Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) are a requirement for debt relief and concessional lending from the World Bank. They are central to the development strategies of countries across sub-Saharan Africa and as such are very important for making the millennium development goals – including access to safe drinking water – a reality.

PRSPs are intended to be the basis for implementing nationally-owned policies to reduce poverty and increase governments’ accountability to their citizens. A report from the Overseas Development Institute and WaterAid, both in the UK draws on research in Malawi, Uganda and Zambia to address issues surrounding implementation of PRSPs from a water supply and sanitation perspective.

Health and education sectors are further ahead in developing sector-wide approaches than water supply and sanitation, and have greater political influence when it comes to lobbying for budgetary resources. Resource managers, rural and urban water supply and sanitation specialists produce uncoordinated plans that do not support each other. Opportunities presented by poverty reduction strategies are not being taken:

• Sector information focuses largely on physical facilities and neglects monitoring and evaluation.
• In poverty impact assessments, water-related indicators are poorly defined.
• Water and sanitation is absent or weakly represented in PRSPs due to poor linkages between central ministries, local government and local actors.
• Because its financing arrangements are complex and fragmented, the water and sanitation sector has not been aligned with budgetary processes and medium-term expenditure frameworks.

Analysis of budget allocations and expenditure in Zambia determined that available resources were underutilised and there were delays caused by centralised allocation processes. These problems are compounded by the existence of multiple donor projects.

In Malawi sectoral planning and budgeting processes remain poorly defined, partly because a large proportion of funds flowing into the sector are not in the budget and are beyond the control of government. Analysis also revealed inconsistencies in provision in some areas – often due to political patronage – and raised serious concerns as to the equity and sustainability of current investments.

Uganda has moved away from projects towards programme-based support and reduced the high level of dependence on fragmented donor-funded projects observed elsewhere. The strength of the overall PRSP and decentralisation processes and the lead role of the Ministry of Finance have persuaded water supply and sanitation actors that the PRSP is important.

The authors conclude that:

• Sectoral processes need to be systematically strengthened to consolidate poverty reduction via PRSPs and promote confidence in programmes led by government, rather than individual projects selected by donors.
• Other states should copy the Joint Sector Review process in Uganda which brings donors, state and civil society actors together twice a year to determine priorities.
• Once enough donors become interested in a sector-wide approach, finance is less likely to be injected into the country without any link to sector plans.
• In countries such as Zambia – where donors provide four fifths of funding for water supply and sanitation – they are in a strong position to demand sectoral and budgetary reforms.
• Developing tools to assess equity, efficiency and sustainability depends on political will to address constraints facing local governments.

The water sector provides a good example and test of PRSP progress towards international goals. The PRSP should not be seen as a one-time document, but as part of an ongoing process – a well-defined set of procedures that presents an opportunity for water supply and sanitation to be integrated into poverty reduction and development.

Source(s):
‘Implementation of water supply and sanitation programmes under PRSPs: synthesis of research findings from sub-Saharan Africa’ by Tom Slaymaker and Peter Newborne, Overseas Development Institute and WaterAid, August 2004 Full document.

Funded by: DFID ENC0103 0671/0675/023A

id21 Research Highlight: 24 June 2005

Further Information:
Tom Slaymaker and Peter Newborne
Water Policy Programme
Overseas Development Institute
111 Westminster Bridge Road
London SE1 7JD
UK

Tel:   +44 (0 207 922 0323
Fax: +44 (0) 207 7922 0399
Contact the contributor: t.slaymaker@odi.org.uk; p.newborne@odi.org.uk

Overseas Development Institute, UK

WaterAid, UK

Other related links:
From plan to action: water supply and sanitation for the poor in Africa

Towards Better Integration of Water and Sanitation in PRSPs in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons from Uganda, Malawi and Zambia

Water, sanitation and hygiene promotion

Linking rural livelihoods to poverty reduction strategies in Africa

Water Supply and Sanitation in PRSP initiatives

Health, dignity and development – meeting global water and sanitation goals