Regional umbrella organizations for sustainable management of rural piped water supply systems: Uganda s experience and expectations

Transcription

1 Regional umbrella organizations for sustainable management of rural piped water supply systems: Uganda s experience and expectations Eng. Felix Twinomucunguzi Co-author: Ronald Nyakana Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda

2 Introduction - Uganda Safe water coverage distribution Population: 32.9 Million (85% Rural) Safe water coverage: Rural: 65% Urban: 66% (Source: MWE) Lowest coverage in Rural Growth Centers (RGCs) /small towns (54%)

3 Introduction. 2) RGCs: intermediary settlements between urban and rural (Population: approx ,000 people) Only 256 of the identified 840 RGCs have piped water supply systems in Uganda Enormous O&M challenges in existing RGC water supply systems including: limited access to spare parts, technical & managerial limitations Limited capacity in the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) to support all water supply systems countrywide

4 Description of the Umbrella Organizations Concept in Uganda In 2003, the regional umbrella organizations (UOs) concept was piloted in South Western Uganda as an association of small water supply boards to address challenging O&M issues Privately registered entities, UOs, provide O&M support to member schemes through: Technical backstopping (New connections, metering, leakage detection, water quality testing, catchment protection) Management support (Financial planning, auditing, capacity building)

5 Description of the Umbrella Organizations Concept in Uganda 2) Financed through: Internal resources (subscription, membership fees and activity charges), and External resources (MWE, Development partner, NGO grants) Organizational set-up of UOs: Development Partners/NGOs General Assembly (Decision Making) MWE Support Executive (Routine monitoring) Secretariat (Operations)

6 Achievements of the Umbrella Organizations Concept in Uganda Improved supply chain of scarce spare parts Improved water quality Technical backstopping: repairs, extensions catchment protection Management support: training, procurement of operators, audits, reporting (Source: South-Western Umbrella Organization)

7 Achievements of the Umbrella Organizations Concept in Uganda 2) Umbrella Organization Membership (No. of schemes) Total No. of Connections Annual Achievements (FY 2010/11) No. of new Connections Pipe line extension (Kms) South Western 50 7, Eastern 77 8, Mid-Western 56 6, Total ,581 1, Northern and Central Umbrella Organizations in formative stage (Source: MWE)

8 Challenges Limited financing to implement intended objectives (Annual average budget of USD 30,000 per UO) High dependency on external financing threatens the concept (Over 80% grant from development partners) Limited capacity to address major capital repairs/replacements like reservoir tanks, water supply augmentation

9 Conclusions and Recommendations Umbrella organizations have facilitated adequate O&M support to water supply systems in the numerous RGCs in the country Dependency on government/donor subsidies threatens sustainability of the concept Increased membership to include all small and large piped water systems will improve economies of scale and revenue base

10 Conclusions and Recommendations MWE should foster synergetic operations with other de-concentrated regional organs like Technical Support Units, Water and Sanitation Development Facilities Review institutional and legal mandate of the UOs to enable them perform all O&M support functions Improved funding and technical capacity to handle major capital repairs

11 Thank you! Asante! (Source: Mid-Western Umbrella Organization)