A Rights-based Policy Framework for Governing Municipal Water Services

Abstract

Water privatization programs in a number of developing countries have failed to deliver the goods, while a good number of traditional and modern water management practices and experiences offer lessons toward reclaiming public water services. On this basis, this chapter argues that certain key principles are necessary in order to develop a policy framework for improving municipal water services that is essentially rights based. According to these principles, municipal water services should be provided by an autonomous state authority with some degree of decentralization that base its strategy on the recognition of the rights of citizens to municipal water services and the political commitment to fulfill this right. Additionally, water services should be integrated and managed holistically, based on nonprofit cost recovery principles, and should be open to public participation. These principles are tested and clarified through a study of stakeholder perspectives in Accra, Ghana, leading to a rights-based policy framework for improving municipal water services.