Improving the effectiveness of Ugandan water user committees

Alan Terry,Oscar Mclaughlin,Francis Kazooba

doi:10.1080/09614524.2015.1046421

Abstract

This article outlines issues affecting the functionality of Ugandan water user committees responsible for managing communal water and sanitation (WASH) services. Research undertaken demonstrated that their effectiveness is compromised by poor understanding of their rights and responsibilities by stakeholders within and outside the committees. Following the research, a handbook was produced that explained the rights and responsibilities in a form that is accessible to all community members. Preliminary feedback from committees that have used the handbook suggests that it has the potential to improve the functionality of the water user committees, thereby helping to improve the local management of WASH services in Uganda.

Highlights

The aim of the paper is to analyse to what extent the 1999 Uganda Water Act has enabled local communities to improve their Water and Sanitation (WASH) services
The research was undertaken between November 2012 and May 2013 in conjunction with the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), an indigenous environmental advocacy group based in Kampala
The research process was deemed necessary because the range in functionality of Water User Committees (WUCs) has become a factor that is undermining the aims of the 1999 Water Act from being implemented in many communities throughout Uganda

Summary

Introduction

The aim of the paper is to analyse to what extent the 1999 Uganda Water Act has enabled local communities to improve their Water and Sanitation (WASH) services. The apparent success in reaching the access to the water target fails to take into account factors such as whether the water source is still operational, whether the costs precludes the poor from accessing it, whether certain groups are denied access by others and whether marginalised groups who are not officially counted are included in the official statistics. This vagueness results in the Ugandan Government claiming that it has achieved this part of the MDG despite the fact that in a population of approximately 36 million, only 1.5 million have access to piped water.

Objectives

Methods

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Conclusion