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June 2001 Insights Issue #37
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Tapping the market. Can private enterprise supply water to the poor?
Over 170 million people have no access to clean water in urban areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America, according to the latest WHO/UNICEF data (2000). Inefficient operation of state-owned water companies is at the root of this injustice: gross over-staffing and political interference in tariff-setting have starved utilities of the resources needed to expand piped networks to impoverished areas of southern cities. Full editorial...
Other articles in this
issue:
PPPs in Latin America. Can they help the poor?
Public-private partnerships in the 1990s radically improved the efficiency of water supply delivery in Cartagena, Colombia and Córdoba, Argentina. PPPs have not, however, improved water service delivery to the poor. Can the public sector support long term pro-poor partnerships or is government capacity hampered by the absence of a merit-based professional civil service? Research by GHK International and the University of Birmingham is developing a framework to facilitate municipal capacity building within PPPs.
Putting policy into practice. Can local government cope?
Increasingly, the debate over private sector involvement in the delivery of urban water services is addressing pro-poor policies and transactions. Yet, improvements in policy are not being accompanied by support for implementation and little emphasis is being placed on how local governments will cope with such complex processes. What capacity do municipalities need to make policy frameworks work in practice? how do municipalities change from 'providers' to 'enablers' and 'promoters'? How do municipalities focus partnerships on the poor?
The power to choose. Is pro-poor privatisation possible?
How can private sector contracts be designed to serve the needs of the poor more effectively? Should quality of service be set at costly western standards? Or can large and small water providers complete to supply a range of services at prices that reflect consumer willingness and ability to pay?
Serving the urban poor. Is strategic marketing the solution?
Urban utilities and municipalities fail to supply water to as many as 70 per cent of city residents. Unconnected households rely on expensive small-scale water vendors or on water from wells, springs and rivers that may be contaminated. Can strategic marketing offer financially viable and sustainable approaches to expanding water services to poor urban consumers?
Why should governments serve the poor?
Is government responsible for ensuring public health? Is it necessary for public entities to deliver this public good? Who else might serve the unprofitable urban poor?
Putting poor people first. Making PPPs work for all
How can the needs of the poor be prioritised in strategies encouraging public-private partnerships? What conditions are essential to ensure provision of water supply and sanitation services? Bilateral and multilateral agencies advocate public-private collaboration but also demand a clear poverty focus. Where should donors focus their support?
Cochabamba: victory or fiasco?
Was the failure of the Bolivian Cochabamba concession a victory against the World Bank, globalisation, and private sector participation in UWS? Was the consortium anti-poor?
Aguateros - here to stay? Pros and cons of water merchants
Paraguay has one of the lowest water and sanitation coverages in Latin America. Less than half the 5 million population have access to piped water. 400,000 are supplied by 400 small-scale supply systems from groundwater sources run privately by aguateros or water merchants.
Sites
for sore eyes
Further web resources on Public Private Partnerships.
Coming in
Issue #38:
Who runs the cities? Urban governance in the new millennuim.
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