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Government of Nepal An Introduction Considerable progress has been made in the water supply and sanitation sector in the past three decades. This has been achieved with substantial funding by the Government of Nepal and other sector agencies. Official figures indicate that Nepal’s Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets of achieving 73% coverage in water supply and 53% coverage in sanitation by 2015 will be easily surpassed. However, these figures do not take into account the functional status of the systems and therefore may not reflect the intended outcomes. That is, they do not give an accurate picture of the actual services being provided in terms of quality of services and consumer satisfaction. Neither do they necessarily indicate optimal use of facilities nor the overall sustainability of services. Given fragmentation, duplication of institutional roles and responsibilities, different working approaches, weak accountability, and capacity constraints, sector actors have become increasingly aware of the need for effective coordination. There is little harmonization amongst implementing agencies in program planning and implementation and policy monitoring is almost non-existent. Although there is an overarching national target of providing universal access to water supply and sanitation services by 2017, strategic vision in sector development is seriously lacking. The water supply and sanitation data made available by various agencies working in Nepal are always subject to claims and counter-claims by those who provide them and by those who use them. In this context, the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS) has initiated a program to gather sector-related information from the field as well as from individual agencies. The DWSS will then compile and publish this information. The task undertaken by the DWSS is highly commendable as it requires tremendous effort and time to bring all the stakeholders from the Districts to the Ministry, and to collect and process data. On 23 May 2010/7 Jestha 2067, the DWSS published its report and presented it to key stakeholders. This showed that 80.4% of the population has access to drinking water and 43% has access to sanitation. However, the same report highlighted that 53% of water supply systems are at high risk of functional failure due to poor monitoring and weak management of repairs, maintenance and rehabilitation. The sector Ministry – the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works - along with key donors, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and implementing agencies including the Ministry of Local Development, Department of Water Supply and Sewerage, the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, the Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads (DoLIDAR), the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Fund Development Board (RWSSFDB), the Melamchi Water Supply Development Board and other stakeholders have realized that the time has come to unite all key sector players to resolve the above issues. The outcome sought is to improve coordination, harmonization and transparency, and increase effectiveness so that both national and Millennium Development Goal targets are met. This realization has led the sector to propose the formation of a ‘Sector Efficiency Improvement Unit’ (SEIU) under the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, The SEIU will be the main agency responsible for evaluating and monitoring policy and service delivery. It will also manage sector knowledge. The Asian Development Bank has agreed to provide initial support to the Sector Efficiency Improvement Unit as a component of the ‘Second Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project’. The Sector Efficiency Improvement Unit (SEIU) will undertake its activities, not as an independent, isolated entity, but by working closely with sector partners. The SEIU and its sector partners will develop a platform for harmonizing stakeholders’ approaches to improving the quality and sustainability of services. The SEIU will also facilitate the functional efficiency of plans, programs and services. The objective is to create a transparent, accountable, service-oriented and responsive sector. An umbrella policy on water supply and sanitation is needed to ensure coherent and consistent sector development. This policy should help avoid duplication of efforts and confusion amongst implementing agencies, service providers and customers. An umbrella policy should also improve uniformity in service standards across the country. SEIU will also facilitate the preparation of an Umbrella Water Supply and Sanitation Act to support policy. The SEIU will review sector programs supported by major external agencies. These reviews will focus on program policies, priorities, institutional structures, subsidy arrangements and implementation. Through these reviews, the SEIU will suggest measures to achieve better coordination, uniformity and more effective use of resources and the adoption of a common sector-wide approach. Recognizing the ground realities, the National Planning Commission highlighted the following strategies in its vision paper for the forthcoming three years plan:
A major Government concern is to reduce fragmentation of the water sector and improve governance as the basis for ensuring that all Nepalese have access to basic drinking water and sanitation by 2017.
The SEIU presented its sector roadmap at the Sector Stakeholder Group meeting held on 9 July 2010. The key objectives of the thematic working groups are to:
The discussions on these themes are expected to lead to the development of position papers that will be fed into the joint sector review, and contribute to sections of the Sector Performance Report. This Sector Road map will help the sector actors prioritize and implement what needs to be done. The Ministry of Physical Planning and Works has made the following progress towards developing an efficient, effective and accountable water supply and sanitation sector:
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