Changes

Furthermore people, companies and governments are starting to appreciate that investment costs are covered as much as possible through local funding sources e.g. household contributions, recurrent tax revenue, fee systems and loans from local banks and micro-finance institutes. Proven successes in using instruments such as micro finance, guarantees, or cross-cutting subsidies provide examples and inspiration to rely more on local finance and the ability of people to become customers instead of recipients of support. There is a growing recognition of the crucial role of the informal sector and small enterprises in the provision of WASH services. [[3R (water) – Recharge, Retention and Reuse|Water and nutrient resource recycling ]] is slowly but steadily gaining economic momentum, the next stage will be to convert the recycled resource into a source of income.

The ongoing decentralisation through which the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people (from national to more local level) provides opportunities for local communities and consumer groups to be more engaged in decision making by the local authorities, including influencing budget allocations.