Case stories on capacity development and sustainable results

ZAMBIA41The experience of successful planning andimplementation has allowed local governmentsand the commercial utilities to developfurther sanitation and water supplyprojects. The Devolution Trust Fund is amulti-donor basket fund, including fundsfrom the Zambian Government, the governmentsof Denmark, Germany, andAustralia, and the European Commission.A supervisory board oversees disbursementof funds to projects and providesthe framework for the developmentof the water and sanitation sector in Zambia.The Fund places particular emphasison results, such as the number of peoplewith services. It has funded the expansionof the implementation model and the developmentof a national scaling-up strategyfor water and sanitation. It is hopedthat with the Fund’s support, the nationalprogramme will be able to service mostof Zambia’s peri-urban areas within thecoming years.an annual report on their activities andachievements.With a view to ensuring sustainability,beneficiaries pay a subsidized tariff forwater and sanitation services which coversthe systems’ long-term maintenance. Thecommercial utilities, for their part, haveunderstood that their clients’ willingnessto pay for services is linked to the qualityof the services provided. Therefore, clientsatisfaction is now driving the utilities’management capacities and service orientation.The introduction of standard operatingprocedures and the development ofa monitoring and reporting system haveallowed achieving cost recovery throughsales at water kiosks and from meteredconsumers.Support to the capacitydevelopment processNational investmentsGovernment leadership to move forwardwith the reforms has been critical; this includedthe political will to create a regulatorybody for the privatization of parts ofthe operations. The Government leadershipalso made adequate budgetary provisionsto support the implementation ofsuch institutional changes. Several lawsand regulatory frameworks were introducedand, in 2008, the National Waterand Sanitation Council implemented theRegulation by Incentives programmeCapacity development investmentsNational leadership supported reforms in thewater sector and introduced new laws and aregulatory framework in the water sector.National leadership ensured adequate budget forimplementation of reforms.Establishment of 11 commercial water utilities.Client satisfaction is driving the utilities’management capacities and service orientation.Introduction of standard operating proceduresand an M&E system.