====
Direct support is always related to a particular project, programme or geographical area. [[Expenditure Indirect Support (ExpIDS)|Expenditure on indirect support]] is about creating and regulating the enabling environment for water, sanitation and hygiene services and is not particular to a programme or project.
====Examples====
'''Institutional arrangements for direct support''' <br>
There are different institutional arrangements for the provision of direct support. Which model is most appropriate or cost-effective depends on the country context (Smits, 2012). Table 1 shows the main 5 types of arrangements.
'''Table 1. Institutional arrangements for direct support'''
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|style="background-color:LightGrey;"|Direct support by local government
|Local government is formally mandated to support external service providers and fulfills the support agent function internally, for example through local government technicians.
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|Local government subcontracting a specialised agency or individuals
|Local governments contract an urban utility, a private company or an NGO to provide support. They may also contract individual entrepreneurs, such as handpump mechanics who provide a mix of direct support and operation and maintenance activities.
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|Central government of parastatal agencies
|National government provides direct support from a national level, or via deconcentrated offices, or subcontracts a specialised agency to provide support.
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|Association of community-based service providers
|Community-based service providers establish an association and then provide support to each other or hire a technician to support members of the association.
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|NGOs
|In many cases, support provided by NGOs is ad hoc. Still there are a few examples where NOGs still have specific, direct support programmes.
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