This document discusses decentralization of rural water services in various countries. It finds that while all countries have undergone or are undergoing decentralization processes, progress has been mixed, with some experiencing only "paper reforms" that fail to provide local governments with the capacity or resources to take over responsibilities. Success in rural water sectors appears linked to broader public sector reforms, including stable fiscal flows to local governments and clear definition of roles. However, local governments often still lack skills and resources to fully support water service delivery life cycles. The process of decentralization takes many decades even in developed countries.

1. Harold Lockwood Aguaconsult - IRC Brisbane, Australia Session A3. A Moving towards a solution or out-sourcing the problem? Decentralisation of rural water

3. Various dimensions: administrative, fiscal and political

6. Strong focus on urban sector and privatisation

8. Mandate is transferred but with ‘paper reforms’ leaving local government with little capacity and resources to do the job

9. Fiscal decentralisation tends to be last stage Two thirds of expenditure is outside the control of local government (Wateraid, 2008)

10. Progress in rural water - Triple-S study USA High Thailand  South Africa    India (Gujarat) Uganda   Colombia India Sri Lanka Extent of decentralisation in rural water   Mixed Benín   Ghana Honduras   Ethiopia Burkina Faso  Limited  Mozambique 4,000 8,000 1,000 2,000 16,000 32,000 64,000 GDP US$/CAP

12. Sector reform has met resistance to change and conflict over roles: CWSA Ghana, PHEDs in some states in India, SANAA Honduras

14. Ministry of Agriculture should have rehabilitated all systems

15. Many systems handed over in poor repair, with only €1,500 per Commune

16. Transfer of assets and/or asset ownership unclear and contested

18. Projectised development partner support for reforms (Honduras)

20. Conditional grant in Uganda

22. Regional Technical Support Units:

23. Planning

24. Quality assurance

25. Capacity building and training

28. Many local governments still struggle with limited skills and resources - few manage to provide support to life-cycle of service delivery

30. Water services that last www.waterservicesthatlast.org