RWSN Country Information

In 2016, a results-based funding model was developed to improve the reliability of rural drinking water supply services in Kenya. The Water Services Maintenance Trust Fund (WSMTF) has tested a professional service delivery model in two counties and attracted new sources of results-based funds to guarantee water services in rural communities.

The WSMTF provides an example of how the funding gap can be met by non-donor funds in results-based contracts. In 2017, donor funds paid for 81% of WSMTF contracts, by 2021, the donor proportion had fallen to 14%. In the same period, the annual WSMTF resources increased from just under USD 50,000 to over USD 150,000.

The WSMTF has informed the work of the Uptime Catalyst Facility which has issued results-based contracts guaranteeing reliable drinking water for over 4 million rural people in 12 countries in 2023.

This technical note highlights the key features of the rope pump, delves into the historical background of its introduction in Nicaragua and briefly highlights the current situation by providing estimates of number of rope pumps in use and their functionality and impact. It is based on the study conducted by Briemberg (2022).

Cette note technique met en évidence les principales caractéristiques de la pompe à corde, le contexte historique de son introduction au Nicaragua et présente brièvement la situation actuelle en fournissant des estimations du nombre de pompes à corde utilisées, leur fonctionnalité et leur impact. Elle est basée sur l'étude menée par Briemberg (2022).

Esta nota técnica destaca as principais características da bomba de corda, aprofunda os antecedentes históricos da sua introdução na Nicarágua e destaca brevemente a situação actual, fornecendo estimativas do número de bombas de corda em uso e a sua funcionalidade e impacto. Baseia-se no estudo realizado por Briemberg (2022).

Esta nota técnica destaca las características clave de la bomba de mecate, profundiza en los antecedentes históricos de su introducción en Nicaragua y destaca brevemente la situación actual al proporcio-nar estimaciones de la cantidad de bombas de mecate en uso y su funcionalidad e impacto. Está basada en el estudio realizado por Briemberg (2022).

The climate crisis and global pandemic have accelerated the urgency of providing safe
drinking water services around the world. Global progress to safe drinking water is
off-track with uncertain and limited data on the extent and performance of rural water
service providers to inform policy and investment decisions. This report documents
a global diagnostic survey to evaluate the status and prospects of rural water service
providers from 68 countries. The service providers describe providing drinking water
services to a population of around 15 million people through over 3 million waterpoints.

The data provides information on the scale and sustainability of rural water services to
examine:
• The extent and type of professional water service provision in rural areas globally;
• Self-reported metrics of operational and financial performance; and,
• The size and scope of current rural service providers that could transition to resultsbased
funding.

Five major findings emerge. First, most service providers aim to repair broken
infrastructure in three days or less. Second, almost all service providers reported at least
one type of water safety activity. Third, most service providers collect payments for water
services. Fourth, about one third of service providers reported major negative shocks to
their operations from the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifth, non-governmental service providers
in low income countries less often report receiving subsidies for operations, and more
often report paying part of user fees to government, including through taxes.
Most rural water service providers are working towards provision of affordable, safe and
reliable drinking water services. Key barriers to progress include sustainable funding
and delivery of services at scale. We propose four conditions to promote scale and
sustainability based on policy alignment, public finance, professional service delivery,
and verifiable data. To illustrate these conditions, we consider the differing context and
service delivery approaches in the Central African Republic and Bangladesh. We conclude
by identifying a group of 77 service providers delivering water services for about 5 million
people in 28 countries. These 77 service providers report operational metrics consistent
with a results-based contracting approach. Technical assistance might support many
more to progress. We argue that government support and investment is needed to
rapidly progress to the scale of 100 million people to provide evidence of pathways to
universal drinking water services for billions more.

The rural water supply sector is undergoing a period of change. In response to the challenges of achieving universal access to safe, affordable drinking water and sustaining those services, there has been increasing innovation in different types of rural water service models.

This Directory is intended to show the growing range of management options. Some are novel interventions that are still being piloted, others have been established for a decade or more.

Also includes: Handpump Statistics 2019 (from WPDx data from Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia-Pacific)

Aussi disponible en français

NEW: this Directory is currently being updated. Please refer to the information below to contribute.

• An average of 78% of water points are functional across the 11 countries analyzed.

• The high failure rates early after installation are troubling: almost 15% after one year and 25% of water points are non-functional by their fourth year after installation. This indicates widespread problems with poor quality water point installation, due to a range of problems that may include professionalism and skills around contracts, construction and supervision; borehole siting; lack of quality control of hardware; or lack of post-construction monitoring and problem resolution.

• Handpumps are often singled out as technology that fails, but analysis of other water point types show similar functionality levels, and that tens of thousands of handpumps are providing a service

This poster was peer-reviewed and presented at the 7th RWSN Forum in Abidjan, Cote'Ivoire 2016.

It replaces "Handpump Data 2009 Selected Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa" (2009)