STRENGTHENING

ENABLING ENVIRONMENT
FOR WATER, SANITATION
AND HYGIENE (WASH)
Guidance Note
May 2016
© United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF),
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in
Humanitarian Action

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STRENGTHENING
ENABLING
ENVIRONMENT FOR
WATER, SANITATION
AND HYGIENE (WASH)
Guidance Note
May 2016
 PURPOSE OF
THIS DOCUMENT
UNICEF is working with governments and
partners to achieve the water, sanitation and
hygiene (WASH) Sustainable Development
Goal, covering mainly targets 6.1 and 6.2.
This calls for universal and sustainable water
and sanitation services with a progressive
reduction of inequality, especially for the
most vulnerable children, in times of both
stability and crisis. While many countries
have accelerated their contributions to the
WASH sector, meeting SDG 6 by 2030 will
require increased resources and effort.
Affecting positive change in WASH sector
performance requires a system-wide
approach that tackles several dimensions
simultaneously, including policy, financing,
institutions and other key functions of the
WASH enabling environment (EE). This
approach necessitates developing a reform
agenda based on a sound understanding of
the WASH sector: its strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and bottlenecks.

This document focuses on WASH sector

EE functions but recognizes that the WASH
EE sits in a broader country context that
influences UNICEF’s work. It is a guide
and resource for UNICEF country staff to
strengthen the WASH EE. It contains easy
access to references and tools offering
more in-depth knowledge and guidance
for users interested in the most up-to-date
literature. This Guidance Note is designed
to familiarize UNICEF WASH country staff
with the concepts and importance of each
EE function, to aid understanding of the
logic of addressing EE, and to give sources
of additional information. It forms the basis
of a manual for face-to-face training that
UNICEF and development partners may
wish to undertake, and a distance learning
course that will be available on the UNICEF
Agora platform.

iv GUIDANCE NOTE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The development of this Guidance Note was led by the UNICEF WASH Section
(Programme Division), in collaboration with the Social Inclusion Section
(Programme Division).

David Tsetse coordinated the preparation of the Guidance Note, under the
overall guidance of Evariste Kouassi-Komlan, with the support of Cecilia Scharp
and Guy Hutton. The FHI 360 team was led by Orlando Hernandez, with Taj
Sheriff, Renuka Bery, and Eduardo Perez, hired as an independent consultant
to develop the Guidance Note.

Technical input and guidance were provided by: Sanjay Wijesekera, Cindy
Kushner, Lizette Burgers, Chris Cormency, Kelly Naylor, Dawda Jawara,
Dominique Porteaud, Suzanne Joan Coates, Henk van Norden, Jingqing Chai,
Chander Badloe, Alban Nouvellon, Michael Gnilo, Mathew Cummins, Jérémie
Toubkiss Diallo, Sam Godfrey, Aidan Cronin, Nicolas Osbert, Antonio Marro,
and Kannan Nadar.

We are grateful for the contribution of Alejandro Jimenez from the Stockholm
International Water Institute.

We extend our gratitude to the participants of the First UNICEF workshop on

the enabling environment (EE), held in Dakar, Senegal, in September 2015, and
the Second UNICEF EE workshop, held in Bangkok, Thailand, in March 2016,
for providing important technical contributions. This Guidance Note builds on
the extensive work done by UNICEF and the UNDP Water Governance Facility,
the Stockholm International Water Institute on WASH Accountability and
Governance, and UNICEF’s work in developing and revising the WASH Sector
Bottleneck Analysis Tool.

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) v

CONTENT

PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV

Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V
TABLE OF CONTENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VI
ACRONYMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VIII
GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IX
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03
1.1 Why Strengthen the WASH Enabling Environment?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03
1.2 Why Align the WASH Enabling Environment with other Initiatives?. . . . . . . . . . . . 05
1.3 Intended Audience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06
1.4 Structure of the Guidance Note. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06
CHAPTER 2. HOW DOES THE WASH ENABLING ENVIRONMENT WORK?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 07
2.1 Country Typology and Intensity Level for EE Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 07
2.1.1 WASH EE Strengthening in Different Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08
2.2 Selected Tools for WASH EE Strengthening. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 09
2.3 Key Lessons from WASH EE Assessments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 09
CHAPTER 3. WASH ENABLING ENVIRONMENT STRENGTHENING FRAMEWORK
AND THEORY OF CHANGE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.1 WASH EE Strengthening Framework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.1.1 Structural Factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.1.2 Institutional Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.2 WASH EE Strengthening. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
CHAPTER 4. WASH ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FUNCTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.1 Sector Policy and Strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
 4.2 Institutional Arrangements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.2.1 Sector Coordination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.2.2 Service Delivery Arrangements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.2.3. Regulation and Accountability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.3 Sector Planning, Monitoring and Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.3.1. Sector Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.3.2 Sector Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.4 Sector Budgeting and Financing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.4.1 Budgeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.4.2 Financing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.5. Sector Capacity Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
CHAPTER 5. WASH ENABLING ENVIRONMENT STRENGTHENING SUPPORT PROCESS. . . . . . 21
5.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.2 WASH Enabling Environment Strengthening Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Step 1: Agree to WASH EE change process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Step 2: Conduct Systematic WASH Enabling Environment Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Step 3: Develop WASH Enabling Environment Strengthening Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Step 4: Develop WASH Enabling Environment Sector Investment Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Step 5: Implement WASH Enabling Environment Strengthening Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Step 6: Monitor and Evaluate WASH Enabling Environment Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
ANNEX 1. REVIEW OF EE ASSESSMENT TOOLS AND APPROACHES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
ANNEX 2. EVIDENCE AND LESSONS LEARNED LINKING STRONG WASH EE TO
SUSTAINABILITY AND SCALABLE SERVICE DELIVERY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
 ACRONYMS
BAT Bottleneck Analysis Tool MSF Multi-Stakeholder Forum
CSO Country Status Overview NGO Non-Governmental Organization
DFID Department for International ODF Open Defecation Free
Development (UK)
OWNP One WaSH National Program
EE Enabling Environment
RSC Regional Sanitation Conference
EHP Environmental Health Project
SDG Sustainable Development Goal
GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit SWA Sanitation and Water for All
ESA External Support Agency SWAp Sector-Wide Approach
GLAAS Global Analysis and TOC Theory of Change
Assessment of Sanitation and
Drinking Water UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund

HLM High-Level Meeting USAID U.S. Agency for International

Development
JSR Joint Sector Review
VFM Value for Money
LGA Local Government Authority
WASH Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
MDG Millennium Development Goal
WHO World Health Organization
M&E Monitoring and Evaluation
WSP Water and Sanitation Program
MoRES Monitoring Results for Equity
System WSS Water Supply and Sanitation

viii GUIDANCE NOTE

GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS
UNICEF is working with dimensions, including policy, the WASH EE. It contains
governments and partners to financing, institutions and easy access to references and
Acceleration is defined as increasing the ‘rate’ or regions, villages or populations) to large scale (for
achieve
progress in the water, WASH
achieving sanitation
access.
other key functions of the
example, achieving tools
national offering
coveragemore in-depth
or reaching a
and hygiene (WASH) WASH enabling environment
majority of districts,knowledge and populations).
villages or target guidance for
The Enabling Environment (EE) of the Water (EE). SectorThis approach users interested in the most
Sustainable Development
is a set of interrelated sector functions that enable Sustainability is the ability of a country, with minimal
Goal (SDG 6). This calls for necessitates developing a
or no outside financialup-to-date
or technicalliterature.
assistance, This
to
governments and public and private partners to
universal and sustainable reform
engage in a sustained and effective WASH service agenda based on a Guidance Note
continue the work needed to: 1) maintain is designed
WASH
water and
delivery servicesIn thesound
sanitation process.
development contextunderstanding
of service ofdelivery
the to familiarize2)UNICEF
programmes; operate WASHand
UNICEF’s work, an enabling
with a progressive reduction environment WASHfor sector:
WASH maintain
its WASH
strengths, facilities such as latrines and
country staff with the concepts water
is points; and 3) maintain the practice of positive
of one that creates
inequality, the conditions
especially for the for weaknesses,
a country to opportunities and importance of each EE
have sustainable, at-scale WASH services that behaviours such as handwashing and eliminating
and bottlenecks.
most vulnerable children, in
facilitate achievement of the WASH Sustainable open defecation. function, to aid understanding
times of both stability and crisis.
Development Goal of Universal Access for All with of the logic of addressing
Water Governance is defined as a set of rules,
While many
Progressive countries
Reduction have
in Inequality. EE, and to give sources of
practices and processes that determines who gets
accelerated their contributions This document what focuses
water, on additional
when, and information.
how. Institutions and It forms
actors
Reducing Inequality is defined as achieving access
to the WASH sector, meeting
for all subgroups within the population, which WASH sector EE functions
interact in the water the basis
sector of a
through manual
the mainfor face-
water
SDG 6 progressive
implies by 2030 will require
disaggregation but recognizes
of data by governance
that the WASH functions. Water governance
to-face training that UNICEF addresses
increasedgender,
income, resources age,and effort.
race, most factors
EE sits in a broader country
ethnicity, migratory of theandEE that can be influenced
development by
partners
status, disability, geographic sector stakeholders in the short to medium term.
Affecting positive change location,
in and other that
context influences may wish to undertake, and a
characteristics relevant in to different national Structural and institutional factors provide positive
WASH sector performance UNICEF’s work. or It negative
is a guide distance
incentives to waterlearning course that
sector performance
contexts.
requires a system-wide and resource and for change,
UNICEF but arewill be available
largely beyond the oninfluence
the UNICEFof
Scalability refers to the
approach that tackles severalpossibility of increasing the
country staff to strengthen
the water sector. Agora platform.
For the sake of this document the
scale and rate of progress in WASH service delivery governance functions used in the WASH Bottleneck
and behaviour change. For example, it may imply Analysis Tool (BAT) and in the programme on
expanding a project or programme from small scale Accountability for Sustainability are harmonized
(for example, reaching a limited population in a few with the broader EE functions.

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) ix

 This document is a guide to orient
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY UNICEF country staff to support
governments to strengthen the
water, sanitation and hygiene
(WASH) enabling environment1
(EE). The guidance it provides is
applicable to WASH subsectors,
including urban and rural WASH.
The goal and targets of the
WASH Sustainable Development
Goals (SDG 6) call for access to
sustainable WASH for everyone by
2030. These are more ambitious
and comprehensive than those
of the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). UNICEF and the
wider WASH sector recognize
that facilitating the acceleration,
universality, scalability, sustain-
ability and equity of WASH
service delivery inherent in the
SDGs, requires a paradigm shift
in thinking and implementation.
Without this, neither governments
nor development partners will be
successful in achieving the WASH-
related SDG targets.

Achieving these targets will

require that WASH services are
government-led and presented
as a comprehensive, long-term,
cross-sectoral partnership across
the public, private and non-
governmental organization (NGO)
spheres. The WASH Sector EE is
a set of interrelated functions that
allows governments and public
and private partners to engage in
efficient and sustainable WASH
service delivery. In the context
of UNICEF’s work, an enabling
environment for WASH is one that
creates the conditions for a country
to have sustainable, at-scale WASH
services that will facilitate achieving
SDG 6.

1 ‘Enabling environment’ also means ‘system

strengthening’ and these terms are used interchangeably
in the document.

01 GUIDANCE NOTE
UNICEF works with governments and partners to demography, society and culture, geography, history and
achieve universal and sustainable water and sanitation economy. Institutional factors outside the WASH sector
services with a focus on reducing inequality, especially include political leadership, budgeting prioritization of
for the most vulnerable children, in times of both competing needs and broader accountability measures.
stability and crisis. Affecting positive change in WASH
sector performance requires a system-wide approach The TOC states that with financial resources and
that tackles several dimensions – including policy, technical assistance inputs from stakeholders
financing and institutions – and other key functions including UNICEF, governments can implement
of the WASH sector as a whole. This approach actions which will strengthen given WASH EE
necessitates developing a reform agenda based on a governance functions. In turn, such strengthening
sound understanding of the WASH sector: its strengths, will lead to sustainable and effective government-
weaknesses, opportunities and bottlenecks. led WASH sector service delivery, thus fulfilling
Future work to strengthen WASH EE will build on the human rights to drinking-water and sanitation.
efforts that stakeholders have already undertaken. UNICEF staff can use this TOC in their conversations
In fact, UNICEF, governments and development with government and development partners to
partners have engaged in related efforts (sometimes support efforts to create an enabling environment for
called ‘upstream work’, ‘sector and policy reform’ or sustainable and equitable WASH services and related
‘systemic change’) for many years in the water supply behaviour change. This TOC builds on UNICEF’s
subsector, and more recently in the sanitation and governance and accountability work in the WASH
hygiene subsectors. The nature of EE work means sector.
that it is a challenge to show quantitative evidence of
the impact or worth of the efforts, since the results The document also proposes a six step process for
are often indirect and cannot be attributed to any one UNICEF, government and development partners to
factor or institution. Nevertheless, there is a growing systematically strengthen the EE. The steps used
number of case studies by UNICEF and development generally as components of a programming cycle are:
partners that demonstrate the impact of improving the
enabling environment for access to sustainable WASH • Agree: Build consensus and leadership to improve
services. the WASH sector and forge alliances with other
development partners to strengthen WASH EE.
This document focuses on key WASH sector governance
functions that are grouped as follows: 1) sector policy • Assess: Work with the government and partners to
and strategy; 2) institutional arrangements (covering carry out a systematic analysis and assessment of
sector coordination, service delivery arrangements, the existing WASH EE.
regulation and accountability); 3) planning, monitoring
and review (covering separately sector planning and • Plan: Facilitate a government-led process to design
sector monitoring, evaluation and learning); 4) sector a comprehensive programme for strengthening the
budgeting and financing; and 5) sector capacity WASH EE and agreeing on roles for the government
development. The core WASH EE functions are aligned and development partners in the EE strengthening
with those used in the revised and improved UNICEF programme.
WASH Bottleneck Analysis Tool (BAT).
• Invest: Develop a WASH sector investment plan.
Within the context of UNICEF’s Strategy for WASH
(2016-2030), this guide describes a ‘Theory of • Implement: a detailed work (implementation) plan
Change’ (TOC) that defines long-term goals for the for UNICEF support to the programme to strengthen
WASH sector and identifies the preconditions needed the WASH EE, with related timeline, budget and
to accomplish them. Strengthen EE is one of six human resource requirements.
programming approaches of the Strategic Framework .
The TOC further suggests that there are two important • Monitor and Evaluate: Jointly with development
categories of contextual factors to consider: structural partners, support government efforts to monitor the
and institutional. The former includes factors such as EE progress and improvements.

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 02

 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which • Join with sector stakeholders to use and further
are inclusive, people-centered and integrate economic, develop analytical tools, such as WASH BAT, to
social and environmental dimensions, recognize that analyze constraints within each EE functions, identify
system strengthening can have positive effects on sus- solutions, and develop action plans to address
tainable WASH services provision. bottlenecks.
The challenge is that all countries
Working closely with governments
are expected to adapt the SDGs, An Enabling Environment is a set of
and other partners, UNICEF can
targets and indicators to their na- interrelated sector functions that impact
help develop strong WASH enabling
tional situation. This requires a the capacity of governments and public
environments at all levels, from
review and updating of national and private partners to engage in the
national to community, addressing
policies and strategies, strengthen- WASH service delivery development
the full range of component parts:
ing institutional accountability and processes in a sustained and effective
sector policy and strategy; sector
regulatory mechanisms, improving manner. In the context of UNICEF’s work,
coordination; service delivery,
national and sub national level plan- an enabling environment for WASH is
regulation and accountability;
ning, monitoring, evaluation and one that creates the conditions for a
planning, monitoring, evaluation
reporting processes and systems. country to have sustainable, at-scale
and learning; budgeting and
WASH services that will facilitate
This document aims to provide finance; and capacity building.
achievement of the Universal Access for
a guide for UNICEF country staff All in WASH with Progressive Reduction UNICEF will also emphasize
to understand how to support on Inequality. building the EE for, and capacity
governments in strengthening the of, private sector actors, including
WASH enabling environment (EE). small scale operators and service
The new UNICEF Global WASH Strategy for 2016– providers. UNICEF will continue to work with partners
20302 calls for UNICEF to: on related complementary initiatives and participate
in joint sector reviews (JSRs) and other consultation
• Strengthen the enabling environment. Focusing on
mechanisms. Analytical work on national EEs will also
the EE is crucial given the universality, sustainability
be linked to regional and global processes, including
and equity of WASH service delivery required by SDG
regional WASH monitoring initiatives and consultations
Goal 6 targets 6.1 and 6.2.
(such as regional sanitation conferences including
• Use the agency’s convening power to improve SACOSAN and AfricaSAN), and ongoing core support
advocacy and influence policy change in addressing to the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) partnership,
universal access, equity and safely managed services. Joint Monitoring Programme, and UN-Water Global
It also calls for strengthening evidence generation Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking
efforts to support resource mobilization, influence Water (GLAAS) to inform further analysis.
policies, and support or create institutions with
capacity and leadership in planning, budgeting and 1.1 Why Strengthen the WASH Enabling
monitoring. Environment?

•
Target investments to support governments UNICEF supports governments and works with
to strengthen the EE, and jointly conduct EE development partners to achieve universal and
strengthening processes using existing collaboration sustainable water and sanitation services with a focus
and coordination mechanisms such as joint sector on reducing inequality, especially for the most vulnerable
reviews. children, in times of both stability and crisis. The goal of
SDG 6 and the targets of the WASH SDGs call for access
to safe and sustainable WASH for everyone by 2030.
2 UNICEF. (2016). Strategy for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) 2016-2030. New
These aims are more ambitious and comprehensive
York: UNICEF than the previous Millennium Development Goal

03 GUIDANCE NOTE
 Overall desired outcome: government
and stakeholders empowered to
perform agreed WASH governance
enabling functions at all levels to
create necessary systems and
processes required for provision
of sustainable and safely managed
WASH services to all its citizens

(MDG) WASH targets. There is broad consensus that owned, and presented as a comprehensive, long-term,
a ‘projectized’ approach is too piecemeal and time- cross-sectoral partnership across the public, private and
limited to enable countries to reach the SDG targets. NGO landscape.
UNICEF and the wider WASH sector recognize that
the acceleration, scalability, sustainability and equity Examples of addressing the WASH EE to improve and
of WASH service delivery requires a paradigm shift in scale up sustainable WASH service delivery are growing.
thinking and implementation, which is expressed in The government-led rural sanitation programme in
the 2016–2030 UNICEF WASH strategy. The current Ethiopia, for example, reduced open defecation from
WASH delivery strategies and approaches that many 84 per cent in 2010 to 34 per cent in 2015. During the
governments and development partners practice may same period, the Government of Ethiopia progressively
not be effective in achieving SDG goal. Experience reduced inequality in access to sanitation between
and evidence from governments, UNICEF and the top and bottom wealth quintiles. Key factors in
development partners shows that achieving the WASH the Government of Ethiopia’s achievements were the
SDG targets in many countries will require a strong support it received from UNICEF and other development
enabling environment that creates the conditions for partners to strengthen the rural sanitation EE. Actions
transforming how governments work. This will result in included developing new policy and programmatic
WASH services that are government-led, government- approaches for rural sanitation, developing a sector-wide

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 04

 political leaders in the implementation agenda; financing
policies that included some element of subsidy; course
correction mechanisms at all levels to identify and
address obstacles to implementation quickly with
remedial policy reforms; a well-coordinated multi-sector
approach; capacity building; and continuous monitoring
with increasing standards as goals were achieved.

Equally compelling is the long list of countries lagging

in access to water supply and especially sanitation
that have not effectively reached poor people or
created sustainable WASH service delivery. Evidence
from UN-Water’s GLAAS survey6 and the experience
of development partners indicate that most poorly
performing countries: have weak or no WASH policies;
lack clarity on institutional roles, responsibilities and
accountability; lack a clear and sustainable financing
policy; and have weak institutional and human resource
capacities. Growing evidence strongly suggests that
these countries will make progress towards the SDG
WASH targets when they strengthen their WASH EE.

approach (SWAp) with unified indicators and monitoring Examples of the role of WASH EE by sub-sector may be
systems, and increasing and better targeting external found in Annex 2.
financing for rural sanitation.3

In Indonesia, the government-led, rural sanitation pilot in 1.2 Why Align the WASH Enabling Environment
East Java Province (which has a rural population of over with other Initiatives?
20 million) accelerated the rate of access to improved
This WASH EE Guidance Note aligns with and supports
sanitation from less than 1 per cent per year to more
UNICEF’s 2016–2030 WASH strategy. This strategy
than 4 per cent per year. This pilot served as a learning
calls for UNICEF to improve its efforts to support an EE
laboratory for developing and improving national level
that allows all actors to contribute effectively to capacity
policies, agreeing on roles for local government and the
strengthening, promote innovation and increase water
private sector, developing an effective methodology
sanitation coverage.
for creating demand for sanitation, and developing a
nationwide programme. These results have in turn led The guidance document builds on UNICEF country staff
to increased funding for rural sanitation by national and experience in supporting the WASH EE for many years.
local governments.4 The document is based on a review of the literature and
A WaterAid study (2016)5 reviewed the experience global best practices and incorporates existing EE tools
of four countries (Singapore, the Republic of Korea, and approaches developed by UNICEF and its partners.
Malaysia, and Thailand) that have successfully
The EE functions7 discussed in this Guidance Note are
achieved universal access to sanitation for all. The
harmonized with the five SWA sector strengthening
study concluded that the key success factors included:
building blocks.8 Furthermore, the WASH Bottleneck
high-level political leadership; ongoing engagement by
Analysis Tool (BAT) 2.09 is also aligned with the building
blocks.
3 JMP data analyzed by the author and correspondence with the UNICEF Ethiopia
Country WASH Chief.
4 World Bank. 2015. Learning How to Scale Up Rural Sanitation Service Delivery in 6 UN-Water. Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water. 2014.
Indonesia. Global Service Delivery Case Study. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
5 WaterAid. 2016. Achieving Total Sanitation and Hygiene Coverage within a Generation: 7 See Chapter 4 of the Guidance Note.
Lessons Learned from East Asia. http://www.wateraid.org/what-we-do/our-approach/ 8 See SWA Sector Strengthening Toolkit.
research-and-publications/view-publication?id=4ea98b1d-e89d-40be-acbe-0d280699f40f 9 See WASHBAT 2.0 for details.

05 GUIDANCE NOTE
1.3 Intended Audience
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE
This document has been developed primarily for
GUIDANCE NOTE
UNICEF country staff but may be useful for government
and other development partner staff who wish to • General orientation of issues and opportunities
better understand how to strengthen the WASH EE. It regarding the WASH EE
assumes that all UNICEF country WASH staff cannot be
experts in all important EE technical areas. As a result, • Suggestions for action when addressing WASH EE
it is designed to familiarize UNICEF WASH country staff strengthening
with the concepts and importance of each EE function,
• Easy access to references for more in-depth knowledge
to understand the logic for addressing the EE, and where
about up-to-date literature on the topic
to get additional information. UNICEF country staff need
to understand how to analyze a country’s programming
processes and related bottlenecks. UNICEF’s WASH
EE work must also tie into the regular UNICEF country arrangement, and regulation and accountability; sec-
programming processes and milestones such as tor planning and monitoring evaluation and review;
situation analysis, strategy note development, and mid- budgeting and finance; service delivery arrangement;
term reviews (not covered in this Guidance Note). and capacity development). Each function is organized
by definition, indicators, outcome, activities and tools.
1.4 Structure of the Guidance Note • Chapter 5 proposes a comprehensive support pro-
cess for working with government and development
This simple-to-use guide orients readers on how to
strengthen the WASH EE, with main takeaway points partners to strengthen the EE functions. The step-by-
and suggested action. It also highlights additional tools step support process includes:
and more in-depth, up-to-date literature.
o Agree: Build consensus and leadership to improve
The Guidance Note is structured as follows: the WASH sector and forge alliances with other de-
velopment partners to strengthen WASH EE.
• Chapter 1 provides background information, and
describes alignment, audience and structure. It o Assess: Work with the government and partners to
supplies the rationale to explain why strengthening carry out a systematic analysis and assessment of
the EE is important to achieving the WASH SDG goal the existing WASH EE.
and sustainable WASH service delivery that reaches
o Plan: Facilitate a government-led process to design
everyone, including the poor.
a comprehensive programme for strengthening the
• Chapter 2 reviews the existing EE landscape, WASH EE and agreeing on roles for the government
approaches and tools that UNICEF and other and development partners in the EE strengthening
development partners use; discusses examples, programme.
evidence and lessons learned linking the WASH EE
to sustainability and scalable service delivery; and o Invest: Develop a WASH sector investment plan.
discusses how to engage in the EE in countries of Secure financing from existing channels and devel-
different types, such as fragile states, low capacity op new financing sources and mechanisms to sup-
states, and countries experiencing emergencies. port the plan

• Chapter 3 presents a Framework for Strengthening o Implement: a detailed work (implementation) plan
WASH EE, and describes a theory of change (TOC) for UNICEF support to the programme to strength-
guiding UNICEF work in WASH EE and each of the en the WASH EE, with related timeline, budget and
EE functions that are critical for a sustainable WASH human resource requirements.
sector.
o Monitor and Evaluate: Jointly with development
• Chapter 4 presents the EE Functions (policy and partners, support government efforts to monitor EE
strategy; sector coordination, service delivery progress and improvements.

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 06

 CHAPTER 2: HOW DOES THE WASH ENABLING
ENVIRONMENT WORK?

2.1 Country Typology and Intensity Level for EE that activities conducted will also be context-specific.
Activities UNICEF will assess ‘context capacity’ to determine how
its efforts can complement and strengthen the work
A major premise related to the EE is that activities to
of governments. “Context capacity” is a composite
strengthen the enabling environment are context-
definition comprising infrastructure functionality,
specific. This suggests that tailoring is required to
government effectiveness and resource availability.
avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to strengthening the
This suggests that tailoring is required to avoid a one-
EE. UNICEF, sector partners and donors have defined
size-fits-all approach to strengthening the EE.
a country typology and created assessment tools to
identify and prioritize actions that are possible and UNICEF’s involvement in strengthening the EE is likely
suited to the characteristics of the different target to be greater in contexts with increased capacity to
countries. The actions implemented must be guided by implement reform. In countries lacking such capacity,
specific needs and may vary in intensity depending on UNICEF is likely to focus more on direct service delivery
the typology used.
and limit efforts to strengthen the WASH EE. WASH
The UNICEF 2016–2030 WASH Strategy states that EE conditions and needs will differ between countries
UNICEF will analyse the situation in each country in and within countries, especially larger countries such
consultation with government and partners and, based as India and Nigeria. Where responsibility for WASH
on the resources available and guided by the WASH services has been decentralized to state and local
Strategy; determine the scope, scale and role of UNICEF governments, activities for strengthening the EE in
support ( see Figure1).The WASH Strategy provides a each state will differ, depending on context capacity.
tool to determine the appropriate mix of programming Furthermore, one WASH subsector may be weaker
approaches, of which strengthening WASH EE is one, to than another, so strengthening the EE could focus on
a given capacity in a given context. It therefore follows one subsector rather than all four.

FIGURE 1 Linking WASH Programme Approach with Country Context10

CAPACITY CONTEXT
Darker indicates more intensive use of approach

Low Medium High

Emergency Fragile Capacity Capacity Capacity Key

Strengthen enabling
environments
Concentrate
Utilize evidence to on EE
promote child rights
Leverage sustainable
financial resources Some EE Focus
Build sustainable markets

Empower communities Low EE Focus

Deliver services and supplies

10 UNICEF. (2016). Strategy for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) 2016-2030. New York: UNICEF, and adapted from UNICEF Health Strategy 2016

07 GUIDANCE NOTE
 FIGURE 2 Progress in strengthening WASH EE functions in four different contexts
2007 BASELINE INDIA-HP INDIA-MP INDONESIA TANZANIA
Policy, strategy and direction MEDIUM LOW MEDIUM LOW
Institutional arrangements HIGH MEDIUM LOW LOW
Key
Program methodology MEDIUM LOW LOW LOW
Implementation capacity MEDIUM LOW LOW LOW LOW

Availability of products and services LOW LOW LOW LOW Needs

improvement
Financing and incentives HIGH HIGH LOW LOW
Cost-effective implementation LOW LOW LOW LOW

Monitoring and evaluation LOW LOW LOW LOW MEDIUM

Progress made,
2010 ENDLINE INDIA-HP INDIA-MP INDONESIA TANZANIA but still not
high performing
Policy, strategy and direction HIGH LOW HIGH LOW
Institutional arrangements HIGH MEDIUM MEDIUM MEDIUM
Program methodology HIGH LOW HIGH MEDIUM
HIGH
Implementation capacity HIGH LOW HIGH MEDIUM
Performing at a
Availability of products and services HIGH LOW HIGH MEDIUM high level

Financing and incentives HIGH HIGH MEDIUM LOW

Cost-effective implementation MEDIUM LOW MEDIUM LOW

Monitoring and evaluation HIGH MEDIUM HIGH LOW

2.1.1 WASH EE Strengthening in Different Contexts significantly stronger than that of Tanzania.

A 2012 World Bank Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) The study found that:
study,11 offers examples of differentiated approaches
to strengthening the EE for rural sanitation in Tanzania, •
Both countries had a high level commitment
Indonesia, and India from 2007 to 2010. These three to change, but the relatively stronger overall
countries are reasonably representative of low, medium capacity of the Indonesian Government –
including in terms of human resources – facilitated a
and high capacity context countries, respectively.
faster and stronger reform process. This significantly
Figure 2 shows the relative strength of each key accelerated rural sanitation access compared to
EE function at baseline and end line. While the Tanzania. The same results can be seen when
components vary from the UNICEF EE functions used comparing the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and
in this Guidance Note, they illustrate how changes in Himachal Pradesh.
the EE are possible and measurable. More importantly,
• Although India HP is considered a high-capacity
the scoring used offers insights into working in different
(e.g. the training of government civil servants)
capacity contexts. For example, while Indonesia has a
context country overall, large differences in capacity
medium capacity context and Tanzania has a low capacity
exist between its different states, so processes for
context, both had very weak overall EEs for scaling up
strengthening EE must address these differences
rural sanitation (and both had very low rural sanitation
even within the same country.
access). Three years later, however, Indonesia’s EE for
at-scale sustainable rural sanitation programmes was Relevant key lessons from this study included

11 Rosensweig, Perez, Robinson. 2012. Policy and Sector Reform to Accelerate Access to • Countries/states with the highest context capacity to
Improved Rural Sanitation. WSP. begin with ended up with the strongest EE, and made

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 08

 the most progress towards increasing sustainable strengthening the EE is still relatively limited. A review
rural sanitation services. of this limited case study literature12,13,14,15 suggests the
• Countries/states with lower context capacity also following lessons to date:
made progress in strengthening their EE, but • High-level political leadership is critical and does
progress was slower and required more support from not usually stem from community-driven demand.
development partners. Securing political leadership at the highest levels
• In all cases, local governments served as the focal can be achieved via evidence-based discussions.
point for an at-scale sanitation service delivery Political priorities and the political economy must be
programme – but institutional and human resource addressed when pushing for reform.
capacities at the local level varied significantly even • While country capacity is required to reach set goals,
within high capacity context countries – and this was national wealth may not be a pre-condition of a strong
a critical bottleneck even when the countrywide EE WASH EE.
was strong.
• Governments and development partners agree on the
In conclusion, these examples suggest that: (a) critical areas to be strengthened/ improved/reformed
EE improvements may be uneven across different – but no sector-wide agreement exists on a specific
functions; (b) political leadership is crucial to strengthening core set of EE functions.
EE in the long term; and (c) strengthening EE may
• No consensus (or evidence) exists as to which, if any,
require a phased approach whereby accomplishments
of the key EE functions are more important/critical
are assessed before each new phase, to determine
than others in terms of importance or timing. Rather,
where focused assistance may be required.
all EE functions seem to function like a chain – where
all links must be strong.
2.2 Selected Tools for WASH EE Strengthening
• Regular monitoring (perhaps annual) of EE functions
Table 1 presents different ‘cross-cutting’ and ‘function- can help achieve goals, especially when they
specific’ tools that may be used to conduct assessments include ‘feedback loops’ that allow real time ongoing
and analyses, and determine which EE functions need adjustment to the EE function.
to be strengthened. Cross-cutting tools may address • Institutional changes may occur when aligned with
multiple issues and can be used to assess the status of the political incentives of key actors.
multiple functions. Function-specific tools may be used
• Translating a new policy into real changes in
to conduct an assessment or define work that needs to
institutional behaviour and function can be more
be done for specific functions, for example, finance, or
difficult and costly, and take more time than planned,
monitoring, evaluation and learning. Categorizing these
even when backed by the highest level of political
tools will allow readers to determine where they might
support.
be most useful.
• Organizational change goes beyond capacity building;
The experience of UNICEF and other development institutional behaviour change requires targeted tech-
partners suggests that easy-to-use tools can facilitate nical assistance.
the process of working with governments to strengthen
• EE work often involves uncertainty and necessitates
the EE. These tools, and links to help assess and monitor
more planning contingencies.
the EE for one or more WASH subsector or EE function,
are referred to in later sections and detailed definitions 12 Water Aid. 2016. A Review of Rural Sanitation Experiences in Singapore, South Korea,
are provided for them in Annex 1. Malaysia and Thailand
13 Hima and Santibanez. 2015. Against the Current: How to Shape an Enabling
Environment for Sustainable Water Service Delivery in Nigeria, Global Delivery Initiative.
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2015/09/2
2.3 Key Lessons from WASH EE Assessments 1/090224b0830f3d23/1_0/Rendered/PDF/Against0the0cu00delivery0in0Nigeria.pdf
14 Johnson and Perez. 2002. Rural Water Supply and Sanitation in the Dominican Republic.
Assessing and strengthening the WASH EE is an USAID/WASH Project.
15 Medland LS, E Scott and AP Cotton. 2016. Achieving sustainable sanitation chains
emerging and constantly evolving practice – perhaps best through better informed and more systematic improvements: lessons from multi-city
research in Sub-Saharan Africa. Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology,
described as the ‘science and art’ of sustainable WASH DOI: 10.1039/C5EW00255A. Consulted April 2016. http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/
service delivery. Evidence about effective approaches to articlelanding/2016/ew/c5ew00255a/unauth#!divAbstract

09 GUIDANCE NOTE
TABLE 1 Short Descriptions of Selected EE Tools (Cross-cutting and Function-specific)

TYPE TOOL OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION

The UNICEF WASH To assess the EE of WASH delivery Applies a root-cause analysis of the major constraints
Bottleneck Analysis by tracking the removal of barriers on sector progress to determine the requirements and
Tool (BAT) to sustainable and efficient services consequences of removing them.
at national, regional and community
level.

The WSP/World Bank Gauge country progress towards National level tool to highlight achievements of the
Country Status Over- WASH targets using a standard four WASH subsectors, benchmark service delivery
views (CSOs) format based on the best available pathways, and identify issues that may inhibit progress.
country data permitting cross-cut- Scores progress in three areas of service delivery to each
ting comparison. WASH subsector, enabling service delivery, and develop-
Cross- ing and sustaining services.
cutting
WASH Joint Sector To allow sector stakeholders an Key sectoral stakeholders (typically annually) produce
reviews (JSRs) insight into, discuss and influence a report, which serves as a reference point on national
sector developments. sector progress and offers recommendations.

UN-Water GLAAS To provide a global update on the Global report published biannually, including an assess-
policy frameworks, institutional ment of government policies and institutions, invest-
arrangements, human resource ments, foreign assistance, and relative influence of all
base, and international and national these factors on performance.
finance streams in support of im-
proved sanitation and safe drinking
water.

The UNICEF Advo- To help develop an advocacy strat- Systematizes both internal and external UNICEF advo-
cacy Toolkit egy. cacy expertise and experience, and develops a few inno-
vative approaches. The Toolkit provides a set of practical
tools to help UNICEF staff and develop and manage their
advocacy work.

The World Health To enable countries to track WASH Answers four basic questions: (i) What are the total
Organization (WHO) sector financing using standardized WASH expenditures?; (ii) How are funds distributed
Track-Fin classifications, and to develop a set between different services and expenditure types?; (iii)
of WASH accounts and indicators Who pays for services?; (iv) Which entities receive fund-
presented in a format comparable ing?
across regions and countries.

The DFID Value for To develop a better understanding Collects and analyzes data on the costs and results of
Money (VFM) tool (and better articulation) of costs and the particular programme, interprets the VFM indicators
results to inform decision-making. generated, and compares them to other programmes.

Function- UNICEF Sustainabil- Determine whether infrastructure Sustainability Checks assess the functionality and sus-
Specific ity Checks and Sus- investments are functional and sus- tainability of WASH infrastructure investments, helping
tainability Compacts tainable. Permits corrective action to show whether finances are sufficient to cover the full
if the investments are not working life-cycle cost of the facilities constructed/rehabilitated.
correctly.
A Sustainability Compact is a signed agreement between
the implementing agency and the government of the re-
cipient country stipulating the roles and responsibilities
of both parties, to secure the sustainability of services
for a certain period after the conclusion of the project.

The UNICEF Monitor- To plan, programme, implement, Strengthens programming and achieves results for the
ing Results for Eq- monitor and manage results ef- most disadvantaged children. This reconfirms UNICEF’s
uity System (MoRES) fectively to improve outcomes for commitment to promote the use of data and evidence in
Framework disadvantaged children. advocacy and programming, and as a conceptual frame-
work for effective planning, programming, implementa-
tion, monitoring and managing for results to achieve
desired outcomes for the most disadvantaged children.

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 10

 CHAPTER 3: WASH ENABLING ENVIRONMENT
STRENGTHENING FRAMEWORK AND THEORY OF CHANGE
3.1. WASH EE Strengthening Framework • Economy: the large set of inter-related production
and consumption activities that influence how re-
The 2016–2030 UNICEF Global WASH Strategy sources are allocated.
includes a Strategic Framework which includes a set of
programming principles to guide its context-specific mix 3.1.2 Institutional Factors
of programming approaches and results areas in each
country. Strengthening EE is one of the programming Institutional factors are norms, regulations and informal
approaches UNICEF will utilize to achieve WASH results rules that shape the relationship between the actors in
at home, in institutions and during emergencies. This a given context and sector.
framework provides a set of programming principles
to guide context-specific WASH programming Institutional factors outside the WASH sector include:
interventions and is presented in Figure 3 below.
• Decentralization: transfer of governance to sub-na-
Strengthening EE is one of the programming approaches, tional units of government that may include adminis-
guided by the principles (reduce inequality, strengthen trative, fiscal, and political devolution to such units, and
national systems and accountability at all levels, link which may affect aspects including fiscal policy, hu-
development and humanitarian programmes, promote man resources management and public procurement.
resilient development, sustain access to services at
• Public Finance Management: budgeting prioritiza-
scale and contribute across SDGs) that UNICEF will
tion of competing needs.
utilize to achieve WASH results at home, in institutions
and during emergencies.16 • Anti-Corruption Means and Provisions: measures
adopted by governments to prevent fraud, bribery,
Within a country, strengthening WASH EE sits in a
extortion and use of public resources and power for
broader context that influences UNICEF’s WASH
personal gain.
work. Figure 3 illustrates two important categories of
contextual factors: structural and institutional. • Social Norms: power relationships, social decision
making processes.
3.1.1. Structural Factors
• Others: context specific factors like quality assur-
Structural factors are natural, physical and contextual ance, equity and sustainability.
characteristics inherent in a country that are changeable
UNICEF and other development partners will focus
over decades and not (or only partially) subject to
on EE functions central to the WASH sector, although
influence by the WASH sector. These characteristics
some activities (in coordination with other partners) may
include:
address institutional factors of the EE that fall outside
• Demography: size, structure and distribution of pop- the water sector. In all cases, it is important to know
ulation. and understand factors outside the sector that affect
its performance. This Guidance Note focuses on the
• Society and culture: shared language, traditions, reli-
core WASH sector functions that form the EE approach.
gion, beliefs, values, norms, mores, rules, tools, tech-
Figure 3 illustrates the importance of each EE function.
nologies, products, organizations, and institutions.
• Geography: basic resource endowment, ecosys- Strong political leadership is the starting point in
tems and climate. strengthening the WASH EE. Political leaders who are
convinced and motivated to push the WASH agenda
• History: a series of past events that relate to a par-
are needed to establish a shared vision to achieving the
ticular setting, population or country.
WASH SDG, and to ensure the political will to reform
16 UUNICEF. (2016). Strategy for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) 2016-2030. New
WASH service delivery. Developing this shared vision
York: UNICEF collaboratively is also the foundation for coordination

11 GUIDANCE NOTE
and creating motivation at all levels. Political leaders at address high-level political leaders’ needs.
national, state and local government levels are needed • Invite and support trips from high-level leaders to
as champions to establish sustainable WASH service global and regional high-level conferences such as the
delivery as a political priority. Anecdotal experience SWA Meeting hosted by the World Bank.
suggests that the higher the leadership, the stronger
the impact of political will. Ideal political leaders include 3.2 WASH EE Strengthening
presidents, governors and mayors. Experience suggests
that the following activities are effective in fostering A theory of change is essentially a description and
political leadership: illustration of how and why a desired change is expected
to happen in a particular context. It outlines a path of
• Identify and recruit high-level global leaders from change indicating the logical, gradual steps required to
the UN or the private sector to engage with achieve a larger outcome or goal. In the context of the
high-level country leaders to advocate for their WASH EE, the end outcome sought is the existence of
personal leadership. sustainable and effective government-led WASH sector
• Develop evidence-based advocacy documents that that delivers WASH services for all in fulfilment of the

FIGURE 3 Contextual Factors Surrounding Enabling Environment Functions17

STRUCTURAL FACTORS
SOCIETY
DEMOGRAPHY GEOGRAPHY HISTORY ECONOMY
AND CULTURE

INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
ANTI-CORRUPTION
PUBLIC FINANCE
DECENTRALISATION MEANS AND SOCIAL NORMS OTHERS
MANAGEMENT
PROVISIONS

GOVERNANCE FUNCTIONS IN WASH SECTOR

SECTOR POLICY/ INSTITUTIONAL SECTOR PLANNING, CAPACITY
STRATEGY ARRANGEMENTS FINANCING MONITORING, DEVELOPMENT
AND REVIEW

Policy and Strategy Coordination Budgeting Planning Capacity

Development
Service delivery Financing Monitoring,
Evalutation
Regulation and
and learning
Accountability

POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

17 Adapted from Jiménez A, LeDeunff H., Avello P., and Scharp, C. 2015. Enabling Environment and Water Governance: A Conceptual Framework. Accountability for Sustainability
Partnership. Available at: http://watergovernance.org/resources/enabling-environment-and-water-governance-a-conceptual-framework

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 12

 human right to sanitation and water. The TOC is this • Government willingness to take up WASH EE
case describes the required steps required to achieve strengthening, which may require abandoning
that outcome. conducting ‘business as usual’.

The TOC18 presented in Figure 4 states that with • Activities under ‘Inputs’ should be implemented
financial resources and technical assistance inputs in conjunction with other development partners,
from different stakeholders, UNICEF included, including governments. For example, stakeholders in
governments can implement action that will the WASH sector including pertinent host government
strengthen given WASH EE governance functions. institutions should carry out the Bottleneck Analysis.
This strengthening will lead to sustainable and
effective government-led WASH sector service • Bottleneck analyses help to establish priorities and
delivery, thus fulfilling the human rights to drinking identify which WASH governance functions need
water and sanitation. UNICEF staff can use the strengthening. Each context is different and requires
WASH EE TOC with government and development initiating action to affect different functions.
partners to support government efforts to create an
• Strengthening functions requires time and change
EE for sustainable and equitable WASH services and
will not be linear or immediate.
related behaviour change. This TOC builds on UNICEF’s
governance and accountability work in the WASH sector. • Further research will be needed as EE support actions
are implemented to determine whether pathways of
The EE is a subcomponent of what contributes to sector
change emerge, thus helping to improve the TOC.
results and their corresponding impact. As such, the TOC
does not include impact, but does capture contributions • Such research will help establish feedback loops to
made to sector outcomes. Because the WASH EE sits modify actions that are not delivering their intended
in a broader country context that influences UNICEF’s effect.
work, it is crucial to understand, and where feasible,
engage with structural and institutional factors outside UNICEF also has to consider that the change sequence
the sector that are affecting its performance. proposed by a TOC is subject to risk. Risk corresponds
to a potential future event, fully or partially beyond
The following are important assumptions behind the the control of an organization, which may affect the
TOC presented in Figure 4. achievement of results. Some organizations have
chosen to widen the definition of risk to include both
18 The TOC for WASH EE was drafted by WASH Programme Division with technical input threats that might prevent them from achieving their
from a core reference group, and further improved with feedback from the First UNICEF EE
workshop held in Dakar, Senegal, in September 2015, and the Second UNICEF EE objectives, and opportunities that would enhance the
workshop held in Bangkok, Thailand in March 2016. The core WASH EE functions are likelihood that results can be achieved. Risks may
meant to be aligned with those used in the UNICEF WASH-BAT tool and may change as
the WASH-BAT tool is improved. This TOC also builds on UNICEF’s work on Governance
be strategic, environmental, financial, operational,
and Accountability in the WASH sector. organizational, political and regulatory. In the case of

13 GUIDANCE NOTE
 FIGURE 4 WASH Enabling Environment Strengthening TOC

OUTPUTS OUTCOMES
INPUTS
ACTIVITIES Strengthened WASH Service
Activities Core WASH EE Delivery
Functions Strengthened

Financial Resources Identify & support political Sector Policy and A sustainable &
Technical Assistance leadership Strategy effective Government-
led WASH sector
Carry out analysis of EE Sector Coordination
Knowledge delivering services in
bottlenecks Service Delivery the fulfilment of the
Develop a government Arrangements human right to water
led plan to remove EE & sanitation and
Regulation and
bottlenecks sustainable hygiene
Accountability
Provide guidance & practices
Sector Planning
assistance to government
Sector Monitoring,
Build capacity at all levels Evaluation and Learning
Monitor & evaluate Budgeting
results
Financing
Support evidence-based
learning & knowledge Sector Capacity
sharing Development
Leverage funds

IMPORTANT ASSUMPTIONS BEHIND THIS THEORY OF CHANGE

Willingness of governments to stop doing business as usual
All activities are implemented in conjunction with other donors in support of government led changes
WASH BAT will lead to different results per county, one size does not fit all
Effects of inputs and outcomes will take time and will not be immediate
Monitoring & research will allow detecting pathways of change and must be supported

POTENTIAL RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THEORY OF CHANGE

Decentralization leading to uneven implementation of interventions throughout a country
Adverse climatic change conditions
Political instability

WASH EE, potential risks that may affect the sequence which may affect specific WASH governance
of events suggested by the TOC include: functions and service delivery.

• The level of decentralization may influence the extent • Political instability may affect the pace of EE
to which EE functions are strengthened in a country,
strengthening, reduce the level of external support to
leading to more and less advanced regions.
strengthen EE functions or lead to financial constraints
• Climate change may affect water resource availability, on implementing measures initially adopted.

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 14

 CHAPTER 4. WASH ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FUNCTIONS
This chapter describes each core WASH EE function cabinet and is used by stakeholders.
identified in the theory of change. Each function
description includes a definition, illustrative examples Indicators
of activities to strengthen the expected outcomes of • WASH policy and strategy are informed by evidence
the function, and sample indicators. Where available, it (data, approaches with realistic budget).
includes means of verification and tools to support EE • Lead ministries have clear roles and responsibilities
strengthening work. In this case, tools are used in a wide for WASH and developed mechanisms for account-
sense to include not only instruments for measuring and ability.
conducting assessments, but also implementation tools
• WASH services include safely managed elimination of
such as terms of reference and scopes of work. For
open defecation.
some functions, there were no specific tools available
at the time the Guidance Note was prepared. These will Means of verification
become available as they are developed and included in • Policy and strategy analysis.
the UNICEF Sustainable WASH EE Platform.
• Budget and finance analysis.

4.1 Sector Policy and Strategy Tools

• WSP EE Assessment Tool. Discussed at: http://
Definition www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/enablingenviron-
Policy is defined as the set of procedures, rules and mentassessment.pdf
allocation mechanisms that provides the basis for
programmes and services. Policies set priorities and
often allocate resources for implementation, and 4.2 Institutional Arrangements
are reflected in laws and regulations. National and Sector Coordination, Service Delivery Arrangement
subnational policies must be considered, especially and Regulation and Accountability are presented under
in large and decentralized countries. Laws generally Institutional Arrangements, not because they are
provide overall policy framework and priorities, and
less important than other EE functions, but to ensure
regulations provide more detailed guidance (see below).
alignment and harmonization with the SWA sector
Activities strengthening building blocks.
• Share international best practices and lessons learned
from other countries that can inspire the policy and 4.2.1 Sector Coordination
strategy process.
Definition
• Ensure that a real debate occurs around policy mak-
Joint planning, implementation and monitoring, and
ing by facilitating activities (technically and financial-
proactive information sharing.
ly), such as background studies (collecting evidence),
stakeholder consultations and workshops. Coordination mechanisms for the WASH sector establish
• Support policy and strategy dissemination and capac- the basis for improved stakeholder collaboration and
ity building. prepare the ground for a shared vision of the sector,
including defined roles and responsibilities and
• Contract consultants (if needed) to draft policy docu-
challenges ahead. To be effective, these processes
ments and present experiences and best practices
need to be inclusive, consistent and anchored with
from other countries.
national ownership. Coordination is needed at all
Outcomes levels among the public, private and NGO sectors, and
• WASH policy for households and institutions backed between communities and local governments. There
by a legal framework includes national service norms are different coordination approaches, but all include
and addresses social norms, equity and future adapta- elements of dialogue, communication and finding
tion requirements. This policy has been approved by common interests.

15 GUIDANCE NOTE
These activities are the same for national and subnational Service delivery is a set of mechanisms (a model) to
efforts, though the stakeholders and actors will differ. provide reliable, affordable, good quality WASH services
in each subsector on a continuous basis (for example,
Activities
the SDG indicator of a safely managed water and
• Support processes leading from the evidence shown
sanitation service). A variety of WASH service delivery
in sector reports to specific decisions about or modi-
arrangements involve civil society organizations, small
fications to sector plans. External Support Agencies
(ESAs) should commit to a long-term process to avoid service providers, transnational companies, ministries,
losing momentum in difficult times, but build national and delegated branches of the national government,
ownership. This includes supporting periodic review local governments, and municipal companies.
meetings.
Activities
• Provide initial technical support, especially for prepar- • Support process to assess and analyze the strengths
ing the first sector reports. Finance in-depth studies and weaknesses of existing WASH service delivery
(for example, financial viability, sustainability of water models for urban and rural areas, and for on-site sani-
services). Include the private sector in the Country
tation services to reduce weaknesses in the service
Status Overview (CSO).
value chain.
• Support governments to strengthen the humanitarian
• Support efforts by government and partners to iden-
WASH coordination platform.
tify models that can deliver sustainable WASH service
• Develop partnerships with media, parliamentarians delivery for all.
and social commentators to advance the of impact of
social thinking and social norms. • Help governments to identify relevant indicators to
monitor the sustainability and effectiveness of ser-
• Develop collaboration and agreements with the pri-
vices.
vate sector for tracking.
Indicators
Outcomes
• Different models for service provision are document-
All stakeholders work on one government plan and
report using the same reporting system that is managed ed, each with clear roles and responsibilities for us-
by an effective responsible institution(s)/coordinating ers, service providers and government.
body. • Standards/benchmarking for affordable services are in
place.
Indicators
• Presence of a coordination body (at appropriate level). • Sector delivery models consider different options, in-
cluding private sector participation.
• Properly functioning (development and humanitarian)
coordinating body. • The policy context and regulatory framework is con-
• One government-led plan to which all stakeholders ducive to applying these models.
contribute. • The models include provisions for targeting the most
vulnerable people.
Means of verification
Programme records. • The models include accountability mechanisms among
users, governments and service providers.
Tools
• JSR. Outcomes
• Country Status Overview. Models for WASH service provision are defined for
different contexts and applied appropriately. These
models explain roles and responsibilities, and stipulate
4.2.2 Service Delivery Arrangements
contracting procedures, operation and maintenance
Definition arrangements, supply chains, tariffs and other service
Service arrangements respond to community needs parameters, and lead to efficient and effective water
and capabilities. and sanitation services.

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 16

 Means of verification that drive improvements in WASH services.
• Relevant service delivery resource documents.
Indicators
• Expert interviews. • Clear and effective mechanisms for consumer feed-
Tools back and complaints about service.
• WASH-BAT • Internal control mechanisms, such as state audits and
• Sub-sector Score Card. Discussed at: http://www.irc- transparency commissions function appropriately.
wash.org/sites/default/files/sub-sectorscorecard.pdf. • The regulatory body is sufficiently independent from
service providers and government to act as a valid ref-
4.2.3. Regulation and Accountability eree and provide performance-based incentives. The
regulatory body has enough resources and capacity to
Definition carry out required functions and/or sanctions.
Clear accountability and monitoring systems that
measure service levels, use, and functionality – reflecting Means of verification
international and national coverage definitions. • Management Information Systems.
• Consumer feedback mechanisms.
Regulations are rules or governmental orders designed
to control or govern behaviour, and often have the force • Citizen report cards.
of law. Regulations can cover a wide range of topics, • Audit reports.
including the practices of service providers, design
• Budget expenditure.
standards, tariffs, discharge standards, environmental
protection and contracts. Accountability in the WASH Tools
sector is the democratic principle whereby elected • The UNICEF Accountability in WASH Reference
officials and those in charge of providing access to Guide.
water supply and sanitation services account for their
actions and answer to those they serve. • Accountability in WASH: A Reference Guide for Pro-
gramming _ UNDP Water Governance Facility/UNI-
Activities CEF/Stockholm International Water Institute, (2015),
• Support developing a legal framework to create a available at: http://watergovernance.org/resources/
regulatory function, with sufficient financial and tech- accountability-in-wash-a-reference-guide-for-program-
nical independence from the regulated institutions. ming/.
Promote stakeholder participation in the regulatory
process. Support the connection between consumer 4.3 Sector Planning, Monitoring and Review
associations and regulators.
• Support sector actors to map and understand ac- Sector Planning, Monitoring and Review are presented
countability relationships in service delivery. together to ensure alignment and harmonization with
the SWA sector strengthening building blocks.
• Support access to information (support initiatives of
citizens and citizen groups to use the formal legisla-
tion procedures to obtain information). 4.3.1. Sector Planning

• Support efforts to strengthen legal and regulatory Definition

frameworks to enhance the freedom and plurality of Time-bound roadmap with human and financial
information sources. Work through or in close contact resources in place.
with governments and encourage them to respond
positively to civil society demands for information. Planning is the process of thinking about and organizing
the budgeted activities required to achieve an agreed
Outcomes goal, and preparing a sequence of actions to achieve a
Mechanisms for interaction and information exchange specific goal. Developing a shared vision and strategy
between government, service providers and citizens. for a WASH sector plan in a collaborative manner is the
Independent institutions exert oversight and control, foundation for coordination and creating motivation at
and provide performance-based incentives and penalties all levels.

17 GUIDANCE NOTE
Activities
• Support government-led efforts to conduct a WASH
sector analysis to identify gaps and needs.
• Support a process to develop goals and targets.
• Support a sector planning process.
• Help to develop an effective communication cam-
paign to inform all stakeholders about the planning
process. Use clear and simple language.

Outcomes
National WASH supply plan validated by a wide range
of stakeholders is in place, defining clear targets,
indicators and budgeted activities that allow for regular
review and update, and enable delivery of sustainable
services while reducing inequality.

Indicators
• Government-led national programme that is endorsed
by other stakeholders.
• Strategic and risk-informed plan with clear targets, ac-
tivities, timeline, budget and milestones.
WASH programmes require regular monitoring and
• Proof of concept (options/solutions, approaches) for periodic evaluation. Actors must be willing and able to
scaling up with financing and human resources needs use monitoring and evaluation (M&E) information to
in place. make programmatic adjustments. Effective monitoring
• Traditional and community leaders represented and will identify strengths and weaknesses in the programme
engaged in planning process. methodology, implementation arrangements, and cost
efficiency. Overall M&E responsibility must be at the
Means of verification
highest level of the programme, but must be based
• Relevant resource documents (National Investment
on information collected at the local government or
Plan, Multi-year Sector Plans, Annual Work Plans).
community levels.
• Budget Reviews.
Activities
Tools •
Secure organizational support that focuses on
UNICEF/U.S. Agency for International Development strengthening and sustaining links among actors.
(USAID) Environmental Health Project (EHP). 1997.
Towards Better Programming: A Sanitation Handbook. • Provide support so that information generated can
Available at: http://www.unicef.org/wash/files/San_e.pdf. serve as an input to planning and decision-making
processes at the local government level.
Tool for Planning, Predicting and Evaluating Sustain-
• Develop capacity if required. Secure long-term fund-
ability (TOPPES). Available at: http://www.ircwash.org/
ing commitments for monitoring.
sites/default/files/toolforplanningpredictingevaluating-
sustainability.pdf Outcomes
Responsible institution and other stakeholders regularly
4.3.2 Sector Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning review status and make decisions based on evidence
collected.
Definition
Collect evidence that is valid, reliable and timely. Indicators
Stakeholders use this evidence for managerial decisions • Government-led national monitoring system in place
to adapt and improve policies and programmes. and being used.

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 18

 • Common set of WASH EE function indicators to a particular period.
which all stakeholders adhere monitored over time.
Activities
• Established sector learning processes in place (mix • Document fiscal flows, identify possible bottlenecks
of evaluation, research and knowledge management and support activities that try to unblock these bottle-
approaches). necks.
• Established monitoring feedback system(s) in place to • Promote participatory budgeting by brokering experi-
improve decision making across different levels (prac- ence from other countries.
tice to policy).
• Facilitate South-South municipal dialogue.
• Sector reviews or similar mechanisms regularly as-
• Provide financial assistance to initiate and manage the
sess progress against target and set priority actions.
budgeting process.
Means of verification
Outcomes
• Management Information System.
Financial flows are known, and are adequate and
• Budgets. predictable so that national targets for all population
• Financial records. groups on WASH can be met.

• Programme implementation reports. Indicators

• Sector assessments and review reports. • Budgetary allocations include enough funds to sup-
port the delivery of services.
Tools • Budgetary allocations include enough funds to cover
• WASH BAT. capital expenditure towards WASH sector investment
• The Department for International Development (UK) targets.
(DFID) VFM Tool. • The budget is adequate and disaggregated between
• Monitoring of SWA High-Level Commitments. each of the subsectors (rural, urban, water, sanitation).
• UNICEF Monitoring Toolkit. • The budget and expenditure are publicly available.
• Financial flows are predictable.
4.4 Sector Budgeting and Financing
Means of verification
Sector Budgeting and Financing are presented together • Management Information System Budgets.
to ensure alignment and harmonization with the SWA • Financial records.
sector strengthening building blocks.
Tools
• The DFID VFM Tool.
4.4.1 Budgeting
• Public Expenditure Review (PER) of WASH sector.
Definition
How money is allocated to the sector. How much is
4.4.2 Financing
spent and where.
Definition
A budget estimates the revenue and expenses for
The ability to raise funds from different sources.
WASH services over a specified period of time. A
government budget is an official statement about how This dimension is aimed at assessing the adequacy
much it plans to spend over a particular period and how of financing arrangements for WASH service delivery,
it will pay for the expenses. Budgets should include including capital and programmatic costs.
infrastructure, training, staff salaries, transportation,
office equipment and supplies, communication and Activities
educational materials and behaviour change promotion • Assess where existing WASH financing comes from
activities. An expenditure is the total amount of money and where it is being targeted.
that a government, organization, or person spends over • Carry out feasibility studies of different financing

19 GUIDANCE NOTE
 mechanisms (taxes, tariffs and transfers) for different effectiveness and make continual adjustments.
subsectors.
Activities
• Explore alternative financing mechanisms such as mi- • Support a process to identify capacity gaps and un-
crofinancing and impact investors.
filled roles, trained personnel and capacity utilization.
Outcomes • Support governments to design and develop capacity
The WASH sector is able to attract different sources of building plans.
funding.
• Support a process to institutionalize capacity building.
Indicators • Strengthen partnerships with academic institutions
• Financial needs for sector operations are known. within countries.
• Amount of funding available from taxes, tariffs and • Support sharing of experiences, particularly South-
transfers to fund sectoral operations is known. South.
• Legal and institutional frameworks established for fi- • Support structural and sustainable capacity require-
nancial transactions to take place. ments for at-scale processes.
• Public allocations to water and sanitation as percent-
Outcomes
age of GDP.
Stakeholders and institutions possess the human,
• Financing institutions in place. technical and financial resources to execute their
responsibilities under the guiding sectoral plan with a
Means of verification
structure in place to ensure their continuous renewal
• Management Information System.
and adaptation.
• Budgets.
• Financial records. Indicators
• Government-led capacity development plan based on
Tools needs assessment.
• The WHO Track-Fin. • Different institutional stakeholders/providers have
• The DFID VFM Tool. their own capacity development plans.
• Public Expenditure Review (PER) of WASH Sector. • Implementation/progress measured against all capac-
• Fiscal Space Analysis (UNICEF). ity development plans.

• Sector Wide Investment and Financing Tool (SWIFT). Means of verification

Discussed at: http://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/ • Need assessments.
files/sectorwideinvestmentandfinancingtool.pdf.
• Capacity and incentive plans.
• Capacity development budget line items.
4.5. Sector Capacity Development
• Budget expenditure.
Definition
Institutional and human capacity and competency to Tools
provide WASH services. • Sustainability Self-Assessment Tool. Discussed at:
http://sustainablewash.org/self-assess.
Public and private institutions at all levels must have the
• Capacity Self-Assessment Tool. Discussed at: http://
capacity to carry out their roles and responsibilities for
www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/shaw_csa_pa-
effective WASH service delivery at scale. Institutional
per_final_19.08.2014.pdf.
capacity includes: adequate personnel with the full
range of skills required to carry out their functions; an • Capacity Needs Assessment Tool. Governance and
‘organizational home’ within the institution with assigned Transparency Fund (WaterAid). Discussed at: http://
responsibility; mastery of the agreed-programme www.wateraid.org/us/google-search?query=capacity
methodology, systems and procedures required for +needs+assessment+tool.+governance+and+trans-
implementation; and the ability to monitor programme parency.

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 20

 CHAPTER 5: WASH ENABLING ENVIRONMENT
STRENGTHENING SUPPORT PROCESS

5.1 Introduction 3. Plan: Facilitate a government-led planning process

to strengthen the WASH EE.
UNICEF and the countries it works in have programme
cycles to guide their work to support the WASH sector. 4. Invest: Develop a WASH sector investment plan.
This section provides a step-by-step process for working 5. Implement: Develop a UNICEF implementation
with governments and sector partners to strengthen plan.
the WASH EE. The process has some similarities with
6. Monitor and Evaluate: EE functions.
existing programme cycle activities, suggesting that
the step-by-step approach can be easily integrated Figure 5 illustrates this process with steps that overlap
into ongoing programme cycle activities, in order to the in-country programme cycle and WASH EE work
strengthen them and ensure that WASH EE concerns are surrounded by dotted lines In this illustration, WASH
are reflected. EE steps 1 to 4 correspond to the following in-country
processes: situational analysis; country strategy note;
An overview of the step-by-step approach includes:
and the country programme document. Further, steps 5
1. Agree: Build consensus and leadership to strengthen and 6 correspond to the Annual Work Plan and JSR and
the WASH sector. Annual Review, respectively. Arrows clarify which areas
2. Assess the status of the WASH EE. correspond to the approaches listed.

FIGURE 5 WASH EE Support Process

1STEP 1
Agree

6 2
STEP 6
STEP 2
Monitor &
Assess
Evaluate

SITUATIONAL
ANNUAL ANALYSES, COUNTRY
WORKPLAN STRATEGY NOTE,
COUNTRY PROGRAM
DOCUMENT

5STEP 5
Implement
3
STEP 3
Plan

4STEP 4
Invest

21 GUIDANCE NOTE
TABLE 2 Brief objective description of key tools and approaches for strengthening the WASH EE

TOOL OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION

WASH JSRs Review and assess national sector progress Key sectoral stakeholders (typically annually) produce a
report, which serves as a reference point on progress and
offers recommendations

Monitoring SWA Monitor high-level commitments made Meetings often result in binding resolutions among govern-
High-level Commit- during regional conferences (held since ments, which are followed up by post-meeting action; online
ments 2002) to further catalyze political leadership monitoring platform at www.WASHwatch.org
and action, improve accountability and use
resources more effectively

UN-Water GLAAS Provide policy makers at all levels with a Global report is published biennially and includes an assess-
reliable, easily accessible, comprehensive ment of government policies and institutions, investments,
and global analysis of evidence, to enable foreign assistance, and relative influence of all these factors
informed decisions about sanitation and on performance
drinking water

WSP CSOs (World Provide oversight of the achievements of the Scores progress in three areas of service delivery for each
Bank) four WASH sub-sectors, benchmark service WASH subsector: enabling service delivery, development of
delivery pathways and identify issues that services, and sustaining services
might be inhibiting progress

Rural Sanitation EE Systematically assesses and monitors prog- Consists of eight essential dimensions used to describe the
Assessment (World ress in sanitation and hygiene programmes EE, each of which has six indicators or ‘components’ that are
Bank) structured as a checklist

WASH BAT (UNICEF) Facilitate a participatory process with govern- Applies a root-cause analysis of the major constraints on
ment partners to assess and analyze gaps in sector progress to determine the requirements and conse-
the EE for all four WASH subsectors quences of removing them

Track-Fin (WHO) Define and test a globally accepted methodol- Answers four basic questions: (i) What is the total expen-
ogy to track WASH financing at national level diture?; (ii) How are funds distributed between different
services and expenditure types?; (iii) Who pays for services?;
and (iv) Which entities receive funding?

VFM Tool (DFID) Promote the best use of available resources Collects and analyzes data on the costs and results of the par-
to achieve sustainable WASH outcomes ticular programme, interprets the VFM indicators generated,
and compares them to other programmes

Public Expenditure Evaluate the effectiveness of spending in the Typically analyzes government expenditure over a period of
Review (PER) of WASH sector years to assess their consistency with policy priorities and
WASH sector (World what results were achieved
Bank)

Public Expenditure Gauges the financial performance by generat- Consists of a quantitative survey of the supply side of public
Tracking Survey ing evidence on financial flows and the qual- services, with the unit of observation being a service facility
(PETS) of WASH sec- ity of service delivery and/or local government (frontline providers)
tor (World Bank)

Territorial expen- Determine whether public investments are Often part of PERs, but can also be carried out as standalone
diture analysis of contributing to equitable outcomes studies
WASH

Fiscal space analysis Identify how additional WASH activities can Looks at different options based on the country context in-
(UNICEF) be financed within the fiscal framework cluding: (i) domestic revenue; (ii) foreign aid; (iii) the potential
for increased borrowing or restructuring debt; (vi) repriori-
tizing current allocations; (v) using fiscal reserves; and (vi)
tackling corruption

Additional tools can be accessed from: https://washenablingenvironment.wordpress.com/

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 22

 5.2 WASH Enabling Environment Strengthening Sector Brief to inform stakeholders about the status of
Steps the sector, and to contribute to priority setting for WASH.
The brief reviewed coverage and WASH-related health
This section covers the different steps associated with statistics, and finance trends in the sector including a
the WASH EE strengthening process. Each contains costing analysis of the annual funds required to meet
two sub-sections: addressing key actions that may be WASH targets, sector governance and climate change
undertaken; and illustrative examples of what could be and water resources. The stakeholders agreed that:
done within each step. Tools are offered for many of the
key actions listed. Note that Annex 2 contains detailed • Limited institutional leadership, capacity and coordi-
information on the tools referenced. nation across all levels are the main bottlenecks to
progress in Zambia’s WASH sector, particularly for
sanitation where progress is marginal.
Step 1: Agree to strengthen the WASH sector
• Decentralization of authority to the district and local
Convene stakeholders to brainstorm and agree on levels has not been accompanied by a sufficient in-
WASH EE change process. crease in financial or technical capacity.
Key Actions • While urban water coverage is likely to meet its na-
• Conduct evidence-based advocacy that ‘business as tional target, sector‐wide national and MDG targets
usual’ is unlikely to accelerate and scale up access are unlikely to be met unless investment is signifi-
to sustainable WASH services or reduce inequality in cantly increased.
access. • Although sanitation is seen by the government as an
• Tool: UNICEF Advocacy Toolkit. integral component of WASH, it still needs appropri-
ate budgetary prioritization.
• Facilitate government willingness to change and
forge alliances for change. This includes building rela-
Step 2: Conduct Systematic WASH Enabling
tionships among stakeholders, developing a common
Environment Analysis
vision and deciding where to focus effort. The action
requires consulting with the public and private sec- Once stakeholders agree to a change process, political
tors, the NGO community and civil society – and/or leadership and UNICEF can lead a broad stakeholder
building special interest groups. engagement process to systematically analyze the
• Tool: Country Guide to Engage Parliaments on Budget WASH EE.
Issues for Child Rights (UNICEF forthcoming).
Key Actions
• Identify and support political leaders to be champions • Conduct a situational analysis to understand the land-
for change. scape of the WASH EE, including: relevant EE work
• Tool: UNICEF Advocacy Toolkit. already being done; SDG targets and strategies; rel-
evant issues related to urban and rural areas; gov-
• Constitute a sector technical working group with
ernment levels and institutions involved; available
clear and agreed-upon terms of reference to focus on
resources; and potential financial and implementation
strengthening the EE.
partners.
• Tool: Agreed Sector Working Group Terms of Refer-
• Identify key government and development partner
ence.
stakeholders to participate in the EE bottleneck analysis.
• Work with the EE technical working group to de-
• Organize a WASH EE Bottleneck analysis workshop
termine EE functions and related definitions and in-
that can help to:
dicators. Use the UNICEF EE functions and related
WASH-BAT indicators (see above) as a starting point. o Assess the key enabling factors the WASH sector
must develop
Illustrative Example o Identify bottlenecks that constrain sector progress
AusAID in Zambia
o Propose (sequenced) activities to remove bottle-
In 2011, Australian AID (AusAID) prepared a WASH necks

23 GUIDANCE NOTE
 o Estimate costs to remove bottlenecks the involvement of different stakeholders.
o Identify financing options to address resource gaps Initial conclusions were summarized under five topics:
o Advocate for additional funds to be directed to prior-
ity interventions • Co-ordination and planning. No formal sector lead-
ership and little decentralization at the regional and
o Link bottleneck removal to increases in WASH cov- commune levels.
erage and broader development objectives
• Scale up and sustainability. Limited concern for infra-
• Identify current spending on related interventions and structure scale up and sustained service delivery.
spending gaps.
• Sector finance. Lack of finance and consideration of
• Facilitate a participatory process with government equity for programmatic intervention at a meaningful
partners to assess and analyze gaps in the EE for all level and a lack of absorptive capacity.
four WASH subsectors.
• Private sector. A lack of engagement, and relevant
• Conduct (or partner with others to conduct) additional skills, absence or immaturity of markets, and absence
analysis to deepen understanding of the status and of a credible supply chain.
constraints on WASH EE functions for a subsector
(for example, urban sanitation) or WASH programme • Society and culture. The wider society is not engaged
area (for example, schools). in WASH due to the lack of recognition and support it
requires.
o Track financing for WASH at national level.
• Conduct VFM evaluations, including Cost-efficiency Recommendations to address these issues in Mada-
analysis, Cost-effectiveness analysis, Cost-benefit gascar are:
analysis. • Co-ordination and planning. Adoption of a SWAp. This
o Assess the equity of expenditure in the WASH recommendation requires two processes: a) identifi-
sector cation of steps undertaken in other countries where
successful WASH and other sector SWAPs have been
o Conduct rural WASH life cycle costing
implemented; and b) setting up an inclusive process
Tools of discussion and decision around what is to be in-
• WASH BAT. cluded and the implications, benefits and costs. This
process had to be firmly rooted in government.
• SitAn+.
• Sustainability and scaling up. No significant attempts
• Fiscal space analysis. to scale up could be carried out while coverage is
• Public Expenditure Tracking Survey (PETS). undermined by a growing sustainability crisis. Lack
• Territorial expenditure analysis. of sustainability is a function of an infrastructure-led
mindset. It was recommended that a sustainability
• VFM Tool. strategy be developed for the sector in a new para-
• WASHCOST Tool. digm of service delivery, and that all actors contribute
• Track-Fin. and adhere to it. UNICEF agreed to lead this process,
supported by WaterAid. An Equity Study was also rec-
Illustrative Example ommended for 2014.
Use of the WASH BAT in Madagascar19 • Sector finance. Recommendations in the finance in-
cluded: advocating for more finance after an envis-
The overall aim of the WASH BAT is to increase WASH
sector resources and efficiency to achieve more aged political upturn after an election; adherence to
scaled-up, sustainable and equitable outcomes. The WASH Cost principles across the sector; setting up
process was adapted to the local context, and was a transparent and disseminated database and per-
conducted in steps. Consequently, enabling factors and formance management system; and seeking greater
bottlenecks were analyzed on separate occasions with budget utilization, partly through de-concentration and
devolution. It was recommended that a sector finance
19 Peter Ryan WASH Consulting. 2014. Madagascar WASH Sector Provision. Bottleneck champion or guru be identified, who would have the
Assessment. UNICEF. task of pushing the raft of recommendations forward

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 24

 and reporting on their progress, and be accountable country WASH goals and targets for the 15-year SDG
for this progress. period. Emphasize activities to progressively reduce
• Private sector. A private sector capacity and needs de- inequality in WASH access. Compare current rates
velopment study was recommended. This would fo- of increase in access (or other targets such as reduc-
cus on national strengths and weaknesses, and make tion of open defecation) with the increase in access
a comparison with countries where the private sector (rate of acceleration) needed to achieve the SDG tar-
has become fully and productively engaged. get. Estimate overall and annual investment needs
to meet the targets, so that the government under-
• Society and culture. In common with other poor na-
stands what is realistic and achievable.
tions, an unrealistic burden is placed upon rural com-
munities to manage their own water supplies, while • Support a sector planning process. Develop a me-
lack of post-sensitization support for their sanitation dium- and long-term National/State Government Ac-
and hygiene practices means that infrastructure and tion Plan for strengthening the EE and all its functions.
behaviour change are short lived. Analysts concluded Outline the series of reforms needed to strengthen
that the WASH sector needed to evolve rapidly from each EE function identified as a critical bottleneck to
providing infrastructure to a service delivery culture. sustainable WASH service delivery and achieving the
A national campaign on sanitation and hygiene was WASH SDGs.
believed to be required to highlight the issue and to • Identify and agree on roles and responsibilities for all
focus on behaviour change, targeting women and development partners to support the government in
children particularly, and ensuring that equity and pov- implementing the action plan. UNICEF’s role should
erty issues were addressed. consider country-specific comparative strengths and
human and budget resources.
Step 3: Develop a WASH Enabling Environment
• Help to develop an effective communication cam-
Strengthening Plan
paign that uses clear, simple language to inform all
Once WASH access and service delivery has been system- stakeholders about the planning process.
atically analyzed, a comprehensive, government-led
programme to strengthen the WASH EE can be planned. Programme activities for each EE function should in-
clude technical expertise in a specific EE function, ca-
Key Actions pacity building, advocacy, facilitating reform processes,
• Facilitate a process with the government to develop piloting new and innovative approaches, and developing

25 GUIDANCE NOTE
evidence-based knowledge products. • Institutional agents must learn to value long-term out-
comes. Utilities can instill a culture of water service
Tools/Resources payment and install a credible system of rewards and
Ministry of Infrastructure. Republic of Rwanda. Water sanctions that strengthens accountability and that
and Sanitation Sector Strategic Plan 2013/14-2017/18. views staff capacity building as an investment.
Available at: http://www.minecofin.gov.rw/fileadmin/
templates/documents/sector_strategic_plan/Water_ •
Productive discussions about sustainability may
and_Sanitation_SSP_June_2013.pdf. emerge when hard data is used to convince policy
makers to support institutional reform. Access to hard
Illustrative Examples data will help forge transparency and trust, develop a
Against the Current: Lessons Learned in Nigeria af- culture of accountability and enhance the credibility of
ter Supporting Urban WASH Utilities20 managers of state utilities.
• In a decentralized system, reforms should be tailored
Understanding the limitations of previous interventions
to the state context. Federal government counter-
aimed at achieving sustainable water delivery services
parts can and should support a variety of service de-
will help prepare future EE plans that will result in reliable
livery models allowing for diverse delivery leading to
water coverage. A nine-year project implemented in
accomplishing common results.
Nigeria to address the institutional weakness of urban
water utilities in three states was unable to reach its • Donor disbursement in favour of service delivery im-
objectives. The National Urban Water Sector Reform provements should be results-based as opposed to
Project was designed to increase access to piped sticking to timelines, especially if sustained change is
water supply in selected urban areas and focused on to be achieved.
improving the reliability and financial viability of urban
water utilities, and adopted a more balanced approach Step 4: Develop a WASH Enabling Environment
between public and private actors. The Project achieved Sector Investment Plan
its investment targets for rehabilitation and expansion,
but was less successful in making the institutional Financing for the WASH sector is often a significant
reform needed to guarantee service sustainability. The barrier to increase access to water and sanitation,
lessons learned can help future EE interventions: even when a programme is in place with clear goals
and targets. A common problem in providing WASH is
• ‘Institutional’ reforms must accompany ‘hardware’ the large capital investment needed for constructing
reforms, even if disruptive. Programme incentives infrastructure and the continuous running costs for op-
should focus on more than achieving hardware re- eration and maintenance and ultimately replacement.
lated targets, and appropriate training programmes However, financing is also required to implement key
must develop technical capacity and motivation to de- EE functions such as monitoring, evaluation and learn-
liver services sustainably. ing, capacity building and policy development. Financing
• Institutional reform has to move beyond the presence is also needed for non-infrastructure related WASH ser-
of formal governance frameworks within State Water vices such as behaviour change, creating demand for
Agencies (SWAs). Drafting a national strategy and a sanitation, and promoting harmonization among donors.
water policy and establishing regulatory agencies is
necessary. Yet, improvements in formal rules must ‘Sustainable financing’ implies that expenditure is
accompany tangible results. A ‘de jure’ approach (a balanced with revenue (from public budgets, user
state of affairs that is in accordance with law) to re- charges, and loans and grants from domestic and
form can lead to short-term gains, but low agencies international sources) over a medium-term fiscal
and people ownership of reform implementation and framework.
little difference on the ground. Teams looking at financing may consider two broad
approaches – improving efficient use of existing funds,
and getting additional funding.
20 Global Delivery Initiative. 2015. Against the Current: How to Shape an Enabling
Environment for Sustainable Water Service Delivery in Nigeria. Available at: http://
www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2015/09/21/090 The figure above presents a summary of budget,
224b0830f3d23/1_0/Rendered/PDF/Against0the0cu00delivery0in0Nigeria.pdf. financing and expenditure tracking model used

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 26

 FIGURE 6 Budgeting, Financing, & Expenditure Tracking Model

SECTOR-BASED PF4C
PROGRAMMING INTERVENTIONS PF4C ACTIVITIES AND TOOLS

Aggregate budget • Child-focused

Identification of
analysis • Sector-based
Equity Issue
• DHS, MICS, • Cost-efficiency
MODA, etc Value for money • Cost-effectiveness
Budget Analysis
analysis • Cost-benefit
Additional Diagnostics • Cost of inaction
IDENTIFY • Causality analysis
Expenditure equity • Benefit incidence
PROBLEMS • Capacity gap analysis
analysis • Territorial expenditure
• Tax incidence
Revenue/ financing
Bottleneck Analysis • Financing incidence (tariffs, subsidies,
equity analysis
• Enabling user fees)
environment Resource Gap • Costing (MBB, OneHealth, Social
• Supply Analysis Protection, etc.)
• Demand Resource gap
• Modelling financial impact of scaling up
• Quality analysis
• Fiscal space analysis (single or multiple
channels)

Result Management • Improve sector budget planning

IDENTIFY AND Framework • Introduce child-sensitive budgeting
Budget preparation
IMPLEMENT • Theory of change framework
• Operational work plan Influence Budget Cycle • Design of inter-governmental fiscal transfer
SOLUTIONS
• Implementation • Support budget audits and evaluations
strategies Budget M&E • Support routine monitoring and reporting
• M&E of child-focused public expenditures

by UNICEF for Public Finance for Children (PF4C) o Existing activities within budgets that could be
programmes. The information is broken down by modified or rescaled to deliver on WASH outcomes.
phases: problem identification first and solution
o Financial gap analysis.
identification and implementation second. Tools and
activities for each one of those phases are listed. • Fiscal space analysis (show different options to ad-
dress the financial gap.
Key Actions
• Analyze budgets.
UNICEF can contribute to financing by facilitating a
planning process to finance and invest in the WASH • Conduct sector-based, child-focused aggregate bud-
sector to help achieve the SDG WASH goals and targets. get analysis.

• Use evidence generated during earlier steps to ad- • Conduct resource gap analysis.
vocate with technical and political counterparts. This • Influence budget cycle.
includes:
• Promote and engage in WASH SWAps to improve
o WASH budget analysis (the baseline of what the the effectiveness and impact of sectoral invest-
government is currently investing in the sector). ments by harmonizing inputs from development
o Multi-year costing (the total financing required to partners through a common policy and program-
address WASH sector bottlenecks). ming framework under government leadership.

27 GUIDANCE NOTE
 SWAps move external financing towards full integra- financing, and (v) special taxes such as a sanitation tax
tion with government expenditure and procurement and using 1 per cent of taxes for WASH.
systems. The local context, country priorities and • The role of extractive industries and private sector to
UNICEF’s strengths determine the type and level of support the water and sanitation sector needs to be
engagement. better formulated.
• Particular areas where UNICEF can contribute effec-
tively include: working with partners to reduce dis- Tanzania: Successful Advocacy through SWAp
parity in access to water and sanitation in SWAps; Dialogue Mechanisms
encouraging more participation by national non-state Tanzania’s Water Sector Development Programme
actors; and ensuring greater attention to commonly (WSDP) is the largest Water Sector SWAp, having
identified areas of weakness in SWAps, including the secured over $1.4 billion in funding for its first phase
neglected areas of sanitation and the sustainability of (2007–2014). It has four components: urban WASH; rural
rural water and sanitation systems. WASH; water resources management; and capacity
Tools building. WSDP has a common fund as well as an
• Fiscal space analysis. additional funding mechanism that allows development
partners and government to finance separate
• Public Expenditure Tracking Survey (PETS). earmarked projects. These projects have separate
• Territorial expenditure analysis. financing, procurement and management systems
• VFM Tool. but conform to the agreed objectives and strategies of
the SWAp.
Illustrative Examples
Example 1: 2015 Dakar Multi-Donor Meeting UNICEF does not contribute monies to the common
fund, but it is active on SWAp management and
At a December 2015 multi-donor meeting in Dakar on monitoring systems, and is the development partner
innovative WASH sector financing, governments were chair for sanitation and hygiene in the Development
called upon to establish dedicated funding mechanisms Partners Group coordination body. Through this
to finance WASH infrastructure and services, while engagement, UNICEF has successfully advocated for
donors were challenged to provide guarantees to a new sanitation-specific component in the second
support commercially and financially viable WASH start- phase of WSDP (to address systemic underfunding of
up businesses. sanitation), and has supported greater national NGO
engagement in SWAp processes.
The following new opportunities for innovative financing
of WASH were identified for application in West and Mozambique: Core Member of the National Rural
Central Africa: WASH SWAp

• Water Banks – based on domestic resource mobiliza- The Mozambique National Rural Water Supply and
tion (pension funds, insurance companies) using re- Sanitation Programme (PRONASAR) is a SWAp
payable finance to bridge the financing gap. mechanism that has been in full operation for almost
• A Blue Fund – A potential regionally or globally coor- five years. PRONASAR includes both common fund and
dinated initiative to attract and channel funding to the earmarked project financing mechanisms, and UNICEF
sector. contributes to both (UNICEF has contributed $3.7
million of a planned $5 million to the common fund since
• National Water/WASH Financing Facility – Domes- 2010). UNICEF was a founding development partner
tic resource mobilization mechanism for the WASH member of PRONASAR (along with the Netherlands,
sector with characteristics of pooled investment proj- Switzerland, the United Kingdom and AfDB), has chaired
ects, good governance framework and opportunity the Development Partner Coordination Group, and
for blending private capital with public funding to pro- continues to play a core role in the SWAp. UNICEF is
mote pro-poor policies. currently a key contributor to discussions on re-designing
• Other mechanisms include using (i) blended funding, the SWAp to better support the national decentralization
(ii) commercial financing, (iii) private equity, (iv) public agenda and to increase the focus on sanitation.

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 28

 Bolivia: Towards Greater Funding and Government to work on EE activities to support national and state
Capacity in the Rural WASH Subsector governments.

UNICEF involvement in Bolivia’s first Water Sector Illustrative Examples

SWAp, which focused on urban areas, was modest. Example 1: UNICEF Support to the WASH EE in
However, UNICEF involvement in the rural sector Nigeria21
(through a programme financed by Canada, Sweden
and the Netherlands), its close relationship with UNICEF Nigeria works extensively to help strengthen
government, and its active participation on sectoral the EE for WASH at all levels. Examples of specific
dialogue mechanisms led to successful advocacy for a UNICEF Nigeria activities include:
new rural WASH SWAp for marginalized communities 1. Supporting the development of strategies/poli-
with a population of less than 2,000 people. Funded cies/guidelines. Funding expert consultants to pro-
mainly by the Government of Bolivia and the EU, vide technical assistance and helping to facilitate
the SWAp includes a programme management and work with key stakeholders to develop a range of
capacity-building component managed by UNICEF. policy and strategy documents. These include: a
National Road Map for Eliminating Open Defecation
Step 5: Implement a WASH Enabling Environment in Nigeria that was adapted to develop state-level
Strengthening Plan open defecation free (ODF) roadmaps in 36 states
of the Federation; a National Hygiene Strategy; a
Once a comprehensive multi-development partner National Sanitation Marketing Strategy; a National
plan has been developed to work with the government Strategy on Water Quality Surveillance; a National
to strengthen the EE with clear agreed roles and Strategy on Village Level Operation & Maintenance;
responsibilities among all stakeholders, UNICEF can and an Advocacy Strategy for Leveraging Govern-
develop its own detailed internal implementation plan. ment Resources.
Key Actions 2. Supporting scaling up of successful approaches.
• Meet with the appropriate UNICEF country team Funding the scaling-up and institutionalization of the
members to review the EE functions that the agency ‘WASH Information Management System’ through-
agreed to support as part of the long-term National/ out the country, hinged on the lowest administrative
State government action plans for strengthening the structure (Local Government Area [LGA] WASH De-
WASH EE. partment/ Unit). Starting with 12 LGAs with data on
• Develop UNICEF short-, medium- and long-term coun- just over 2,600 communities, the system has current
try implementation plans with budgets, timetables data for over 22,000 communities in 70 LGAs, with
and critical milestones to support government efforts plans to cover over 250 LGAs by 2017. The WASH In-
to strengthen the WASH EE. Potential action and in- formation Management System has been accepted
struments that could be funded and implemented by and is being adopted by all development partners for
UNICEF include: use in rural, urban and small towns across the coun-
try. With the keen interest shown by the new ad-
o Advocacy
ministration, the System is likely to be scaled up be-
o Partnerships yond the planned targets in 2017. This is being linked
o Technical Assistance to real-time functionality tracking of water facilities
currently covering 50 LGAs, and is being expanded
o Capacity Building
(note: An LGA is equivalent to a district. Nigeria has
o M&E 774 LGAs in 36 states). UNICEF also worked with
o Documentation of evidence-based learning a number of LGAs to develop investment plans for
scaling up WASH service delivery. For more details
• Identify human resources (UNICEF country and inter-
see www.washims.com.
national staff and consultants) needed to implement
the UNICEF work plan.
21 Source: email correspondence in January 2016 between Eduardo Perez and Kanan
• If needed, plan to build UNICEF country staff capacity Nadar in UNICEF Nigeria.

29 GUIDANCE NOTE
3. LGA-wide approach as a means to acceler- 4. Playing a lead role in setting up and operationaliz-
ate access to WASH. The LGA-wide approach ing national-level working groups to provide over-
was born in 2010. It led from UNICEF’s in-country all policy direction and advice in key areas, including:
observations that interventions in scattered com- a National Task Group on Sanitation; WASH in Emer-
munities spread across LGAs do not allow rapid gency working groups at national and sub-national
scaling-up of WASH coverage and die down once levels; a working group on WASH in Primary Health
the donor support is over. Since 2010, the LGA- Centers; and a Federation of WASH Committees to
wide approach has been a major strategy for strengthen accountability in a number of states.
UNICEF WASH interventions, and has been gradual-
5. Supporting the development of national guide-
ly picked up by other development partners including
lines, manuals, standards and protocols including
the Government in 21 states. LGA-wide approaches
the development of: a WASH Committee Manual
allowed direct engagement with decision makers at
for establishing and training WASHCOM in com-
the LGA level and helped establish proper institution-
munities; a harmonized Procurement Guideline for
al set-up at the LGA level to drive planning and in-
infrastructure works; a national protocol for certify-
vestment. This approach has allowed rapid scale-up
ing and validating ODF communities; National Guide-
of ODF communities, and is presently being adopted
lines for WASH in Schools; and technical standards
to rapidly accelerate LGA-wide water safety planning
for the design and construction of WASH facilities in
and community-based management of water supply.
schools and primary health centers.
Starting with just 15 ODF communities in 2008, the
LGA-wide approach expanded to over 13,000 ODF 6. Strengthening quality assurance processes,
communities by 2015. including independent certification of ODF claimed

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 30

 communities through a combination of state, LGA strual Hygiene Management hosted by the Ministry
and civil society partners; validation of ODF-certified of Education; and the WASH in Health task force
communities by the National Task Group on Sanita- hosted by the Ministry of Health to scale-up relevant
tion; and the third party monitoring, supervision and measures for improved infection prevention and con-
certification of constructed WASH facilities trol in health facilities.

7. In addition, UNICEF Nigeria supports national 5. Providing funding and technical assistance to the
conferences to sensitize decision makers on key scale-up of a real-time-monitoring surveillance
issues affecting the WASH sector and foster peer system in 46 districts across the 10 provinces.
learning among states, and supports the Govern-
ment in preparation for regional meetings such as 6. Supporting the Ministry of Health to develop an
the AfricaSan/SWA meeting. innovative WASH package for health facilities,
including standards for WASH facilities and operating
Example 2: UNICEF Support to the WASH EE in procedures for Infection Prevention and Control, and
Zambia a training curriculum. This was piloted in four main
health facilities before being adopted by the Govern-
UNICEF Zambia is carrying out a range of activities to
ment. A dedicated task force led by the Ministry of
address constraints in the EE, including:
Health has been set up to coordinate and harmonize
1. Leading advocacy and technical support from the implementation of the package, and scaling up is
WASH Cooperating Partner Group, resulting in the ongoing through a strategic programme funded by
formal engagement of the Government of Zambia in the EU.
the creation of a fully fledged Water Supply and Sani-
7. Supporting, with UNESCO, the revision of the
tation Directorate within the Ministry of Local Gov-
ernment and Housing to address the critical capacity School Health and Nutrition policy framework,
gap in managing and coordinating the WASH sector. which integrates the newly adopted school WASH
standards and the national Menstrual Hygiene Man-
2. In partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für agement guidelines. Through advocacy, the pack-
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), leading an ages have been largely disseminated, leveraging
institutional reform process aimed at developing a interventions from USAID, EU and AfDB.
sustainable WASH Sector Financial Mechanism for
new investments, maintenance and rehabilitation of Example 3: UNICEF WASH EE Support in Indonesia
infrastructure. This reform is meant to profession-
1. Support to policy development. UNICEF worked
alize sector financing by developing an integrated
with the Ministry of Health to develop a roadmap
water development financing mechanism for water
for the national WASH programme to clearly outline
supply and sanitation (WSS) services and Water
the steps needed for Indonesia to achieve universal
Resource Management and Development, and to
access to WASH services by 2019.
establish financially viable operations for all actors.
2. Leveraging resources. UNICEF worked with Majelis
3. Providing funding and technical assistance to
Ulama Indonesia (the Indonesian Council of Islamic
support the Ministry of Local Government and
Scholars) to provide guidance on WASH in Islamic
Housing to develop policies and strategies, includ-
teaching. This has resulted in Majelis Ulama Indo-
ing: the ODF Zambia Strategy 2020 to put the WASH
nesia, UNICEF and the Government of Indonesia
sector on track on the SDGs for sanitation; the Urban
developing detailed spiritual direction on the issue
Sanitation Strategy, which includes a focus on equity
of WASH and urging strong and sustained behaviour
for sanitation in peri-urban areas; and supporting the
change around WASH practices. From this a Fatwa
revision of the National Water Policy.
on WASH and Zakat (charity funds) was developed
4. Leading the coordination of Technical Work- to allow support to the poorest and most vulnerable
ing Groups and taskforces on key innovative families for WASH services. The Ministry of Health
approaches on WASH including: the National Tech- has put national budget funds in its plan to roll out
nical Committee on WASH in Schools and Men- the guidance to provinces.

31 GUIDANCE NOTE
3. Innovation and advocacy. UNICEF organized a Key Actions
social media campaign on the scale of that for open • With government and development partners, develop
defecation in Indonesia. The campaign, called Tinju harmonized and agreed-upon indicators.
Tinja (meaning literally ‘Punch-the-Poo’), aimed to • Agree on an approach and/or tool for monitoring the
create, through youth – most of whom already use EE. If the UNICEF WASH-BAT tool was used to as-
a toilet – an active layer of advocates who can speak sess the EE, this tool could also be used as the moni-
out to stop open defecation. The website www.tin- toring tool.
jutinja.com, in both English and Indonesian, hosts
• Ensure transparency in measuring and reporting prog-
a wealth of infographics, pictures and videos by
ress and results. Check and validate results to ensure
famous Indonesian singers, comedians and blog-
the process is credible and of high quality.
gers. It also hosts provincial profiles developed by
UNICEF, WSP and the government to present an • Monitor the WASH EE in addition to monitoring WASH
agreed status of sanitation and WASH in schools for service delivery programmes. JSRs allow all stake-
each province for advocacy and action. holders to understand whether interventions are on
track and achieving their intended results. They can
4. Sector coordination. UNICEF supports the WASH also help identify new bottlenecks related to the EE
cluster mechanism by convening meetings with the that should be addressed.
Government and NGOs. It also continues to act as • Offer remedial action to enhance interventions as
a key convenor around WASH in schools in support needed.
of the National Planning Agency (Bappenas), includ-
ing evidence sharing meetings and planning for the Illustrative Example
incorporation of WASH in schools into the planning Example 1: SWA High Level Commitments
for accelerating the sanitation programme.
Meeting the water SDG goal and targets 6.1 and 6.2
5. Monitoring, evaluation and evidence-based will require governments to make and implement
learning. UNICEF supported Bappenas to reflect commitments to increase sustainable WASH services
on lessons learned to date, and to identify the key for all. SWA encourages high-level decision makers to
elements required to scale-up and maintain progress engage with other SWA partners, make commitments
in the WASH sector in Indonesia over the past 10 and take action to improve sanitation and water. SWA
years. The resulting book was developed in both coordinates the High Level Commitments Dialogue,
Bahasa and English. In addition, UNICEF funded the which encompasses the preparatory process that
analysis of existing data to gain better insight into counties and donors carry out in advance of High
constraints and opportunities in the WASH sector. Level Meetings (HLM) to develop context-specific
One example of M&E and evidence-based learning commitments, the biennial HLMs themselves, and the
was carrying out a national nutrition survey to iden- annual monitoring of those commitments. At HLMs,
tify factors associated with stunting among children developing countries and donors identify and commit
aged 0-23 months in Indonesia. The survey identified to addressing the fundamental bottlenecks preventing
progress, and to act on international aid. To date, three
an increased likelihood of stunting where there are
HLMs have taken place, in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
unimproved latrines and drinking water, compared to
areas with improved conditions. UNICEF used this At the 2014 HLM, SWA partners attending the meet-
evidence to promote policies and programmes that ing made a total of 383 commitments to remove
address child stunting in Indonesia and to consider barriers to progress, eliminate inequality and en-
WASH interventions. sure the sustainability of water and sanitation ser-
vices. Forty-three developing countries (referred to
Step 6: Monitor and Evaluate WASH Enabling as ‘countries’ in this report) made 313 commitments,
Environment Functions and 12 donor partners (referred to as ‘donors’) made
70 commitments. These commitments are most-
Once the WASH EE Plan is operational, activities and ly intended to be achieved by April 2016 and were
progress must be monitored, evaluated and improved developed through government-led, consultative
as needed. processes, often engaging multiple stakeholders.

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 32

 In March 2015, 40 of the 43 developing countries and • Improved monitoring, reporting, and data management
all 12 donor partners reported on the results of their systems. UNICEF is supporting the Ministry of Water
reviews. They reported either making good progress, and Energy to carry out a national WASH inventory,
or partially or completely fulfilling their commitments. in collaboration with the Ministries of Health and
This was true in particular in relation to commitments to Education. The inventory will provide new data
improve the visibility of the WASH sector, develop and on water supply schemes in urban and rural areas,
implement national monitoring systems, and increase sanitation and hygiene practices of households, and
institutional and human capacity. Countries also reported the status of water supply and sanitation facilities at
that 10 per cent of their commitments had been met or health institutions and schools. The district WASH
were almost complete. There is slow progress on about Inventory will enable the capture of information on
40 per cent of the country commitments, and 7 per cent WASH in schools, which should also strengthen the
were facing major barriers. On the donor side, on the Education Management Information System and the
other hand, donor partners reported significant progress Education Cluster System. Improved School WASH
on more than three quarters of their commitments, information, including indicators on adequacy of
including one quarter which were near completion or facilities, their use and upkeep, and hygiene practices,
already achieved. will enable local planners and implementers to better
target their WASH investments.
Example 2: Multi-Sector Forum in Ethiopia
• UNICEF plans to construct 376 schools provided with
The Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) has emerged as a complete WASH package in 64 learning districts.
the main annual WASH sector event in Ethiopia. Since
2007, the Forum has brought together the Government, • The Ministry of Education and the Federal Ministry of
donors and NGOs to jointly review progress in the WASH Health, with the support of UNICEF, developed a set
sector, and to facilitate harmonization and alignment. At of national design principles and standards for school
the Forum, sector priorities are set in the form of jointly WASH in 2010. The Design and Construction Manual
agreed undertakings for the coming year. for Water Supply and Sanitary Facilities in Primary
Schools provided the first detailed set of guidelines
The 7th Annual WASH Ethiopia MSF (16-17 December for school WASH in Ethiopia. A second edition is
2015) focused on the theme ‘Priority for One WaSH currently under development, and will add detail
National Program’. The One WaSH National Program on water supply designs, as well as the lower-cost
(OWNP) is the world’s largest SWAp to WASH, and it is approaches suitable for many rural schools.
gathering speed. OWNP is led by the Ministry of Water
• UNICEF helped Ministry of Education on Climate
and Energy and supported by a task force comprising of
Resilience. UNICEF supported the identification of
focal points from WASH Ministries, donors, civil society
technologies from national and international sources,
and bilateral organizations. The Program has an expected
evaluated them, and prepared a portfolio of the ap-
life of seven years, with a second phase extending from
propriate technologies and good practices needed for
2015 to 2020. It includes four components: rural and
the implementation of concrete projects validated for
pastoral WASH; urban WASH; institutional WASH; and
the construction of a climate resilient economy (Solar
capacity building. It also has a strong M&E component.
Energy).
OWNP serves as a platform to bring sector stakeholders
together for consensus building and sector planning • UNICEF provided support on water conservation and
purposes. re-use and Menstrual Hygiene Management. It con-
tinues to encourage the participation of students in
UNICEF contributions to the Program include: sanitary surveillance and the surveillance of commu-
• Mobilization of funds from the EU, Government of nity water supplies, and monitoring aspects of water
Japan and UNICEF National Committees for WASH in conservation and reuse.
Schools.

33 GUIDANCE NOTE
STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 34
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STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 42

 ANNEX 1: REVIEW OF EE ASSESSMENT TOOLS
AND APPROACHES

UNICEF developed the WASH Bottleneck Analysis are called Monitoring Country Progress in Water Sup-
Tool (WASH-BAT) to facilitate a participatory process ply and Sanitation) and South Asia and South East Asia
with government partners to assess and analyze gaps (where CSOs are called service delivery assessments).
in the EE for all four WASH subsectors (rural and urban CSOs have evolved in response to different regional pri-
water supply, rural and urban sanitation). The WASH- orities. The CSO2 methodology involves contracting an
BAT has its roots in another UNICEF and World Bank experienced regional or country consultant to work with
tool – the Marginal Budgeting for Bottlenecks tool – the government applying three data-gathering method-
which was developed for the health sector more than ologies. A strength of CSOs is that, in using external
10 years ago. The WASH-BAT draws on a variety of oth- agents for verification and by incorporating a process
er tools and approaches, including CSOs, and is a user- for multi-stakeholder input, they can deliver an accurate
friendly, Excel-based tool that defines a comprehensive and comprehensive sector analysis. In some instances,
set of enabling factors operating at different levels of external agents have not delivered the quality needed.
the service delivery system. The principal users of the In general, CSOs take around three months to complete
tool are expected to be line ministries responsible for
(including kick off meetings, consultation with key coun-
water, sanitation and hygiene. The tool stimulates users
try sector stakeholders, presentation of draft findings,
to apply a root-cause analysis of the major constraints
and finalization and sign off by the Government). UNI-
on sector progress in their own setting, and determine
CEF country staff members have supported this pro-
the requirements for and consequences of removing
cess in many countries.
them. The quality of the process is dependent on be-
ing able to bring the sector leaders and key stakehold- The WSP program also developed a different tool
ers together to complete the WASH-BAT. The quality/ with a more-in depth assessment of the rural sani-
time/depth of the consultations with stakeholders are tation sector called the Rural Sanitation EE As-
also critical in achieving valuable outcomes. Undertak- sessment. The World Bank worked with stakeholders
ing a WASH-BAT ideally requires the full engagement to develop the EE Assessment, which can be used to
of sector leadership, including government officials, to
systematically assess, strengthen and monitor progress
participate in a five-day workshop. WASH-BATs provide
in sanitation and hygiene programmes at the national
a rational, evidence-based approach for analyzing the
and sub-national levels. The tool is composed of eight
WASH sector. However, in addition to identifying pri-
essential dimensions used to describe the EE. Each di-
ority problems in the WASH sector, the WASH-BAT is
mension has six indicators or ‘components’, which are
used to formulate a sector (or subsector) investment
structured as a checklist.
plan comprising a costed set of activities designed to
remove bottlenecks in the EE that constrain efficient, A WASH Joint Sector Review (JSR) is a process in
sustainable and equitable service delivery. which all key sectoral stakeholders in a country review
The World Bank Water and Sanitation Program and assess national sector progress, usually once a
(WSP) developed and deployed a similar tool called year. JSR outputs include the report, which serves as a
the Country Status Overview (CSO). CSOs are a na- key point of reference on progress in the sector, and a
tional level tool to provide oversight of achievements set of actionable recommendations. The most effective
in the four WASH subsectors, benchmark service de- JSRs are results-based, and structured around previ-
livery pathways and identify issues that might be inhib- ously-agreed indicators for progress. In some countries,
iting progress. Applied to each subsector of WASH in regular JSRs are an initial step for the eventual setting
a country, including urban and rural sanitation, CSOs up of a SWAp for the WASH sector. JSRs can be dif-
score progress in three areas (or ‘pillars’) of service de- ficult to set up in countries where the sector is not well
livery: enabling service delivery; developing services, coordinated. However, many countries have made sig-
and sustaining services. The methodology has also nificant efforts to address sector coordination and are
been extended by WSP to Latin America (where CSOs now planning JSRs.

43 GUIDANCE NOTE
Monitoring Regional Sanitation Conference Com- at the biennial SWA High-Level Meetings hosted by
mitments. Since 2002, Regional Sanitation Confer- UNICEF at the World Bank Spring Meetings. Unlike the
ences (SANs) have been held in Africa, East Asia, Latin JMP, which relies on data from existing survey instru-
America and South Asia to build political momentum for ments, GLAAS gathers its own primary data through
the neglected sanitation sector. From the outset, SANs questionnaires distributed to countries and financing
recognized that a blend of political support, technical agencies. The process of completing country question-
advance and knowledge exchange was needed to de- naires encourages multi-stakeholder dialogue across
velop momentum for sanitation. The vision of the SANs ministries and with donors and civil society organiza-
dialogue was that governments should lead sanitation tions. The final report submitted is essentially based on
improvement, while engaging civil society, the private self-assessed data and governments have to sign off on
sector and External Support Agencies. Key SANs prod- the submission.
ucts have been regional and country political commit-
ments. SANs meetings have sought to achieve binding Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) is a global part-
resolutions among regional governments, which are nership of emerging country governments, donors, civil
followed up by post-meeting action. The focus on the society organizations and other development partners
political meeting itself has been complemented by bet- working together to catalyze political leadership and ac-
ter tracking of progress made against these ministerial tion, improve accountability and use scarce resources
commitments to avoid empty promises being made more effectively. Partners work towards a common vi-
at SANs conferences. The process of tracking has in sion of universal access to safe water and adequate san-
turn helped sharpen the commitments to make prog- itation. SWA aims to create an effective cycle of robust
ress more easily measurable. Each SAN has established planning, institutional strengthening, better resource
different regional mechanisms for tracking these com- utilization and higher investment. Every two years, SWA
mitments. The website <www.WASHwatch.org> is an convenes a High-Level Meeting of national and global
online platform for monitoring government policy com- decision-makers to discuss the state of sanitation and
mitments and budgets for WASH. The intention is for water development and highlight the sector on a global
SAN meetings to be integral to an ongoing regional dia- platform. The meeting is significant as it engages min-
logue on how to reach targets and improve sanitation
isters of finance to address the fundamental bottle-
sector performance.
necks holding back progress, and encourages all par-
The UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of ties to act on international aid effectiveness principles.
Sanitation and Drinking Water (GLAAS) is a UN-Water This includes ministerial commitments (from countries
initiative implemented by WHO. Its objective is to pro- and donors) and aligning and harmonizing efforts. The
vide policy makers at all levels with a reliable, easily SWA secretariat is hosted by UNICEF and works with
accessible, comprehensive and global analysis of the country and donor focal points to track progress made
evidence to enable informed decisions about sanitation against these commitments. Guidelines for reporting
and drinking water. GLAAS has evolved since its first on progress and a common reporting format have been
pilot report in 2008 and now places emphasis on moni- developed. Country partners are encouraged to consult
toring the inputs required to extend and sustain WASH with other stakeholders in their tracking processes to
systems and services through a country-led process. increase the accuracy of the information through trian-
A secondary goal is to analyze the factors associated gulation, and to increase credibility by reducing the sub-
with progress, or lack thereof, to identify drivers, bottle- jectivity of the report.
necks and knowledge gaps and to assess strengths and
challenges across countries. The global GLAAS report WHO is leading the TrackFin initiative under the
is published biennially and includes: an assessment of UN-Water GLAAS Project TrackFin’s objectives are
government policies and institutions; the investments, to define and test a globally accepted methodology to
in terms of financial and human resources; the volume track financing to WASH at the national level. This meth-
and targeting of foreign assistance; and the relative in- odology enables countries to track sector financing us-
fluence of all these factors on performance. GLAAS is ing standardized classifications, and to develop a set of
also a principal source of evidence for member states WASH Accounts and indicators presented in a format
and other major stakeholders for the High-Level Com- comparable across regions and countries. Its aim is to
mitment Dialogue, and for outlining their commitments answer four basic questions:

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 44

 • What is the total expenditure in the sector? the processes by which these results were generated.
This kind of analysis allows stakeholders to identify ar-
• How are funds distributed between the various eas where changes in programme management could
WASH services and expenditure types, such as capi- improve overall programme performance. The VFM-
tal expenditure, operating and maintenance expendi- WASH analysis can give programme managers useful
ture and cost of capital? metrics to quantify the effects of challenges they ob-
• Who pays for WASH services? serve on the ground and identify the best interventions
to address those challenges, which could include the
• Which entities are the main channels of WASH fund- reallocation of resources. Crucially, a VFM analysis is
ing, and what is their respective share of total spend- not necessarily about saving money and reducing unit
ing? costs; instead, it is about maximizing actual outcomes
and impacts. VFM analysis is still a relatively new idea,
The expected benefits of this initiative include strength- particularly in the WASH sector.
ening national systems for the collection and analysis
of financial information for WASH sector policy-making The UNICEF Advocacy Toolkit systematizes both in-
and programming, and better understanding of how fi- ternal and external UNICEF advocacy expertise and
nancial resources for WASH are allocated at both na- experience, as well as developing a few innovative ap-
tional and global levels. TrackFin is being developed in proaches. The Toolkit provides a set of practical tools
collaboration with leading country sector institutions, to help UNICEF staff and partners in the development
national statistical offices, finance departments and in- and management of their advocacy work. The Advocacy
ternational entities (such as the UN Department of Sta- Toolkit is applicable to all levels of the organization (not
tistics, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and just the WASH sector) as a resource for building a struc-
Development, and the World Bank), and with the sup- tured approach for sustained advocacy. The Advocacy
port of a Technical Advisory Group comprising sector Toolkit provides a broadly accepted definition of advo-
and finance experts. The TrackFin initiative is managed cacy and underscores UNICEF’s unique position and ex-
by a small secretariat hosted by WHO. Its purpose is to perience in advocacy. The heart of the Toolkit provides
provide overall methodological guidance for the work at detailed steps, guidance and tools for developing and
the international level, as well as training for countries implementing an advocacy strategy. It also outlines
interested in applying the methodology. In response to eight foundational areas that can help strengthen an of-
country requests, WHO can provide support to national fice’s capacity for advocacy, and covers several cross-
stakeholders planning to prepare WASH Accounts. cutting aspects of advocacy, including: monitoring and
evaluating advocacy; managing knowledge in advocacy;
The Department for International Development managing risks in advocacy; building relationships and
(UK) (DFID) funded initiative ‘Improving VFM and securing partnerships for advocacy; and working with
Sustainability in WASH Programmes’ (VFM-WASH) children and young people in advocacy.
promotes the best use of available resources to achieve
sustainable WASH development outcomes. DFID has The UNICEF Accountability in WASH Reference
also supported the development of a framework and Guide is based on evidence that lack of WASH sustain-
methodology to conduct a VFM-WASH analysis in the ability is not based on technical aspects as the binding
specific context of WASH programmes being imple- constraint, but rather it is the lack of good governance,
mented in developing countries. VFM-WASH is mea- transparency and accountability that compromise pub-
sured on the basis of a set of standard indicators, which lic-service delivery. The guide provides ESAs with struc-
can help programme implementers (and their funders) tured and concise information that can provide support
assess whether their programmes are making the best to accountability-related action. In most countries, in-
use of available resources. A ‘VFM-WASH analysis’ col- stitutional arrangements for water service delivery are
lects and analyzes data on the costs and results of the in place; policies, plans and institutions exist, yet per-
particular programme, interpreting the VFM indicators formance remains poor. In this context, accountability,
generated, and comparing them with those of other seeking to instill responsibility and improve the quality
programmes. A qualitative assessment is needed to in- of relationships among the different stakeholders in ser-
terpret the results from the VFM analysis, in order to vice delivery arrangements, is a key element in making
better understand the context, the types of results and these institutional arrangements function as intended.

45 GUIDANCE NOTE
The Reference Guide for Programming contains guid- gramming, and as a conceptual framework for effective
ance on existing mechanisms that promote accountabil- planning, programming, implementation, monitoring
ity, illustrated by examples of how they are currently and managing for results to achieve desired outcomes
being operationalized in different contexts. To ensure for the most disadvantaged children. MoRES has four
a structured approach to accountability in the water components:
sector, the guide is organized into three main levels of
intervention and eight potential objectives. Under each • Component 1 needs or situation assessment/prioriti-
objective, Action Sheets are presented to illustrate in zation – this component permits looking at the quality
a practical way the main aspects of these actions. The of analysis of child deprivation within country situation
three levels of intervention and related objectives are: analysis, and at the alignment of policies, strategies
and plans to the findings of this analysis. Specific at-
1) Responsibility (defining the roles and enabling coop- tention is given to understanding causes of depriva-
eration in service delivery). tion and barriers and bottlenecks to their removal.

2) Answerability (informing, consulting and including • Component 2 UNICEF programme/advocacy deliv-

stakeholders at all stages of service delivery). ery – this component focuses on UNICEF inputs and
outputs, whether relating to programme or advocacy
3) Enforceability (monitoring performance, supporting initiatives.
compliance and enforcement).
• Level 3 interim outcomes – this component focuses
UNICEF Monitoring Results for Equity System (Mo- on the early indications of the removal of barriers and
RES). An approach to strengthen programming and bottlenecks and progress towards enhanced equity.
achieve results for the most disadvantaged children
(which) reconfirms UNICEF’s commitment to promot- • Level 4 impact on equity – this component focuses on
ing the use of data and evidence in advocacy and pro- coverage and impact on equity.

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 46

 ANNEX 2: EVIDENCE AND LESSONS LEARNED LINKING
STRONG WASH EE TO SUSTAINABILITY AND SCALABLE
SERVICE DELIVERY

Sub-Sector Rural Sanitation illusion of institutional change.

The EE lessons from a review of rural sanitation expe-
riences in Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia • Change agents must value long-term outcomes so
and Thailand (WaterAid 2015) can be summarized as that capacity development investments are fruitful
and do not jeopardize institutional reform.
follows:
• Results-based disbursement of foreign assistance
• High-level political leadership is critical and does not
funding may generate incentives for implementing
stem from community-driven demand.
agents to improve how projects are executed.
• You do not need to reach a certain level of national
• Easy access to fair metering and reliable billing can
wealth to have a vision of total sanitation coverage.
improve customers’ willingness to pay for services.
• Improvements in sanitation can be easier to achieve if
pitched as a part of wider development goals, as op- Sub-Sector Urban Sanitation
posed to pursuing a standalone sanitation outcome. Research in low-income areas in Sub-Saharan Africa on
scaling sustainable sanitation service chains (Medland
• A well-coordinated multi-sector approach underpins
et al. 2015) suggests:
rapid sanitation improvement.
• Realizing the right to sanitation requires addressing
• Subsidies (often indirect, such as through housing
land tenure status and illegal occupancy of land.
subsidies) can be important drivers if pursued along-
side demand creation. • Defining organizational roles and responsibilities is
critical to addressing poor sector coordination.
• Continuous local-level monitoring of programmes can
be important to achieving goals, especially when they • The social enforcement of public cleanliness and ‘no
include ‘feedback loops’. open defecation’ can be a good alternative when
there is little willingness or capacity to enforce regula-
• Capacity building should accompany sanitation im- tion.
provements.
• Sanitation should have its own budget line, which is
separate from water supply.
Sub-Sector Urban Water Supply
A recent evaluation of a World Bank-funded project in • Reliable financial flow data can help understanding
Nigeria (Hima and Santibanez 2015) highlights the im- and strengthening of the public finance management
portance of various EE functions related to urban water system, and also inform on necessary reallocations.
supply:
• Fecal sludge management revenue is unpredictable
• Getting political leadership at the highest levels can and should not be considered as a source of long-
be achieved via evidence-based discussion. term revenue.

• Institutional changes may occur when they are • Creating household access to finance can generate
aligned with the political incentives of key actors and demand for latrine ownership.
addressed within a favourable timeframe.
• Private sector participation is hampered by the small
• Changes in formal governance frameworks should be customer base, which increases operation costs and
accompanied by tangible results to avoid creating the limits expansion.

47 GUIDANCE NOTE
Sub-Sector Rural Water Supply quires a specific set of technical assistance.
Some of the key lessons from a USAID-funded project
• Political priorities and interests cannot be ignored
to promote community-based, -owned, and - managed
when pushing for organizational reform and changing
rural water supply and sanitation in the Dominican Re-
mandates.
public (Johnson and Perez 2002) include:
• Good quality technical norms can improve design
• The National Water Agency needs to be adequately
and construction and further facilitate coordination
resourced to deliver its mandate. between a government institution with normative
• Even when backed by the highest level of political responsibilities and others that are responsible for
implementation.
support, translating a new policy into real change in
institutional behaviour and functions can be more dif- • Institutional changes that affect the rural sector
ficult and costly than planned, and take longer than should be made alongside those affecting the urban
expected. sector.

• Organizational change goes beyond capacity building; • EE work often involves uncertainty and requires plan-
it is about changing institutional behaviour, which re- ning contingencies.

STRENGTHENING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) 48