In the move to decentralize water utilities, considerable attention has been placed on the financial and technical governance of these utilities—often at the expense of consumer priorities or preferences.
Yet, recent research shows that the quality of services improves dramatically when providers focus on being more accountable to the people they serve. In turn, cooperation from the community — including timely bill payment — increases with improved accountability by the providers.
The challenge for practitioners is instilling and maintaining appropriate cultures within utilities and building the trust of the users.
This session explored the tools and techniques used by utilities, governments and civil society to initiate and support social accountability in the water sector. Three case studies were presented:
a citizen-led initiative in Kenya using Citizen Report Cards in the cities of Kisumu, Nairobi and Mombasa;
a utility-led initiative in the municipality of Puerto Cortes, Honduras; and
a government-led initiative dealing with consumer complaints from the Office of the Ombudsman in Peru.
WBI & GDLN teamed up to host the Expo's Virtual Pavilion, where experts in water and all interested peoples came together to learn, discuss and propose solutions to diverse water-related challenges.
Meeting World's Water Challenges with Innovation and Fun
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