strategy
Strengthening water management structure
Synonyms:
Improving water management capabilities through decentralization Context:
The implementation of water-supply and sanitation programmes is a national responsibility. To varying degrees, responsibility for the implementation of projects and the operating of systems should be delegated to all administrative levels down to the community and individual served. This also means that national authorities, together with the agencies and bodies of the United Nations system and other external support agencies providing support to national programmes, should develop mechanisms and procedures to collaborate at all levels. This is particularly important if full advantage is to be taken of community-based approaches and self-reliance as tools for sustainability. It will entail a high degree of community participation, involving women, in the conception, planning, decision-making, implementation and evaluation connected with projects for domestic water-supply and sanitation.This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities. Agenda 21 recommends reviewing, strengthening and restructuring, if required, of existing institutions in order to enhance their capacities in water-related activities, while recognizing the need to manage water resources at the lowest appropriate level through decentralization of responsibility.
Broader:
Managing waterImproving planning and management systemsImproving planning and management systems Narrower:
Delegating community responsibility for waterIncreasing community ownership of water supply servicesExpanding public participation of women in water projectsStrengthening managerial capabilities of local water user groupsLinking national planning and local community water resources management Values:
OversupplyMismanagement Organizations:
Network for Water and Sanitation International Subjects:
Hydrology → WaterSociety → Communities
Society → Local
Industry → Utilities
Management → Management
Economics → Resource utilization
Development → Reform
Type Classification:
E: Emanations of other strategies Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
