Feature Stories WATER ISSUE 3 | March 2006 A Demand Driven approach in Service Delivery: The Community Water and Sanitation Program in Ghana 46185 I n 2000, the Second Community Water and Sani- and the DAs in all stages of the subproject to make tation Project (CWSP2) was initiated with support informed choices on appropriate levels of service. of a World Bank IDA credit of US$21.9 million. The WATSANs had a genderbalanced membership. The project built on lessons learned from the first Community Water and Sanitation Project (CWSP1,) and adopted a largescale decentralization approach DECENTRALIZED DELIVERY in the planning, implementation and management MECHANISMS of water supply and sanitation (WSS) services in Ghana. At the end of the project in 2004, nearly An important feature of the project was the decen- 800,000 people in rural communities were served tralized approach to rural WSS services delivery with potable water and nearly 6,000 household and which placed Districts in the driving seat of imple- 440 schools were provided with latrines. mentation. Districts are able to respond more effectively to SECOND COMMUNITY WATER the local needs. However, at the start of the project AND SANITATION PROJECT the implementation capacity was relatively weak. District Assemblies (DAs) tended to select more The development objective of the CWSP2 was to communities for subprojects than they could pos- increase access and achieve effective and sustained sibly support in a given period of time. This created use of improved community WSS services in villages high expectations among communities. and small towns in four regions in Ghana. CPWS2 This drew the attention to the need to strength- provided grants to communities and schools through en the planning capacity at the district level. A their District Assemblies to construct WSS facilities. learning-by-doing approach to capacity building Under the project, communities submitted pro- was adopted, centered on the operationalization of posals to their respective District Assemblies (DAs), planning tools, such as the Annual District Water which went through a process of appraisal before and Sanitation Plan. providing the proposed facilities. This demand-driv- The central Community Water and Sanitation en approach provided a good basis for strengthen- Agency (CWSA) provided a well-coordinated pro- ing communities' ownership and management as well as sustainable operation and maintenance. table 1: number of service providers trained Technical assistance and community develop- Service providers # trained ment activities for public, private and civil society entities ensured adequate implementation capacity Latrine Artisans 498 in critical areas such as procurement and financial Hand Dug well contractors 19 management, planning, monitoring and evalua- Area Mechanics 35 tion, project and contract management. Water and Small Town operators 2 Sanitation Committees (WATSANs) were set up to total 554 engage actively with NGOs, private sector providers BURKINA FASO Ghana at a Glance Human Development Index ranking: Implementation Completion Report, Ghana ­ The Population: 21.1 million (World Bank, 2004) ­ urban 138 out of 177 countries (UNDP, 2005) Second Community Water and sanitation Project, 45%, rural 55%; 1.8% annual growth rate Improved water service: 79% (UN, 2002) June 2005 TOGO Life expectancy: 54.1 years Improved Sanitation services: 58% (UN, 2002) Project Appraisal Document, Ghana Small Town Water CÔTE D'IVOIRE GHANA Supply and Sanitation, July 2004 Area: 238,500 km2 The First Ghana Community Water and Sanitation GNI per capita: US$ 380 MORe InFORMatIOn Accra Project: Poverty and Gender Africa region findings Below the basic needs poverty line: Implementation Completion Report, Ghana ­ The infobrief; no. 232, November 2003 Gulf of Guinea Atlantic Ocean 39.5% (UN, 1998) Community Water and sanitation Project, March 1994 FEATURE SToRiES gram of capacity building and strong follow-up sup- table 3: hygiene behavior before and after campaign port and Technical Assistance. The learning curve hW with Soap Juncture Before after change for the Districts was steep, and the approach even- tually resulted in stronger local capacity for service Women - After defecation 76% 89% +13% delivery. Women - Before eating 14% 55% +41% In total, CWSP2 provided water supply services Women - Before feeding baby 6% 25% +19% to 794,900 people and latrines to 5,814 house- Women - Before preparing food 11% 26% +15% holds and 440 schools (see table 2). Over 2,000 Women - After eating 53% 31% ­22% communities were assisted in this project and man- Children - After defecation 76% 89% +13% aged to adequately use and maintain their water Children - Before eating 14% 76% +62% facilities. All these communities participated in the planning, proposal formulation, implementation Children - After eating 61% 41% ­20% and management of their facilities. CWSP2 provided training to over 500 service providers which operated at the district or the com- CWSP2 contributed considerably to the Gov- munity level (see table 2). Training of DAs, private ernment's national decentralization and poverty sector, and NGOs was conducted to ensure a strong reduction agenda. 42 Districts out of a total of 135 long-term delivery of goods, equipment and services Districts in Ghana were actively engaged in the to communities. About 120 DA staff received various project. forms of training ranging from computer literacy and CWSP2 showed that decentralized delivery financial management coaching to supervision of of WSS has the potential for scaling up access. It latrine and hand dug well construction. showed a strong district and community ownership. It empowered communities and districts to plan, RESULTS prepare, and execute their own rural water supply and sanitation programs. CWSP2 emphasized the integration of WSS hard- In 2004, CWSP2 was followed by another IDA ware with hygiene promotion. In 2001, CSWA credit targeting small towns. An estimated 32% of launched the Ghana Truly Clean Hands campaign the population in Ghana live in small towns--a as part of the global Public-Private Partnership for figure likely to increase due to urbanization. The Handwashing Initiative. The national campaign US$26 million Ghana Small Town Water Supply sought to prevent diarrhearelated illness and death and Sanitation project supports the government of by promoting the practice of handwashing with soap Ghana in its goal to extend the access to sustain- at critical times. It targeted mothers and care givers able water supply and sanitation facilities in towns. of children under 5, and school aged children. The campaign yielded success as women and children The World Bank is actively collaborating with adopted sound hygiene practices (see table 3 ). other development partners in the sector towards harmonization in the water sector in Ghana includ- ing the adoption of a demand-driven districtbased table 2: cWSP2 outputs approach. This approach proved to be very suc- Outputs # achieved cessful in the delivery of water and sanitation facili- Pre-selected communities 3,292 ties through ensuring sustainability and the sense of commitment and ownership of beneficiaries. Submitted acceptable community proposals 2,963 Boreholes 2,723 Hand dug wells 57 RELEVANT PROJECTS Small towns system rehabilitations 9 community Water Second community Ghana Small town Household latrines 5,818 and Sanitation Water and Sanitation Water Supply and Project (cWSP) Project (cWSP2) Sanitation School latrines 440 Project ID P081346 Project ID P050616 Project ID P084015 Water Feature Stories are published by the Water Sector Board of the World Bank. They are available online at www.worldbank.org/water and in hardcopy from whelpdesk@worldbank.org. 2