E-conference on scaling up community management of rural water supplies.
This e-conference starts from the position that communities cannot be left with the full responsibility for managing their water supply systems. They need support: long-term, continuous and appropriate support to keep their systems working. What is more, we cannot be satisfied with occasional islands of success. We need to at least aim for 100% coverage. Community management needs to be scaled up. The electronic conference - entitled “Beyond the Community” will take place from 3 June – 28 June 2002.
E-CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT: "BEYOND THE COMMUNITY"
E-conference on scaling up community management of rural water supplies.
From 3 June – 28 June 2002
BACKGROUND
It has become known as community management of water supply systems. It has become the major approach for implementing water supply systems in rural areas. It was an answer to the large scale break down of water supply systems in the 1970s and 1980s. Since then it has been applied world wide in different forms and using different methods. It can be summarized as achieving sustainability by preparing rural communities to manage their water supplies themselves once the implementing agency has pulled out. It entails:
- participatory processes to create a sense of ownership for the water supply system;
- tailoring service levels to the demand of community people;
- and building the capacities of community people to operate, maintain and manage their systems themselves.
It puts the main responsibilities of sustainable water supply squarely with communities.
However, after two decades of working with the concept, community management has not resulted in 100% coverage of water supply in rural areas. It only produced a limited number of islands of success. In addition, there is little or no evidence that it has resulted in long-term (indefinite) sustainability of water supply systems in rural communities.
This e-conference starts from the position that communities cannot be left with the full responsibility for managing their water supply systems. They need support: long-term, continuous and appropriate support to keep their systems working. What is more, we cannot be satisfied with occasional islands of success. We need to at least aim for 100% coverage. Community management needs to be scaled up.
OBJECTIVES
- to identify mechanisms and actions needed to scale up community management of rural water supplies e.g. to increase the sustainability and coverage of rural water supply;
- to identify the obstacles to scaling up community management;
- to identify both good and bad practices of scaling up community management.
PARTICIPANTS
The e-conference will be of interest to project staff, directors and managers of water supply programmes and project, staff of ministries responsible for rural water supply, decision makers, politicians and experts in international organisations, donors, research institutes and resource centres. You are all invited to join the discussion.
THEMES
The themes of the e-conference are in line with its objectives e.g.:
- Actions needed to scale up community management.
- Obstacles to scaling up community management.
- Lessons learned from good and bad practices with scaling up community management.
BACKGROUND PAPER AND CASES STUDIES
A background paper will present challenging statements and pose critical questions on which participants can reflect, discuss and send their feedback. Four case studies present different experiences with scaling up community management.
Participants are encouraged to contribute their own short case studies to the conference. These case studies will be made available to all other participants and will be included in the synthesis report of the conference.
AGENDA
The electronic conference “BEYOND THE COMMUNITY” will take place from 3 June – 28 June 2002. It will be organised by IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) in cooperation with WaterAid, PLAN International, WEDC and SKAT. The main facilitators of the electronic conference will be Patrick Moriarty and Ton Schouten of IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. The background paper, the four case studies and the format for your own case studies will be made available on 22nd May and can be found on the following website www.irc.nl/manage/debate/econf.html or requested by sending an e-mail to [email protected]. An overall summary will be made available two weeks after the conference to all participants.
TO SUBSCRIBE
There are two ways to subscribe to the e-conference:
1. To subscribe by e-mail send the following message to [email protected]: JOIN SCALING UP COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT FIRSTNAME LASTNAME (replace FIRSTNAME and LASTNAME with your own names. 2. Via the Web, at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa.exe?SUBED1=wsscmanp&A=1 complete your e-mail address and your name only, then choose ‘join the list’.