Professionalisation – Community Management
Community management entities are supported to move away from voluntary arrangements towards more professional, competent service provision that is embedded in local and national policy, legal, and regulatory frameworks. The rural water services function more according to agreed standards and the process of management has greater transparency and accountability.
Why is it important for sustainable services at scale?
Conventional approaches to CBM have had an overwhelming reliance on volunteer management arrangements which have often limited the capacity and skills of operators. Lack of more formalized relationships has also resulted in inadequate or low levels of accountability. Poor management, lack of checks and balances and incentives can all lead to inadequate technical, financial and managerial performance, and ultimately system breakdowns and service failures.
Common problems
Informal community-based management entities may not always be recognised under local government by-laws or national legislation and policy. This informal legal position may leave water committees unable to operate effectively; for example, by not being able to access credit, bank loans or to legally contract support services.
The capacity of volunteer committees to run and manage water systems can be greatly eroded by lack of continuity, as trained volunteers resign, leave the area, forget their initial training or no longer have time or willingness to undertake management on a voluntary basis.
Drivers of professionalisation
The transition of CBM from basic village level operation and maintenance to more professionalised management is driven by a number of factors:
Increasing demand for higher levels of service, with more complex piped systems become more common; Growth in larger rural settlements and small towns with demand for household connections and larger, more stable tariff bases; Urbanisation and (re)migration and economic growth raising rural aspirations.
Recommendations
- Clear institutional responsibilities and a separation of functions: A first step towards professionalizing water services lies in the clarification of institutional roles, responsibilities and functions between water committees and other actors
- Direct support for community operators: Guidance, technical advice and oversight of community-based management entities to improve performance and provide continuous training
- Strength through association: Community entities can professionalise and increase their capacity by working together in horizontal organizations such as associations of committees, based on the concept of mutual self-support
- Contracting out specific functions: Legalised community entities can contract out specific functions such as accountancy services, complex technical tasks (mechanical pump repairs) or tariff collection
- Improving accountability and regulation: Local authorities should have regulatory and oversight functions to check on performance of service providers
Selected references, tools and templates
- WSP, Ministério Das Obras Públicas E Habitação, Direcção Nacional De Águas, 2010. Sustainable management of small water supply systems in Africa. Practitioners’ Workshop Report
- IRC and Aguaconsult, 2011. Ghana: Lessons for Rural Water Supply ; Assessing progress towards sustainable service
- Building block summary sheet Professionalisation of community management
