ASi" kUCTURE FlOR DEVELOPMENT

nizations is not a substitute for involving the ulti- 52,400 kilometers of village access roads have been
mate beneficiaries directly, for example, hirough built since 1971 as part of the saenmlal tndoprg movetown
meetings. For the water supply projects stud- ment of community self-help. These roads have a
ied, the effect of inceased reliance on intermediary modest standard-they are gravel-surfaced and
nongovernimental organizations or local govern- only 2 to 3 meters wide, with standard designs for
ment units that did not involve users directly was culverts and bridges. Brazil and Indonesia have
either insignificant or negative, while direct reliance both found that using participatory approaches to
on local organizations whose members included identify appropriate low-cost technologies requires
users had a positive impact on project performance. flexibility in planning and engineering, and in
It is particularly important to ensure that participa- donor attitudes as well (Box 4.2).
tory processes involve all groups of beneficiaries, in- Improved consensus on a project among induding
women (who are often the primary users of tended users not only increases their satisfaction
water and irrigation facilities) and others who may and willingness to contribute, but also helps mobibe
disenfranchised, such as the very poor and lize their.involvement in construction and maintelandless.
nance. In many rural areas, collective contributions
Reaching consensus on user needs often leads to are often in forms other than cash- In the Banglung
infrastructure that is .lower in cost, less technologi- distict in Nepal, for example, local communities
cally complex, and more labor-intensive. In Korea constructed sixty-two suspension bridges using a
Box 4.2 Applying innovative approaches to water and sanitation planning
Two World Barnk-funded projects in Brazil and indone- committees to act as decentralized water utilities- The
sia demonstrate thatusing demand-oriented planning of village commnitees can choose hum alternative levels of
low-cost waterand sanitation requires considerable ad- service and an array of tested technical solutions, dejustnents
by the formal institutions of government, the pending on how much thevillage iswilling to contribute
engineering profession, and extemal donors (such as the to basic investment funds provided by' the WSSSLIC
World Bank). In Brazil the Water and Sanitation Program projec.
for Lonv-lncome Urban Populations (PROSANEAX) Enginees med to adapt. In PROSANEAR, the partidproject
is investing $100 million to provide water and patoly process directly affected the kind of engineering
sanitation inftructure to about 500,000 people in low- advice used. For example, water companies were reincome
areas in eleven cities in different regions. in In- quired to award project design consultancies to a condonesia
the Water Supply and Sanitation Services for sortium of engineering firms or firms working with
Low-lncome Communities (WSSSIC) project is invest- nongovernmental organizations that specialize in coming
about $120 million in similar infrastructure covering munity participation. The supervision team at the na-
1,440 low-income villages in six provinces and affectig tional level encouaged proect design cornutants and
about 13 million people in alL
water company engineers to discuss plans wit. oDeiefi-
Partinpaiion must be tailored to trie population. The ciaries before agreeing on final proposals. In Indonesia
PROSANEAR project-now under way for about two nongovernmental orgaizations with cxperience in the
years-has taken a variety of approaches to involve ben- relevant sector are helping the project management team
eficiaries in the design of subprnjects En one appmach, and engineering staff to be responsive to the demands of
leaders of community organizations are consulted on low-income communities.
basic choices, and the details are then worked out with Donors have to adjist ther prnldks. The Brazilian and
actual beneficiaries In another approach, agreement is Indonesian projects were approved by the World Bank
reached between design engineers and beneEiciaries di- without blueprints of targeted service levels or delivery
redly, in consultation with community leaders and orga- systems. Istead, their appraisal reports provided broad
nizations. In both of thse models, conflicts of intest principles for project execution and indicative targets for
between the water company and community-based or-. benefits and costs, leaving much of the design to be deganizations
are resolved through negotiation, with the veloped during implementation The extrnal donor
project design Consultant as facilitator. Preliminary data must provide intensive supervision to work out details
indicate that these two approaches have dramatically of the subprojects as chosen by the communities and to
lowered per capita investment costs and increased the monitor and evaluate implementation. Experience so far
sense of project owne.ship among communities.
shows that these learning-intensive, participatory proj
In yet another .pproach Indonesia, which already ectscan reducecapitalcosts,althoughtheyalsoentailinhas
a strong tradition of village orgamzations providing creased investment of staff time from the donor.
public services, encourages village water and sanitation
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