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The final evaluation of the project and the result-sharing workshops revealed high demand for support to implement the new action plans, widely disseminate the CMS methodology, urge other towns to adopt the approach and encourage local authorities' partners to incorporate concerted planning in their partnership projects.
Although the towns involved in piloting the CMS approach may have experienced mixed fortunes, all of them have one thing in common: the municipal managers and technicians have become more aware of the challenges facing the sector and have initiated actions to improve people's access to water and sanitation.
In those towns in which it has been implemented, the CMS approach has resulted in a shared vision of the challenges to be addressed, defined service levels and quality requirements, and an assessment of available resources. Multi-purpose sector planning documents have been developed and approved by all stakeholders. Driven by a proactive and available group of actors, in many towns the defined objectives have also been achieved.
To implement the action plans developed following consultation to increase coverage of water and sanitation services within the local authority areas, municipal, inter-municipal, national or international financial resources are required.
In order to achieve target 7c of the Millennium Development Goals (reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation), many partners have targeted their resources at local level, as this is the level deemed most appropriate.
Poor local resources
However, the local resources available for water and sanitation consist of the local budget, the capacity of which is known to be low, and the water tariff, which can only be introduced once the facilities are up and running.
Substantial resources thus need to be sought at national level, from central government, through transfer funds or specific projects such as the HIPC (Highly Indebted Poor Countries) Initiative in Cameroon or the Special Program of the President of Niger.
At international level, financial resources for water and sanitation can be obtained for and by local authorities. The best-known of these funding opportunities include the decentralized cooperation advocated by the Oudin-Santini law and the European Commission's sector-specific calls for proposals (ACP-EU Water Facility, Call for Proposals for Non-State Actors, etc.).
However, local authorities in Africa are not sufficiently well-informed about these opportunities, nor do they always have the technical and financial capacities required to apply for these funds. As a result, the type of assistance most commonly requested pertains to help with information monitoring to identify sector funding opportunities, contacting local, national, African and European partners, and completing funding applications. MDP and pS-Eau (who provides information and contact details of available experts both on their website and on request) also provide support and advice to local authorities.
Since the end of the CMS project, a number of municipal action plans have been either partially or almost entirely financed and implemented using these different resources.
The CMS program brought about the most meaningful change in those towns in which the chief magistrate made water and sanitation a priority and was financially committed, as was the case in Tahoua in Niger and Rosso in Mauritania, for example. However, local resources, although small, were also mobilized in Grand-Bassam (Cote d'Ivoire) and in Ebolowa (Cameroon) or as part of the special President's Program in Tahoua.
Certain governments have granted specific loans to implement the action plans and, in partnership with MDP and pS-Eau, the mayors of Abomey (Benin), Bandundu (DRC) and Rosso (Mauritania) have obtained funding from the European Union.
Disseminating the lessons learned
The CMS approach focuses on participation, consultation and the continuous search for consensus on the strategies and resources required. In order to build on and share the main lessons learned, documents have been produced in the form of six guides (see page 15) to be used not only by municipal leaders and technical staff, but also by their partners and other actors working in the sector.
These guides, disseminated by MDP and pS-Eau through their networks and at major water and sanitation-related events, are available in both English and French and in hard and soft copies. National associations of local authorities should ensure they have sufficient quantities of these guides in stock to issue them to all municipalities. It is important that the mayors and their partners have all the information they need to foster their interest in the methodology.
Awareness-raising activities have been organized for these stakeholders to encourage them to get involved in the program. The presentation of findings piloted in Niger in 2012, for instance, was immensely successful due to all the testimonies of the positive changes introduced.
It would, therefore, be a good idea to arrange workshops to present the findings and share the lessons learned from the CMS program in all towns in which the approach has been piloted, as well as in other countries. Ideally, these workshops would be organized under the responsibility of the national association of local authorities and, in addition to municipal managers, would bring together the representatives of all categories of actor involved in local development at national, regional and local levels. In some instances, meetings could be held at the same time as the national association of local authorities' statutory sessions.
In addition, to ensure there are enough subject matter experts in place to support those mayors who decide to embark on the CMS approach, training sessions need to be organized for local partners on the CMS methodological process and on how to use the guides, in particular. Similarly, it is important to carry out information monitoring to identify funding opportunities for those towns wanting to use the CMS approach and to provide a back-up support team to assist with CMS implementation.
Lastly, as the CMS approach is managed by the local authorities and provides a concerted vision of both issues and solutions, it is recommended that this approach be integrated into sector development projects. |