By now, rural water supply and sanitation (WSS) is often an integral part of national development strategies. Major changes are taking place in roles and responsibilities, posing unprecedented needs for capacity building, including within rural community organizations. As permanent bodies that are able to engage easily with communities, local governments are taking the lead in managing rural service provision, while communities often assume ownership of rural WSS assets, along with responsibility for providing services and ensuring the management of operations and maintenance. National sector agencies are increasingly decentralizing their implementation responsibilities and taking on the role of facilitators, helping to create an enabling environment for service delivery. National entities outside the WSS sector, such as ministries of finance and planning, are becoming more involved in this facilitation process.

Key Challenges
Rural WSS institutions at all levels have key roles to play in optimizing the delivery of sustainable services. Key challenges in the decentralization process are the lack of capacity and the political economy of institutional reform.

Political commitment is needed both inside and outside the WSS sector to enable organizational change. Many local governments lack the human resources or expertise needed to carry out expanded responsibilities, while central agencies often find it difficult to change their role in WSS from implementer to facilitator.

Successfully decentralizing service delivery usually calls for technical assistance to address capacity constraints, alongside broad institutional reforms. An essential element in achieving better-managed rural water systems is the promotion of local private sector participation in management, provision of equipment, and maintenance.

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