Abstract
State-civil society (CS) partnerships are increasingly common in the water and sanitation (W&S) sector of many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as a means of expanding service coverage for ...
Highlights
In the endless search for more efficient and effective methods of delivering social services, the past few decades have seen an increasing number of state-civil society (CS) partnerships in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as a means of expanding safe drinking water and sanitation (W&S) coverage and improving the health of poor communities (Haque, 2004; Harvey & Reed, 2004, 2007; Jiménez & Pérez-Foguet, 2010; Sansom, 2006).The forces behind recent interest in partnership building in the W&S sector are probably numerous
In most sub-Saharan African countries such as Ghana, deteriorating economic conditions and monetary crises, characterised by huge public sector deficits, growing external indebtedness and balance of trade problems since the 1980s have been cited as the most significant factors driving reform of public administration systems in these countries (Bangura & Larbi, 2006; Batley & Larbi, 2004; Brinkerhoff & Brinkerhoff, 2015; World Bank, 1997). International development agencies such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank promoted such reforms in the form of privatisation and decentralisation policies, which entailed reallocation of resources, delegation of power and responsibility for service provision from the central government to local authorities. These polices became popular in many countries based on the premise that private sector participation, including CS involvement in the W&S sector would result in improved service coverage, quality and efficiency to supplement if not replace the inefficiencies of conventional public sector provision (Davis, 2005; Hall & Lobina, 2007; Herrera & Post, 2014; Prasad, 2006; Tukahirwa, Mol, & Oosterveer, 2010, 2013; World Bank, 2004)
The CWSA is mandated with the role of coordinating the work of a range of actors in the rural W&S sector, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs), public sector organisations, local beneficiary communities, private sector organisations and donors (Trend Group, 2003: World Bank, 2011c)
Summary
In the endless search for more efficient and effective methods of delivering social services, the past few decades have seen an increasing number of state-civil society (CS) partnerships in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as a means of expanding safe drinking water and sanitation (W&S) coverage and improving the health of poor communities (Haque, 2004; Harvey & Reed, 2004, 2007; Jiménez & Pérez-Foguet, 2010; Sansom, 2006).The forces behind recent interest in partnership building in the W&S sector are probably numerous. In most sub-Saharan African countries such as Ghana, deteriorating economic conditions and monetary crises, characterised by huge public sector deficits, growing external indebtedness and balance of trade problems since the 1980s have been cited as the most significant factors driving reform of public administration systems in these countries (Bangura & Larbi, 2006; Batley & Larbi, 2004; Brinkerhoff & Brinkerhoff, 2015; World Bank, 1997) International development agencies such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank promoted such reforms in the form of privatisation and decentralisation policies, which entailed reallocation of resources, delegation of power and responsibility for service provision from the central government to local authorities. Little research has focussed on the drivers, nature, barriers and facilitators of CS involvement and how their roles could be more effectively harnessed to increase access to services for poor and marginalised people
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