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The increased capacity of WUCs has also in some cases resulted in improved sense of ownership of the water
source and conformation to O&M regulations, as experienced by Healthy Environment for All (HEFA) in Kampala.
Through the work of CARITAS Gulu, WUCs and health promoters became aware of their roles in advocacy and
planning for the maintenance and sustainability of their water points, evidenced by their advocacy efforts directed
at the sub-county level for rehabilitation of their boreholes.
3.10.2.i CASE STUDY: International Rescue Committee (IRC): Community management in refugee camps
IRC has been running refugee care and support programs in Ikafe (Yumbe) and Kiryandongo (Masindi) until
September 2008, when the majority of the Sudanese refugees had returned and it became cost-effective to hand
over the programmes to the host districts and Office of the Prime Minister. Among the services handed over were
19 and 40 boreholes (hand pumps) in Ikafe and Kiryandonog respectively. Aware of problems of O&M in the
absence of the support that IRC was providing, IRC held consultative meetings with DWOs, Sub-county leaders
(Adrovu and Kiryandongo) and the community on how best to improve accessibility to spare parts. After careful
analysis, it was agreed that IRC support the respective sub-counties with establishing a seed stock of spares which
would be management by the sub-county on a cost recovery-replenishment-mechanism.
In the respective sub-counties, a 7-member committee (Depot Central Management Committee - DCMC) was
selected to manage the spare parts depot. This committee was formed through a cascade of processes. First was
the mobilisation of all Water Source Committees in the sub-counties to select 2 representatives each to send to
the Parish. At parish level, the selected WSC representatives, selected 2 members to represent the parish in a subcounty
Water User Group. At the sub-county, the parish representatives were joined by the Community Pump
Mechanics (CPM) to form the WUG, which then selected among themselves the 7-member DCMC, one of whom
being a CPM as the secretary. This kind of arrangement was done in order to put management of the spare parts in
an interest group and separates it from the sub-county authority, which is only mandated with monitoring
functionality of the group.
The DCMC was trained in simple business management (stock/store keeping, records, financial management,
accountability, transparency etc) as well as Community Based Maintenance System. IRC, with funding from
UNHCR, provided seed stocks of spare parts worth 22m UGX for each of the sub-counties, while the sub-counties
provided storage space. The DCMC sells the spares and reinvests the generated funds into restocking the depot.
IRC has since closed operations in these two locations, however, based on contact with sub-county staff, In Adrovu
(Yumbe) the DCMC has been able to replenish the stock at least once. This has improved accessibility to spare
parts. Given support by the District authority and other Government organs, IRC believes this can be a workable
system with improvements based on learning.
3.11 Gender promotion
Golden Indicator definition: % of Water User committees/Water Boards with women holding key positions.
3.11.1 Women in key community management positions
As specified in the previous section, NGOs have been instrumental in the process of election and training of WUCs
at the water source levels. Through this work they have strived to address existing gender imbalances in key
leadership and management positions, by increasing the number of WUCs and other management institutions
containing women as key position holders.
J.O.Y Drilling programme, for example, ensured the election of 241 women (compared with 264 men) within the
56 WUCs in which it was involved; Arbeiter Samariter Bund (ASB - Katakwi), Buganda Cultural and Development
Organisation (BUCADEF - Kampala), CARITAS Gulu, Divine Waters Uganda (DWU - Lira), International Aid Services
(IAS - Pader), Kigezi Diocese (Kabale), Literacy Action and Development Agency (LADA - Rukungiri), North Kigezi
and Kinkiizi Dioceses (NKKD - Rukungiri, Kanungu), Soroti Catholic Diocese Integrated Development Organisation
(SOCADIDO - Soroti, Kumi), Voluntary Action for Development (VAD - Wakiso) and Welthungerhilfe have all
ensured at least a 50% female composition of Water and Sanitation Committees. Beyond the mere numerical
representation of women within these structures, NGOs have also enhanced women participative and leadership
capacity, while working with men to improve gender relations: CARITAS Gulu, for example, has used WUC training
to emphasise gender roles; while Network for Water and Sanitation Uganda (NETWAS) has identified women
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