More than 1 billion people live without access to safe water, in part because of poor governance and corruption, and the Global Corruption Report 2008 estimates that bribes, kick-backs, collusion, and substandard work increases the cost of water provision by 25 to 45 percent.
Using performance indicators, good human resources management, staff training, internal control processes and immediate sanctions for corrupt officials, coalitions of stakeholders can combat corruption, but political will is key.
This manual provides tools to help design, improve, and implement policy reforms to fight corruption in the water sector at the local level.
More than 1 billion people around the world live without access to safe, potable water, in part because of poor governance and corruption. Illegal connections and substantial water losses caused by deferred maintenance have sapped the revenues of water utilities, leading to a downward spiral in performance. Embezzlement, bribes for access to illegal water connections, manipulation of meter counters, and collusion in public contracts add to the litany of corrupt practices.
This manual provides concrete tools to help design, improve, and implement policy reforms to fight corruption in the water sector at the local level. It also seeks to create an environment in which stakeholders such as mayors and civil society representatives, can work together to develop action plans that lead to measurable results.
Sanjay Pradhan (WBI), Nancy Boswell (Transparency International USA), Huguette Labelle (Transparency International), and Gerald Hyman (CSIS Hills Program)
“This book is about the how of reform - how to build coalitions and identify priorities for reform in the area of access to information, transparency, and accountability,” said Maria Gonzales de Asis, co-author of the book with Donal O’Leary, Per Ljung, and John Butterworth. “It is also about the what – what to do once these priorities are identified.”
Designed as a hands-on learning tool, the manual provides measures and checklists for diagnosing and remedying systemic corruption that negatively affects customers, the health of the sector itself, and society at large. Country examples illustrate how coalitions of stakeholders can work together to identify the most important water and sanitation challenges in their communities. Good practices like transparent procurement and creating a model utility are illustrated by Colombia’s pipe manufacturing project and Singapore’s public water utility reform. These and other studies explain how to implement performance indicators, good human resources management, staff training, internal control processes, and immediate sanctions for corrupt officials.
Audience at the book launch
In her closing remarks, Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International, noted that the Global Corruption Report 2008 stimates that bribes, kick-backs, collusion, and substandard work increases the cost of water provision by 25 to 45 percent, raising the cost of meeting the water-related targets of the Millennium Development Goals by almost US$ 50 billion.
She pointed out that, although the Global Corruption Report has identified tools and strategies for combating corruption in the water sector, without capacity building, many stakeholders would be unable to diagnose the problem or implement those strategies.
“The book we are launching today…can be used by multiple stakeholders , and particularly by consumers and civil society, to learn the processes and techniques that can help promote transparency, integrity, and accountability in water supply and sanitation,” said Ms. Labelle.
The Authors, from right: Donal O'Leary, John Butterworth, and Maria Gonzalez de Asis with Gerald Hyman (CSIS Hills Program)
The process described in the manual begins with an initial diagnostic of the governance situation, including baseline data. Indicators are developed jointly by all key stakeholders, who approve them as a whole. Coalitions can then select specific tools to address identified gaps and challenges.
“We work on water supply and sanitation because, as a sector, it is especially vulnerable to corruption,” says Sanjay Pradhan, World Bank Institute Vice President. “This vulnerability is greater where institutional capacity is low. In such cases, the water sector is a target for those who seek ill-gotten gains: there is large-scale procurement and a large flow of public money. Service delivery is a monopoly, and there is a complex welter of stakeholders, systems, levels of service and institutional roles and functions. Anti-corruption tools need to be well thought out to be up to the challenge,” he added.
By showcasing examples of effective teamwork and stakeholder participation, backed up by strong political will, Improving Transparency, Integrity and Accountability in Water and Sanitation promotes a multi-dimensional approach to helping the developing world provide greater access to one of its most precious public goods.
Panelists agreed on the need for promoting greater governance in water management
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