 What we do
|
Sector performance monitoringIn order to increase access to water and sanitation and target the poorest people, we need to know what progress is being made and where.
This is necessary in order to build on successes and highlight problem areas. Without good monitoring, it is impossible to know whether we are meeting targets like the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Sector performance monitoring is therefore crucial, both for measuring progress and to help direct investments towards where they are needed most. There are a number of different ways of measuring progress. For example, by using household surveys or inventories of water and sanitation facilities linked to sector information management systems (SIMS). All have their strengths and weaknesses, and getting reliable data is often difficult. Monitoring activities are often conducted by a range of different actors within government, for example the different ministries in charge of water, sanitation, health or planning, as well as the national statistics office. Donors, UN agencies and NGOs may also be using their own approaches to data collection. This lack of coordination can result in the duplication of efforts, or contradictions between figures produced by different agencies operating at the national-level. WaterAid has identified Sector Performance Monitoring as an important focus in our efforts to promote learning and to strengthen accountability in the sector. A good example is our water point mapping activities which, on the one hand, can help improve understanding of issues such as water quality or functionality. On the other, they can be used to hold governments and donor agencies accountable for the quality of services delivered. In December 2009, WaterAid co-organised a monitoring workshop with WHO and UNICEF in South Africa. The workshop brought together senior level representatives of national institutions involved in monitoring from four countries in the region (Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia). Other participants included representatives from Lesotho, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the World Bank's Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP). The report of the workshop is a clear and concise exploration of some of the issues and challenges faced in sector performance monitoring, and provides case studies of solutions reached in some of the countries that attended. English ( French ( Portugese ( A similar workshop was held for the East Africa region in Tanzania in January 2011, bringing together senior level representatives of national institutions involved in monitoring from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, and observers from Ethiopia, as well as national-level civil society representatives Read the East Africa Workshop report (  PDF File 1185KB) |
||||
|
|
|
