Designing solidarity financing mechanisms depends
on the way services are organised in the donor country

The legal and administrative context in the countries involved in solidarity financing affects the type of mechanism that can be developed. At a more local level, the way the water and sanitation services are organised influences what mechanisms can be envisaged.

When local authorities are responsible for water and sanitation services and define the way they are provided (by the authority, delegation to a public or private operator), they hold the necessary decision-making power, particularly as regards finances, to assign a part of their local budget to international development actions.

In France, decentralisation has given local authorities considerable autonomy. This, combined with a long-standing tradition of twinning with towns in other countries has given considerable impetus to decentralised co-operation between local authorities (towns and regions), whether it be technical co-operation or financial co-operation or, most frequently, both. The recent Oudin-Santini Law authorises these local authorities (and the water and sanitation authorities) to dedicate up to 1% of their water and sanitation budget to finance international development actions. In this context, the "local" water sector is able to actively contribute to decentralised co-operation initiatives.

In those countries where the local authorities do not have such autonomy in the management of their water and sanitation services (allowing them, for instance, to draw on their local budgets to finance international activities), decentralised actions are less appropriate. One solution is to centralise donations (from individuals or companies in the sector) via a nation-wide organisation.

Water Aid (United Kingdom and Australia), WaterCan (Canada), Water for People (United States and Canada) and Oxfam Water for Survival (New Zealand) offer solutions for those water sector players who wish to get involved in international development actions, but have to comply with certain organisational or regulatory restrictions.