Presentation by mWater to the USAID Haiti Mission office on the experiences and lessons learned during the USAID Haiti Water and Sanitation Project (WATSAN). Includes a discussion of the challenges in improving public services in low-resource countries, the possibilities of using data-driven management, and specific outcomes achieved in Haiti. Closes with lessons learned that can be applied in other contexts.

1. Building nationalWASH
monitoring capacity in Haiti
Experiences from the USAID Haiti Water and Sanitation Project
mWater, April 27, 2021

2. “Water, like many other things we pretend to know and control,
leaks from and undermines the stories we tell.”
-Nikhil Anand In Hydraulic City: Water and the Infrastructures of Citizenship in Mumbai

3. Sustainable Development Goal 6.1
A Safely Managed drinking
water supply is:
• Accessible on premises
• Available when needed
• Safe - free of contamination
The Drinking Water “Service Ladder”:

4. Haiti is not on track to achieve SDG6
Graphs and data from the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), www.washdata.org

5. Lack of revenue
due to poor
service quality
Service quality
decreases
Users invest in
private
infrastructure
instead
Revenue
further
decreases
Adapted from Galaitsi et al. 2016
The ‘spiral of decline’ in public water services
…and the way out
Source of graph: Soppe, G.; Janson, N.; Piantini, S. Water Utility Turnaround Framework; World Bank,
Washington, DC, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1596/30863.

6. Our approach: Data-Driven Management
• Democratize data by providing a free and fully-hosted
digital platform for management
• Build management information systems that can be
sustained by local stakeholders after project support ends,
without ongoing costs or maintenance
• Create a data-driven culture, building up local expertise in
government and the private sector
“In almost all utilities studied, the first actions in their business plans were
improving human resources and Management Information Systems.”
(World Bank Water Utility Turnaround Framework†)
† Soppe, G.; Janson, N.; Piantini, S. Water Utility Turnaround Framework; World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1596/30863.

7. mWater sector monitoring experience
mWater is one of the largest
monitoring platforms in the sector:
• The free mWater mobile data collection
and visualization platform has more than
110,000 users in over 184 countries
• mWater partners include leading
organizations in WASH monitoring who
develop new approaches and
technologies to share with the sector
Our partners and investors include:
National monitoring systems
implemented by mWater include:
• Haiti – national utility monitoring system and
national water sector MIS (USAID)
• Ethiopia – water asset management system in
Afar and Somali Regions (USAID)
• Guinnea Bissau – national borehole and
CLTS monitoring systems (UNICEF)
• Malawi – national water point mapping and
asset management system (Scottish Gov’t)
• Papua New Guinea – national WASH
monitoring system (WaterAid)
• Timor-Leste (East Timor) – RapidWASH
monitoring system (WaterAid/DFAT)

8. Recent history ofWASH sector monitoring in
Haiti
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Haiti Outreach uses mWater to map water points in 3 OREPAs
National water point survey using Fulcrum App (DINEPA, WB, UNICEF, IADB);
data later imported into mWater for visualization and use
USAID WATSAN supports development of urban utility (CTE)
monitoring system
DINEPA expands monitoring system to all 26 CTEs
DINEPA, WB, and UNICEF agree to use mWater as basis for integrated
WASH sector monitoring system (SIEPA)
Hurricane Matthew
Civil unrest
Covid-19 response (thousands of public handwashing facilities and HCF status tracked in mWater)
DINEPA asks WATSAN expand system to include rural piped systems (SAEPs)

9. WATSAN methodology
Problem Definition &
Prioritization
Deployment and
Iteration
Expansion and
institutionalization
Prioritized CTE data needs
• Integration of financial data
into monitoring system
• Standard operating
procedures for CTE staff
• Training and support plans

10. The “Good Struggle”

11. Specific approaches to increase data use
• Simplified set of 11 key performance
indicators is viewable in mobile-friendly
dashboards
• Local data specialist provides onsite
training and technical support to CTE
staff through regular visits
• Monthly meetings at CTE and OREPA
level to review performance against
targets and explain deviations
“Proximity focusses attention on small wins.
After all, large wins are really an accumulation
of those small wins; of minor changes that result
from ongoing learning.” – S. Abimbola†
† Abimbola, S. The uses of knowledge in global health. BMJ Global Health 2021;6:e005802. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005802

12. Outcomes
• The data is flowing! In the last quarter of 2020, 21 of 26 CTEs
reported data into the monitoring system
• CTEs are using data to drive action:
• Increased subscribers leading to increased revenues
• Leak repairs made and documented
• Public water kiosk financial performance improved
• Other development partners have aligned their projects and
budgets to support a government-led, shared sector
monitoring approach

13. Lessons learned in Haiti about successful
monitoring initiatives
Factors that lead to success:
Define objectives and success criteria with a
diverse group of stakeholders
Take the time to work out necessary changes
to organizational processes and human
resources (the “good struggle”)
Identify quick wins and priority needs to
include in first iteration of the system
Plan for future development iteration cycles
and fund the team to test, learn, and make
improvements over time
Build a data-driven institutional culture
Common risks avoided:
✘Development partners and donors creating
and operating parallel systems (can’t they be
interlinked? No! -> $$$)
✘Premature load bearing – asking the system
to do too much too soon†
✘Expecting new technology to solve long-
standing management or resource issues
✘Building a bespoke software application that
requires dedicated expertise just to maintain
and update
✘Launching the system as a ‘pilot’, requiring
little institutional buy-in
† Andrews, M., Pritchett, L., Woolcock, M. Building State Capability: Evidence, Analysis, Action; Oxford, 2017.

14. After Vitasovic, Z. C.; Olsson, G.; Liner, B.; Sweeney, M.; Abkian, V. Utility Analysis and Integration Model. Journal - American Water
Works Association 2015, 107 (8), 64–71. https://doi.org/10.5942/jawwa.2015.107.0117.

15. Safely managed water (SDG6.1) means moving from
Water Points toWater Systems…

16. …And moving from household surveys to
real time service provider data
CTE Monthly Reports
Financial
Commercial
Register
Infrastructure
Installations, Pipes,
Client Connections
Monitor
Infrastructure
Functionality,
Water Quality,
Flow rate…
Manage
Interventions
Leaks, Repairs on
Pipes, Installations
and Client
connections
Monitor Client
Connections
Connection status,
Meter readings…
Access Availability
Quality
SDG
targets:
CTE
activities:
Affordability & Equity
Sector performance monitoring system
Sector
reporting:

17. High quality public water services are
achievable in Haiti
• World Bank studies of high-performing
public utilities show that most are
publicly-financed and that private
sector participation is not a short cut to
improved services.1
• The USAID WATSAN project has shown
that public utilities can begin positive
cycles of improvement, even under the
most challenging political, environmental
and economic conditions.
Image: World Bank. 2017. Looking Beyond Government-Led Delivery of Water Supply and Sanitation Services: The
Market Choices and Practices of Haiti’s Most Vulnerable People. WASH Poverty Diagnostic. World Bank, Washington, DC.
1. Baietti et al. 2006. Characteristics of Well-Performing Public Water Utilities. Water Supply & Sanitation Working Notes,
Note No. 9. World Bank. Washington, D.C.
Time to give up on
public services?
No!

18. Possible next steps
• Apply data-driven management to ensure sustainability and equity
of new capital investments byWorld Bank and IADB
• Use CTE performance data to demonstrate creditworthiness and
attract new sources of finance for service expansion and non-revenue
water reduction
• Use data-driven approaches pioneered at CTE level to:
• Improve finances and maintenance of small water systems (SAEP)
• Professionalize community management (CAEPA/OP) through digital
commercial systems (already prototyped byWATSAN)
• Improve chlorine disinfection practices
• Bring private sector water delivery and pit emptying services under
regulatory oversight

19. Live demonstration