Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Water Supply and Sanitation Generic Implementation Guidelines

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
The World Bank
Water Supply and Sanitation
Generic Implementation Guidelines
Volume 1 – Report
May 2003
Generic Implementation Guidelines - Draft
CONTENTS
0. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................2
1. REGIONAL WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION PROGRAMS - OVERVIEW.....................4
2. RURAL WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION............................................................................11
3. URBAN WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION..............................................................................1
1 Revision: May 2003

0. INTRODUCTION
SCOPE OF THIS DOCUMENT

The first version of these draft Generic Implementation Guidelines has been prepared in September and
October 2002 to allow for the further development of region-specific implementation manuals, and to
undergo stakeholders’ review during a workshop held in November 2002.
This document builds on the proposed National Water Strategy (November 2001), and on Issues Papers
prepared by 4 teams of national consultants on the following topics: Management Models, Supply
Chains, Project Design, Hygiene & Sanitation.
The generic guidelines represent a first step in a review and refinement process that will be finalized at
regional level after being initiated at national level during the national review workshop held in
November 2002. The final output will be a series of regionally developed strategies for water project
implementation that will include Regional Implementation Manuals. and all associated documentation
(forms, model contracts, model Terms of Reference, etc…).
Two of the main principles behind these guidelines and the other strategy elements being developed are
the following:
 affordability as the key to technology choices and project design,
 minimization of time and costs required for project preparation, appraisal, and
implementation, in order to simplify preparation and implementation, so that the huge water
needs of Ethiopia be better and faster covered.
WATER POLICY AND STRATEGIES

The Government of Ethiopia has adopted a National Water Resources Management Policy and is
finalizing a National Water Strategy and Development Program for the water sector. Some of the key
principles and provisions of the Policy include:
 Access to water is a right, however it is also recognized as an economic good, and its service
has to be paid for;
 A demand-responsive approach is promoted rather than a supply-driven approach;
 Ownership and management autonomy are devolved to the lowest possible local level, in line
with the decentralization policy adopted by the Government of Ethiopia;
 Involvement of all stakeholders, including the private sector, is promoted so as to improve
efficiency in service provision;
 Full cost recovery for urban schemes, and recovery of operation and maintenance cost for
rural schemes, are required to ensure their sustainability;
 Planning for sanitation and hygiene is integrated with water supply.
 Promote the full involvement of women as well as men in the planning, implementation,
decision-making and training as well as empower them to play a leading role in self-reliance
initiatives

The Government of Ethiopia has embarked into a decentralization policy to empower local levels of
government, including towns and woredas. Fiscal arrangements are being modified accordingly, with
the main mechanism being transfer of block grants to woredas and in some regions to municipalities.
In most cases, towns of more than 50,000 population have just received autonomy from the regional
governments. Smaller towns, that are not yet autonomous, are still fully part of the woreda where they
are located.
Appendix 1, prepared by Tropics Consulting Engineers, provides thematic information on the water
supply policy and strategies recently adopted in Ethiopia.
STRUCTURE OF THE DOCUMENT - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The guidelines are comprised of two volumes:
 a main report which includes the following chapters:
1. Overall Summary of the Program
2. Rural Water Supply and sanitation
3. Urban Water Supply and Sanitation
 Appendices and toolkits.
Many of the toolkits presented in the Appendices have been developed by Tropics Consulting Engineers
and Metaferia Consulting Engineers.

1. REGIONAL WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION PROGRAMS -

OVERVIEW
Each region will have its own Water Supply and Sanitation Program, which will outline the current state
of water supply and sanitation in the region, the objectives, and principles of the program, the strategies
for improving rural and urban water supply and sanitation and water resources management and a
detailed implementation plan.
WATER SECTOR BACKGROUND

This section will include an overview of the current status of both rural and urban water supply and
sanitation in the region, in particular:
 Demographics of the Region - Population and projected growth rate, geographic and
hydrogeological/hydrological characteristics
 Profile of urban settlements –number of towns by settlement category, water supply and
sanitation coverage, general state of water supply systems
 Profile of rural settlements – number of communities, average size of each, water supply and
sanitation coverage, general state of water supply systems
 Organization structure of the Regional administration - overall organization chart for the region
and more detailed organization chart for bureaus dealing with water supply and sanitation,
including staff count and brief description of the defined roles and responsibilities of the
departments or teams dealing with water supply and sanitation(e.g. Bureau of Water, Mines &
Energy, Bureau of Trade, Industry and Urban Development, Regional Development Bureau,
Finance and Economic Development Bureau)
 On-going or recent initiatives to improve water supply and sanitation in the region (government,
NGO and donor-supported projects and programs) – brief description, resources provided,
outcomes
OBJECTIVES OF THE WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION PROGRAM

This section will outline the objectives of the Regions Water Supply and Sanitation Program and should
include:
 General statement of the development objectives of the program – e.g., “to improve the
sustainable provision of water supply and sanitation in the Region”
 Numerical targets for both rural and urban water supply and sanitation - e.g., “to increase rural
water supply coverage from __% to __% by the year __ and urban water supply and sanitation
from __% to __% by the year __.”
 A log frame showing the overall objectives, outputs expected and costed components designed
to achieve the outputs and objectives, with performance indicators and monitoring and
evaluation mechanisms for each (see Annex 1 for sample log frame).
 Budget

PRINCIPLES OF THE WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION PROGRAM

This section will set forth the overriding principles, which have guided design of the program, which
would generally include:
 Access to water is a right, however it is also recognized as an economic good, and its service
has to be paid for;
 A demand-responsive approach is promoted rather than a supply-driven approach; urban and
rural communities that demonstrate willingness to put in place appropriate institutional
arrangements and cost recovery mechanisms are prioritized in the program.
 Ownership and management autonomy are devolved to the lowest possible local level, in line
with the decentralization policy adopted by the Government of Ethiopia;
 Involvement of all stakeholders, including the private sector, is promoted so as to improve
efficiency in service provision;
 Full cost recovery for urban schemes, and recovery of operation and maintenance cost for rural
schemes, are required to ensure their sustainability;
 Planning for sanitation and hygiene is integrated with water supply.
 Cost effective design – ongoing initiatives to prevent over-design and provision of service level
that is unaffordable to the community and, therefore, not sustainable.
 Equity – design of the program to improve service throughout the Region on a systematic basis
over time so that all towns and communities are eventually served, though each cannot receive
an equal allocation of investment funds every year.
 Transparency – promotional activities to ensure that the rules of engagement are well
understood by all stakeholders
 Participatory monitoring and evaluation - monitoring and evaluation carried out in a
participatory manner with capacity building approach, with dissemination of results so that the
program can be improved by feedback.
 Gender – inclusion of activities and rules of engagement that ensure participation by women in
decision making and project implementation.
 Refocusing government institutions to facilitate and conduct monitoring and evaluation rather
than implement
 Coordination across Regional Bureaus and Woreda departments to plan and implement the
program.
DESCRIPTION OF THE WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION PROGRAM

This section will describe the approach that will be taken to achieve program objectives in each of the
three areas – rural water supply and sanitation and urban water supply and sanitation:
 Settlement categorization
 Institutional arrangements – identification of the various stakeholders and their roles and
responsibilities
 Program planning

 Flow of funds
 Monitoring and Evaluation
SETTLEMENT CATEGORIZATION
[This section will set forth the region’s system for categorizing settlements that will be taken into
consideration in the menu of eligible water systems.]
Usually, communities will belong to the following categories:
 Rural communities: a quarter or hamlet within a village, or a village,
 Multi village schemes encompassing rural villages and small towns,
 Urban communities or towns: a quarter within a town, a town.
However, specific communities like educational institutions or health centers could be considered
eligible depending on the eligibility criteria to be defined by each Region.
Moreover, different settlement patterns may be found that will need to be taken into consideration:
 Pastoralist communities such as the ones found in several of the “emerging” regions, that can be
partially or predominantly nomadic, with their movements mainly governed by the availability
of water and of grazing areas for their livestock;
 Scattered settlements, with households living at significant distances from one another, which
also raises specific issues in terms of water supply.
The types of potentially sustainable water supply systems depend on the size of the population of the
settlement, amongst other factors. A categorization of communities in terms of clustered population
size is therefore useful. Building on various existing categorizations in Ethiopia, Tropics Consulting
Engineers proposes the following demarcations ( 1):
 Very large towns: >80,000;
 Large towns: 50,000 – 80,000;
 Medium towns: 10,000 – 50,000;
 Small towns: 2,000 – 10,000 and administrative centers such as Zonal and Woreda capitals;
and
 Rural: < 2,000.
INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
[Provide an overview of the institutions involved in planning, implementation and oversight for
both rural and urban water supply and sanitation.]
The following chart provides an overview of the institutions involved in planning, implementation and
oversight for both rural and urban water supply and sanitation systems. More detail is included in the
sections on Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program and Urban Water Supply and Sanitation
Program.
Parties Involved Primary Responsibilities
1
“Issue Paper for Project Design, Technical, Financial and Economic Feasibility, Draft Recommendation
Report”. Tropics Consulting Engineers, Addis Ababa, October 2002.

Federal Government:
Ministry of Finance & Economic Dev. Funding;
Ministry of Water Resources Overall planning and coordination;
Ministry of Capacity Building Overall monitoring and evaluation;
Coordinate and support capacity building;
Research & development
Launch, coordinate and support special
initiatives (e.g., supply chains, sanitation &
hygiene)
Regional Administration:
Regional Bureau of Water, Energy & Mines Prepare and promote Regional Program;
Regional Bureau of Rural Development Provide legal and institutional framework
Regional Bureau of Finance and Economic Regional planning and coordination;
Planning Finance: co-financing; attract and channel
Others – procurement, contract management, resources; ensure financial accountability;
works supervision, monitoring Support implementation – procurement,
contracting, financial management and
reporting;
Coordinate and support capacity building;
Regional-level monitoring and evaluation;
Local Governments: Promote program to communities;
Woredas Put in place required legislation and institutions
Municipalities Implement RWSS projects, support
implementation of UWSS projects –
procurement, contracting, financial
management and reporting;
Put in place participatory monitoring and
evaluation;
Communities, Town Water Boards Apply to participate in program;
Implement UWSS projects – procurement,
contracting, financial management and
reporting;
Other Stakeholders: Provide services, works & goods to government

Consultants, contractors, NGOs, private sector institutions, communities and Town Water
service providers, training and community orgs Boards under contract
The Regional Water Bureau will directly contract regional or international consultants to assist with
capacity building and special initiatives at the regional level and for urban water supply and sanitation
will assist Town Water Boards with procurement of consultants, contractors and suppliers (see section
on procurement). The Region will appoint a committee (e.g., Water, Urban Development, Health,

Finance Bureaus) to appraise and prioritize urban projects in accordance with established criteria (see
section on project cycle). The Regional Finance Bureau will channel funds and ensure financial
management and reporting is carried out properly (see section on funds flow). Finally, the region will
appoint a multi-disciplinary team to coordinate capacity building and participatory monitoring and
evaluation (see sections on capacity building and M&E).
For Rural Water Supply and Sanitation, Regional Water Bureaus will consolidate Woreda Water and
Sanitation Plans and allocate resources between woreda in a transparent and equitable manner. It is
expected that the establishment of water and sanitation programs in all woreda in a region will take a
number of years.
PROGRAM PLANNING AND PROMOTION

The Regional Water Bureau will be primarily responsible for program planning and overall
coordination. Preparation of this document is the first stage in the program planning process. Given
the demand-responsive nature of the program, planning does not involve pre-identification of the towns
and communities that will receive funding under the program to improve their water supply and
sanitation systems. Rather, it involves setting out the overall needs in the Region, coordinating
resources available to meet those needs, agreeing the rules of engagement – the criteria that will have to
be met by a community or town to participate and the procedures to be followed for planning and
implementation. (What is the overall needs of the region?, Eligibility criteria set)
Regional Water Bureaus will consolidate Woreda and Town Water and Sanitation Plans and allocate
resources between woreda and towns in a transparent and equitable manner. It is expected that the
provision of water supply and sanitation service in all woreda and towns in a region will take a number
of years.
Before launch of the program, the Region will need to put in place the enabling environment that allows
for smooth implementation of the program by adopting legislation and establishing the institutional
framework required.
The Region will promote the program with local governments, communities and towns, explaining the
demand-responsive (performance based) nature of the program, the rules of engagement and facilitating
application and qualification by those who wish to participate. The Region will also promote the
program to potential financiers and will strive to achieve uniformity in their approach to
implementation across the region (see section on promotion).
Once the program is launched, the Region will play an overall coordination role to ensure that program
principles are being adhered to and objectives can be met.
FLOW OF FUNDS
[Provide an overview of funds flow, disbursement and auditing processes for the program.]
Channeling of Funds, Disbursements and Auditing

To the extent possible funds should flow through normal government channels – from MOFED, to
Regional Finance Bureaus, to Town Water Boards and woredas. Accounting and audit procedures
follow normal government practices. Contracts are arranged and paid through normal regional/Water

Board/woreda procedures. In addition, there will be periodic post construction audits to confirm that
water supply and sanitation facilities were constructed and proper records maintained. [Details need to
be worked out in each region].
For urban projects, the implementation agency will in general be the Town Water Board itself. For rural
projects, the implementation agency will be the woreda. Disbursement, accounting and auditing
procedures? will need to be developed by each region when developing the Region Implementation
Manuals for implementation by the utilities and woredas. Water Boards and woredas will initialize
disbursement procedures, amongst others in certifying completion of works to be paid for.
 Principles for channeling of funds, and accountancy and auditing procedures need to be developed in
detail at regional level, taking into consideration, amongst others, the procedures applicable to
funding agencies and agreed upon by all associated parties.
Community Contribution
As a general principle, where grant financing is provided for water supply and sanitation improvements
the users should be required to make a contribution. The requirements and mechanisms for this differ
for rural and urban systems and are described in more detail in the respective sections of the guidelines.
MONITORING & EVALUATION

[Provide a summary of the guiding principles and framework for program monitoring and
evaluation.]
Introduction: guiding principles

Monitoring and evaluation (M & E) plays an essential role in implementing successful water and
sanitation programs. A properly designed M & E system provides stakeholders with a way to assess
implementation of their WSS strategy and make adaptations as needed. Progress against overall
program goals and against specific component targets can be measured, and the degree to which
procedures are being followed can be assessed. Evaluations can measure program impact.
Stakeholders can meet to share lessons and jointly devise solutions to challenges that arise. A key
objective of WSS programs is to provide sustainable service delivery. An M & E system can be
developed so that it assesses the extent to which sustainable service delivery is being put in place and
what modifications or additional work is needed to achieve sustainability.
The M & E system can be built based on the following basic principles:
 It should be kept simple
 There should be an emphasis on creating a user-friendly system
 The system should include a participatory mechanism
 The M & E system can be integrated closely with capacity building efforts.
 The M & E system can be based on the WSS program’s logframe.
 The system should focus on people as well as nuts and bolts (consumer satisfaction as well as
systems constructed and costs)

Framework
The M & E system will exist at different levels: federal (Ministry of Water Resources), regional
(Regional Water Resource Development Bureaus), woreda (water and health desks), and
community/town (water and sanitation committees and water boards). The level of detail and amount
of data collected will vary at the different levels, with more detail being collected and analyzed at the
woreda, town and community level, where most implementation is taking place. The M & E system
thus will look like a pyramid: with more data collected and examined at the bottom, and less as one
moves up toward the federal level. While urban and rural M & E will have the same purpose and
follow the same principles, each will have a slightly different construct and content. More detail is
provided in sections on Rural Water Supply and Sanitation and Urban Water Supply and Sanitation.

2. RURAL WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION
OBJECTIVES
[Describe the objectives of the RWSS program]
The objectives of the Regional RWSS Program are to:
 Build Woreda RWSS Programs.
 Provide basic water and sanitation services to communities that will contribute towards the
capital cost and pay the normal operations, maintenance and repair costs of their facilities.
 Ensure sustainability of these facilities through community ownership and management,
community decision-making in their design, active involvement of women at all stages in the
project, private sector provision of goods and services, and public sector promotion and support.
 Maximize health benefits by integrating water, sanitation and hygiene education interventions,
including the establishment of hygiene education and latrine construction capabilities at village
level.
The move to community management and private sector provision of goods and services will improve
service by allowing the beneficiaries to be directly responsible for the management of their systems and
will provide for sustainability by creating a market for spare parts, replacement equipment and repair
services. This in turn would allow the Regional Water Bureaus and Woreda to focus on the
management of the program.
The move to community management and private sector provision of goods and services will require a
redefinition of roles and responsibilities at the local, regional and national levels. To build Woreda
RWSS Programs it’s necessary to form a tripartite partnership between woredas, communities, and local
service providers, taking advantage of the skills/capacity of each. Together they can establish and
sustain community managed water supplies, improve sanitation and hygiene practices, and address
other environmental issues that affect the community.
There is ample evidence to show that most communities have both the willingness and capability to
contribute substantially to the planning, funding (in cash and in kind), implementation, operation and
maintenance of improved water supply and sanitation facilities. The Woreda RWSS Programs aim to
incorporate these resources under a policy of community ownership, control and management of water
and sanitation services, including community responsibility for long term repair and maintenance. It is
important to note that ownership in this context refers not to just the legal status of any facilities, but
more importantly, a sense of ownership developed through genuine participation in planning and
investing in facilities to respond to real needs. By thus assigning responsibility for water supply and
sanitation services to user communities, who have most at stake in their efficient functioning,
sustainability will be improved.
More specifically, this strategy includes:
 Ownership and control of facilities being clearly vested in the community, including formal
written agreement with the Woreda.

 Community selection of service level to correspond with what they want, can afford and can
sustain with the human and financial resources at their disposal.
 Siting of water points by the community, within technically feasible limits.
 Significant cash contribution by the community of about 5% of the capital cost of the facilities
plus in-kind labor.
 Establishment of a committee representative of all social groups of users (particularly women),
accountable to the community and responsible for all aspects of management of the
services.
 Complete community responsibility for operation and maintenance of water systems, including
the collection, management and safekeeping of funds, and the purchase of those goods and
services required for the system to continue to function.
 Designation by the community of caretakers who will be responsible for preventive and simple
corrective maintenance of the facilities, with training and tools provided by the project
agency.
 Community self-help action to assist with repairs and maintenance, and to clean and maintain
the areas around water sources.
 Woreda planning, resource allocation, program management, and outsourcing to local service
providers.
 Capacity building of local service providers to assist communities to plan and learn to manage
their water supply, to improve their sanitation and hygiene practices, and address other
environmental issues that affect the community. Promote and construct household and
school latrines. Install, service, repair and distribute spare parts for handpumps. Construct
hand dug wells, spring catchments and borehole aprons.
OVERVIEW OF REGIONAL RWSS PROGRAM

[Provide a summary of each of the following:]
Demographic and coverage information
Woreda RWSS Programs
Partners and their responsibilities
Process of building woreda RWSS Programs
Project cycle and seasonal planning/construction cycle
Monitoring and Evaluation
[Describe the institutional arrangements for the RWSS program]
Institutions involved in planning and implementation of urban water supply and sanitation systems:
 Regional Administration
 Regional Bureau of Water, Energy & Mines

 Regional Bureau of Rural Development

 Regional Bureau of Finance and
Economic Planning
 Others – procurement, contract
management, works supervision,
monitoring
 Woreda
 Woreda Council
 Woreda Administration
 Woreda Water and Sanitation Unit
 Others – procurement, contract
management, works supervision,
monitoring
 Consultants, contractors, NGOs, other
private sector service providers at
regional and woreda levels
 Training organizations
 Community organizations
Regional Water Bureau – Manages the region’s

rural water supply program, including program
planning, allocation of resources between
woreda, monitoring and evaluation to track
progress and improve implementation
arrangements, arranging/supervising technical
assistance to help woredas build their water and
sanitation programs, and contracting/managing
borehole construction.
Regional Rural Development Bureau
Regional Health Bureau – Manages the region’s rural sanitation program.
Woreda support groups – Provide technical assistance to woreda to build their water and sanitation
programs, supporting both woreda administration/staff and local service providers. Provide technical
assistance to hand dug well and spring catchment contractors. Site boreholes and supervise their
construction. Drill boreholes and construct water supply facilities. Supply and repair
electrical/mechanical equipment.
Woreda – Prepare water and sanitation plan, promote improved water and sanitation, vet community
grant applications, set priorities and allocate resources between kebelle, award/ contracts with local
service providers, manage household/school hygiene/sanitation program.
A key element of institutional development is the establishment of a Water Supply and Sanitation Unit
in each woreda. This unit would consist of two or three persons representing skills in community
development, hygiene education, sanitation and water supply, who would manage the woreda’s water

and sanitation program, providing information and coordinating the vetting of Construction Grant
Applications and Facilities and Management Plans. They will also manage contracts with (i) local
service providers to assist communities to plan and learn to manage their water and sanitation
programs, and (ii) hand dug well contractors. They would be an integral part of the woreda
administration, reporting to ___. [Also describe linkage with woreda council as advocates for demand-
driven, community-based management, and the prioritization of communities].
Technical Assistance to Deliver Village and Town Water and Sanitation Services
Local NGOs/artisans  Help communities to plan and manage their facilities.
 Install/repair handpumps, sell spare parts.
 Construct latrines and HDWs
Regional NGOs/consultants  Train local, district-based NGOs/consultants.

 Assist districts to establish their own water and sanitation programs
National/international consultants  Assist towns to plan and supervise construction
 Site boreholes and supervise their construction.
 Build local engineering firms & local operating companies.
 Identify more cost effective means to provide water and sanitation services.
National/international contractors  Drill boreholes.
 Construct piped systems.
Local Service Providers – Assist communities to plan and learn to manage their water supply, to
improve their sanitation and hygiene practices, and address other environmental issues that affect the
community. Promote and construct household and school latrines. Install, service, repair and distribute
spare parts for handpumps. Construct hand dug wells and spring catchments.
One of the first tasks when establishing the CWSP in a region will be the identification and assessment
of local service providers. Most communities have neither the organizational nor technical abilities to
plan, construct and operate their own water supply and sanitation facilities unaided, so it is central to
the woreda-based approach to contract local groups to assist them in developing their own capabilities,
provide technical assistance and deliver hygiene education. In principle, local service providers can be
any organization capable of providing the services described in this section, but it will generally be an
NGO or small for-profit groups. The main skills required by local service providers are in the areas of
community development, hygiene education and basic technical aspects of water supply and sanitation
systems design. They could also install and repair handpumps, construct hand dug wells and borehole
aprons, distribute spare parts, market and construct latrines, site and supervise borehole construction.
Local service providers will be requested to field one or more teams of 2-3 community development
specialists (at least half of whom must be women) and other artisans, with each team working with 5-10
communities at any one time. The teams will work closely with communities through the process of
needs self-assessment, participatory planning and design, construction, and, less intensively, a follow-
up period for one year after construction to help them iron out any problems with management of the
improved facilities. During the pre-construction phase, which may last about 6 months, the teams will
make a series of visits to the community, often staying a few days at a time, conducting formal and
informal meetings, training and hygiene education sessions with large groups, small groups and
individuals, and assisting with surveys. During construction they will also assist the community and the

woreda with contract supervision, whilst continuing with the mobilization and education work. In the
follow-up phase, visits will be shorter and less frequent (every few months). Local service provider
tasks can thus be divided into the following areas. A local service provider can provide one or more of
the following rural water supply and sanitation services:
 Community development, hygiene education, and technical assistance with design.
 Handpump installation and repair, plus spare parts supply.
 Dug well, spring catchment and borehole apron construction.
 Latrine marketing and construction

To start the woreda RWSS Program, a woreda support group, in collaboration with woreda officials,
will identify possible local service providers. In some cases they may also assist groups of interested
people to form new organizations. The organizations should be able to show proven organizational
ability, motivated personnel and willingness to coopt new personnel if required.
For acceptance into the Woreda RWSSP as service providers, candidate organizations should meet a set
of standard assessment criteria, and it will be the woreda support group’s job to bring them up to the
required level. This would be done through a process of dialogue and planning with the organizations,
which would make any changes in their personnel or administrative arrangements required before they
would become full fledged service providers. They would then be assessed according to the following
criteria:
 Past experience of the organization. Experience in planning and implementing community-level

projects with a community development or self-help orientation advantageous. For new
organizations, key individuals involved should have experience in another organization.
 Experience and specialized knowledge of personnel. At least __ years of secondary education,

substantive experience of community projects and ability to work effectively at community level.
A combination of management, community development, and technical skills are required. All
personnel must bring an attitude of participation and dialogue to their work.
 Administrative and management capabilities Satisfactory references from funders and

beneficiaries of previous projects, ability to manage the proposed number of field worker teams,
and no demonstrable conflict with current commitments.
 Financial position Bank statement, and, if available, audited accounts showing reasonable
financial stability, and evidence of at least a basic and functional book-keeping system.
 Registration status. Legal registration allowing the operation of a bank account and the signing of
contracts, and a constitution or articles of association showing aims compatible with the CWSP.
The Woreda support group would work with interested groups in each woreda to help them bring
together the requisite skills and make the best possible proposal to the woreda to be selected as a local
service provider. Usually one or two LSPs would be selected in each woreda and essentially be awarded
a consultant contract by the woreda at standard rates to assist communities to mobilize, prepare
facilities and management plans, and train the communities to manage their systems. An LSP will sign a
project preparation contract with the Woreda for 5-10 communities. If performance is acceptable in the

first of these communities, the LSP will be assigned additional communities. When the contract has
been successfully completed the LSP would be fully qualified to compete for additional work in the
region.
The Woreda Support Group will provide management and field support plus refresher training for at
least two years in each woreda. This will be intensive during the first set of communities and reduce
gradually thereafter. The Woreda WSSD will also provide some support in the course of its supervision
work.
The WSP would assist the Woreda including the council, administration and staff to build a Woreda
Water Supply and Sanitation Program, making sure that everyone understood and supported the
program and providing on-the-job training to prepare/refine woreda WSS plans, vet community grant
applications, prioritize communities with approval of council, identify, select, contract and supervise
Local Service Providers, etc.
The WSG would work in a similar fashion with potential LSPs including handpump mechanics, latrine
artisans, and hand dug well contractors. A selection process and criteria would be needed for each skill.
LSPs could work independently of form small companies to provide multiple services, including
community development support. Dug well contractors would be pre-qualified and given a contract for
a number of wells dug wells so that the cost of their equipment could be repaid within the contract by
deducting a portion from each payment until it was paid in full and title could be transferred to the
contractor. On the job training would be provided for the first five. If these are completed successfully
additional wells would be assigned until the contract is complete; at which time the contractor would
become fully qualified to compete for future dug well contracts.
Community: The acquisition of an improved water supply would start with the application for financial
assistance filed by a community to its woreda. Before a grant is provided, a water and sanitation
committee would be formed (or its functions included in an existing group), a specialized bank account
under community control would be opened and an initial contribution to the capital cost deposited, and
other pre-project obligations would be met. During the planning, construction and follow-up period the
community would participate in hygiene education and training and would be responsible for improving
environmental sanitation. Communities would also be fully and solely responsible for the operation
and maintenance of their water supplies, including revenue collection. The Water and Sanitation
Committee would represent the community during the planning process, to manage the system, and to
facilitate hygiene education within the community.
Ministry of Water Resources: Just as the delivery of local level activities is supported by the regional
level, so the delivery of regional activities will need support from the national level. Whilst the
Regional Bureaus will organize most of the training activities, they will need materials (training guides,
handbooks, manuals, flip charts, etc.), assistance from more experienced trainers and someone to
facilitate lesson learning in different regions. It would be the job of the MWR to coordinate the
production/refinement of such materials. A related area of activity which should also be seen in the
national context is research and development related to monitoring and evaluation, where the national
unit would collate experience gathered in the field and translate this into improvements in the strategy.
The improvements made would be formalized and promulgated in the form of training
materials/methods and standards and guidelines. (See the Monitoring and Evaluation section.)
[Identify support needed from the MWR and other Federal agencies.]

Gender issues are a cross-cutting topic in rural water and sanitation services (RWSS). Men and women
often have different roles, levels of demand, and preferences in RWSS. In particular, women are
usually the ones who manage water and hygiene in the household. Women and girls may spend a large
amount of time fetching water. They thus have a strong incentive to contribute towards improved water
services and to help maintain them when they are in place. Therefore both women and men should be
involved in all phases of activities: making the initial demand for an improved service, planning,
implementation and operations and maintenance. To facilitate this, at least two of the five committee
members will be female. Two pump caretakers will be trained, one male and one female. Staff of
organizations assisting the community with planning and implementation can ensure that both men and
women participate in RWSS activities and decision-making.
Staff of these organizations can themselves receive training in gender issues if needed, and addressing
gender issues will be part of the TOR. They can find practical ways to promote women’s active
participation. For example, when assisting the community with the selection of committee members,
they can guide the community so that they can choose women, and men, who have the capacity and
time to serve on the committee. A resource they can use in this work is the Gender Mainstreaming
Guidelines and Checklists for the Water Sector, prepared by the Ministry of Water Resources’ Women’s
Affairs Department.
[Identify ways in which gender balance will be promoted within the Regional program]
FUNDS FLOW, ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING

Channeling of Funds, Disbursement and Auditing
[Describe region’s fund channeling processes and implications on region and woreda budgets of:
 each step of the project cycle
 different interventions (capacity building, investment)
 different origins of funds`such as community/WRDF/Federal or Regional budget/Woreda block
grants/multilateral/bilateral/NGO).]
Funds will flow through normal government channels – from MoFED, to Regional Finance Bureaus, to
Woreda Finance Bureaus. Accounting and audit procedures follow normal government practices.
Contracts are arranged and paid through normal regional/woreda procedures. In addition, there will be
periodic post construction audits to confirm that community proposals were constructed and proper
records maintained.
[Define the principles governing community contribution for RWSS and requirements under the
program.]
Capital Costs: Sustainability of water supply and sanitation facilities is based on community
participation. In financial terms this means that the beneficiaries would be required to pay part of the
capital cost of basic services and all of the recurrent costs of their water and sanitation facilities.

Community contributions would have several benefits: (i) if proportional to the capital costs, they serve
as a guide to help communities choose a system that is within their financial means; (ii) being about the
same amount as a community would need to raise in the future to cover recurrent costs, they provide an
indication to government as to whether or not beneficiaries will be willing and able to raise the funds
required to maintain their systems; (iii) they provide a basis for community ownership of the system,
and (iv) they allow woreda to stretch their limited financial resources to provide service for more
communities.
Community contribution is usually regarded as an adequate way to enhance ownership by the

beneficiaries of the future water system, and has been widely adopted throughout many countries as
part of their Rural Water Supply policies. The National WRM Policy calls for a minimum 5% cash
contibution, plus in kind support to reduce the overall cost. When the community contribution is
determined as a percentage of the capital cost, it is difficult to calculate it exactly as long as the final
cost of the works is not known, which usually happens after contracting is completed. However, this is
too late in the process for the community to complete gathering the contribution, which often proves to
be a rather lengthy process. It is therefore much more simple that community contributions be
determined as a fixed amount for a given type of system, which allows to announce upfront the amount
due, in practice as early as the promotion activities. This is also more equitable as it balances the effects
of unfavorable natural conditions, like deep groundwater or distant surface water sources.
The following calculation and channeling principles are proposed for further refinement at regional
level:
 Boreholes with handpumps: the community purchases the handpump directly from the supplier
through a voucher system, where the cost of the handpump is shared between the community and
the region. The cost should include installation with warranty and semiannual inspections/repairs.
This option has the great advantage of clearly establishing community ownership of the pump, and
closes all associated issues of maintenance and renewal/rehabilitation responsibility.
 Hand-dug open wells often prove to be the choice option of the poorest communities, and has of
all water points the biggest labor requirements for its construction. It is therefore adequate that all
the community contribution be in the form of labor, by providing all unskilled manpower required
for the construction of the well and gathering aggregates that are also needed in large quantities
for this type of construction. Another very significant contribution is to provide accommodation
and catering to the team of qualified workers coming from outside to build the well, as open wells
take a long time to build. The design of open dug wells may be different than dug wells with
handpumps. It is impotant to provide a raised platform on which people stand to draw water and a
raised collar around the well opening to keep water from draining into it. A communal rope and
bucket that remains on the well platform helps minimize contamination of the water supply.
Recurrent Costs: Beneficiary communities would be required to pay all recurrent costs.
PROGRAM PLANNING
[Describe here the region’s action plan and timetable for the establishment of Woreda WSS
Programs.]

Regional Water Bureaus will consolidate Woreda Water and Sanitation Plans and allocate resources
between woreda in a transparent and equitable manner. It is expected that the establishment of water
and sanitation programs in all woreda in a region will take a number of years.
PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACTING

[Describe procurement process at worda and regional levels.]
Procurement of woreda support groups, borhole siting and supervision, borehole construction, and
handpump and spare parts supply will be arranged by the Regional Water Bureaus. Procurement of
local service providers including hand dug well contractors will be arranged by the worda. Formats for
bidding documents related to rural programs will be prepared as part of the Regional Implementation
Manuals.
CAPACITY BUILDING
[Describe the region’s program for building capacity of all stakeholders involved in improving
RWSS.]
Introduction
Capacity building is essential to ensure that various stakeholders are able to carry out the roles and
responsibilities. It is vital for sustainability. The most effective form of capacity building involves
learning by doing – on-the-job training or participatory methods. Capacity building should be timed
correctly so that the knowledge is given when needed and can be put into practice immediately. The
different types of capacity building that will carried out for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation are:
 On the job capacity building, often linked with monitoring and evaluation
 Structured, formal training
 Orientation for various stakeholders (e.g., NGOs, government staff, private sector consultants
and contractors)
 Guidelines, toolkits, operation manuals and other reference materials
Capacity Building needs

Regional Bureau staff will need capacity building to take up their primary roles in facilitation, and
program monitoring and evaluation. Woreda will need capacity building to establish and maintain
effective water and sanitation programs. Water and sanitation committees will need training and
follow-up support in order to plan and maintain sustainable service delivery (this will include training
in areas such as financial management, operations and maintenance, gender and other social issues,
hygiene and sanitation, information sharing with community members, and problem solving). Various
stakeholders in the private sector may need training (latrine artisans, hand dug well contractors, etc.)
Institutional arrangements
Formal training can be provided by the private sector and educational/vocational institutions. The
region will play a coordinating and facilitating role for capacity building. The Outreach Training Unit,
which has worked at the federal level to match training needs with resources and to develop curricula

for practical on-the-job training as well as more formalized training, is to be rolled out to the regional
level and can act as a regional coordinating body. The Region Bureau will also organize roving multi-
disciplinary teams to visit woreda and water and sanitation committees to conduct informal on-the-job
training and troubleshooting in conjunction with monitoring and evaluation. Woreda will coordinate
formal training for water and sanitation committees, contracting the private sector to conduct this
function.
The Federal government will support capacity building for Urban Water Supply and Sanitation and will
play a facilitation and coordination role.
COMMUNITY LEVEL PROJECT CYCLE

[Describe the community level project cycle, players involved and their roles and
responsibilities, rules of engagement for RWSS]
The Region aims to change the provision of rural water supply and sanitation from a supply- to a
demand-driven process, with communities taking the lead in planning, constructing and operating water
supply and sanitation facilities that best respond to their needs and their physical and financial ability to
operate and maintain. Most communities have neither the organizational or technical abilities to
discharge these responsibilities unaided, so the Region will establish an institutional structure to
provide support from a wide variety of sources. The guiding principle in building this broad series
of partnerships is to assign responsibilities to whichever institution is best qualified to provide each
particular service cost-effectively and flexibly in response to community needs, with a view towards
employment generation.
Because of the complexity of this system involving many different actors and contracts, a clearly
defined sequence of activities and responsibilities, which has been termed the " Community Level
Project Cycle", is required as a framework, so that beneficiaries can understand and directly influence
the project process, and arbitrary actions by project personnel, or lack of necessary action because of
undefined responsibility, can be avoided.

The Project Cycle

The following sketch represents the cycle model that will be used for projects and programs throughout
this document.
As discussed hereunder, some of the steps indicated hereunder include an “iterative” process of
feedback to the community/utility that can result in the amendment of the project, or in its cancellation
if the community/utility fails to fulfill the criteria it has to meet to get to the next stage.
The Project/Program Cycle
5. Monitoring & Evaluation

 Social, environmental, technical,
economic, institutional
 Feedback to Regional
Implementation Manuals
1. Project Identification
 Promotion
 Application by community
 Screening – verification and
review
 Project preparation contract
4. Program Implementation  Community mobilization
 Construction & works supervision  Actio plan
 Training & capacity building  Mobilization assessment
 Certification
2. Project Preparation
 Preliminary design
 Siting
3. Project/Program Appraisal  Continued mobilization
 Integration of the project into a works  Facilites and Management Plan
program
 Scheduling
 Funding approval
 Contracting for works

Summary of the Project Cycle

The project cycle can be broken down into five phases as follows:
 Project Identification
 Project Preparation
 Project Appraisal
 Project Implementation
 Monitoring and Evaluation
Promotion
[In this section clarify responsibilities, messages, targets, methods, players involved in promotion
of the RWSS program]
Objectives
Promotion is the process that generates informed demand for sustainable water supplies. Keeping in
mind that long term sustainability is the objective, promotion must aim at triggering informed
community decisions, and to this effect balance the following two aspects:
 How the water supply is going to improve the community’s life, in terms of hygiene, public
health, comfort and gain of time;
 How in the same time the community has to organize themselves to ensure sustainability, which
is going to impose new constraints, especially in financial and organizational terms, that they
must be prepared to face and deal with.
Content and Methods of Promotion Activities
Promotion includes the following messages, which will need to be matched to each individual region,
program and category of target communities:
 Benefits of potable water: health, increased quantities available, time gained for other purposes,
comfort, quality of life, home and personal hygiene,
 Obligations generated by modern water supply systems: cost recovery and payment,
maintenance and management constraints;
 Benefits of improved sanitation and water conservation at community and domestic levels, with
specific focus on women;
 Water Supply Programs and Projects, Water Supply Strategies, with emphasis on the
obligations of the communities of users and the funding opportunities (conditions, procedures
and timing for applications, contractual approach between the Region and the Community);
 Menu of eligible water schemes, as described above,
 Roles of the Government at Central, Regional and Woreda levels, and of the communities.
The main channels used for promotion in the rural areas can be the following, depending on the
specificities of each region:

 Information to woreda officials active in the field, and of all development agents,
 Information to kebele officials at woreda headquarters,
 Information to health officials,
 Information and provision of didactic material to school teachers,
 Radio, and to a more limited extent television and press,
 Culturally specific communication means that may exist in some regions (like Afar).
Promotion will also target decision makers at regional and woreda levels, particularly on the issues of
management, cost recovery and tariff. This could be done through dedicated focus groups or other
methods.
Where communities express interest to the woreda or regional level, they could be targeted for more
specific promotion activities, including a detailed review of above-mentioned benefits, conditions and
constraints, and explanations on the application procedures.
Promotion activities will target women as a specific group, to develop awareness of the potential
benefits and management constraints of drinking water schemes, and to encourage them to take
responsibilities in the future management organizations created at community level.
Responsibilities and Players Involved
Regional Level
Water Supply Promotion activities will be under the responsibility of the Regional Water Bureaus.
However, promotion is a specialized activity that can only be organized by experienced specialists. To
this effect, the establishment of specialized divisions under the Regional Water Bureaus, dealing with
Rural Water Supply and with Urban Water Supply, has been recommended during the regional
consultation workshops. These specialized divisions will implement promotion action plans once the
targets and associated means involved are defined, including promotion activities aimed at specific
targets, like regional and woreda decision makers, other Regional Bureaus, NGOs, the press.
Other stakeholders that can assist in the design and implementation of promotion activities include the
Regional Bureaus in charge of Culture & Information, of Health, and of Women’s Affairs. NGOs,
cultural associations, development-oriented community-based organizations can also be involved.
Woreda Levels
While the Regional Level will provide technical support and expertise, the everyday implementation of
the promotion activities will be done at woreda level, where Water Supply Promotion can be integrated
with other activities like public health awareness (including HIV/AIDS). This will require at least one
“water supply & sanitation promotion correspondent” to be dedicated to this task from among Zone
and/or Woreda officials, and to undertake the associated training of this individual.
Community Level
As mentioned above, individuals working in the communities, like agricultural extension agents,
community health workers and school teachers, will also assist in the implementation at field level of
the promotion activities. This includes workers from both Government and Non Government
Organizations.

Promotion Action Plan

The basis for Promotion Action Plans will be prepared as part of the development of Regional
Implementation Manuals, and will address the following topics:
 Messages to convey to communities and other targets;
 Communication, awareness and information methods;
 Operational responsibilities for promotion activities;
 Physical means, budgets and human resources dedicated to promotion at regional and woreda
levels, including potential players non related to water bureaus (other governmental institutions
and NGOs).
Promotion Action Plans will include relevant tools, forms and procedures.
Project Identification
[In this section define the project identification processes and institutional arrangements,
including the composition of the woreda committee responsible for overseeing the Woreda WSS
program, application approval process, eligibility criteria and basis on which qualifying
communities will be prioritized. Also identify tools needed.]
Information and Request: The Regional Water Bureaus will provide printed and other information for
use by woreda and rural water supply and sanitation personnel. They will identify interested woreda
and communities and help them make an application for a construction grant. The Woreda WSS Unit
will visit the community to verify and, if necessary, supplement the information given. All applications
will be reviewed by the woreda committee responsible for overseeing the Woreda WSS Program, which
will endorse and forward them to the Regional Water Bureau
?????Mobilization: Requests are packaged and assigned to Local Service Providers, who send field
teams to work with the communities to lay the foundations for future sustainability of any facilities
constructed. The main activities which the Local Service Providers facilitate are:
 Hygiene education
 Mobilization of women
 Community organization
 Management of self-help activities
 Assessment of community needs and priorities
Project Preparation
[Describe the process for project preparation, parties involved and their roles and
responsibilities.]
During this phase, hygiene education and strengthening of community organization continues in
parallel with participatory planning of the water supply facilities. The basis of this process is the
provision of technical assistance to the community to formulate and explain the feasible options, with
their associated costs and implications for community management. This allows the community to take
the design decisions, arising at various stages throughout the process, which ensure that the system is

best suited to their needs and capabilities (see section on Technology). All activities are coordinated by
the same Local Service Provider that carried out the initial mobilization.
The Project Preparation Contract with the Local Service Provider culminates in the production of a
Facilities and Management Plan setting out clearly:
 Design and layout of the proposed water supply facilities
 Proposed arrangements for management of the completed system
 Community commitment to pay their share of the capital cost and to cover operation and maint
enance expenses, including financing plan.
The Facilities and Management Plan should also include other relevant information collected during
project preparation. It is formally signed by community representatives and forwarded to the woreda
to check for conformance to the Implementation Guidelines. It can be returned to the community for
further development if found to be incomplete or passed on to the woreda administration/council for
final approval. Upon submission of the Facilities and Management Plan to the woreda, the community
would be required to show proof that its cash contribution has been deposited in a bank account. In the
case of hand dug wells no cash contribution would be required if the community uses self-help labor to
dig down to the water table.
Project Appraisal
[Describe the process for project appraisal, parties involved and their roles and
responsibilities.]
Completed Facilities and Management Plans will be reviewed in the first instance by the Woreda WSS
Unit. If found to be complete, they will be forwarded to the Woreda Council for its formal approval.
This will ensure that the plans are noted by the Council members and taken into account in their own
development planning. The Woreda WSS Unit will then forward them to the Regional Bureau. For
boreholes, the Regional Bureau will package and assign them to construction contractors. Facilities and
Management Plans not meeting the required standard will be returned to the relevant Woreda for
reformulation.
Once a Facilities and Management Plan is approved, the community will be informed through its LSP.
Before the construction contract can be signed, the agreed community cash contribution must be
deposited in the Water and Sanitation Committee's bank account.
Project Implementation
[Describe the process for project implementation, parties involved and their roles and
responsibilities.]
Throughout the construction of the facilities the LSP continues to provide support to the community,
particularly on the organizational side, so as to ensure a smooth transition to community management.
LSP support may also be required in guiding the re-planning process which might become necessary if
a borehole has insufficient yield for a planned system, or has a high enough yield to enable a
mechanically pumped system to be considered instead of a handpump (although in this latter case the

community would already have rejected the piped option; they can note its feasibility for future
reference).
Construction is monitored by the woreda, and, on completion, the Woreda WSS Unit, and the
community sign the certificate of completion, thus giving the community the power to ensure that the
facilities have been installed according to the plan agreed by them.
Maintenance of point source water supply systems (wells and spring catchments) would be the
responsibility of individual communities with day-to-day management provided by their water and
sanitation committees. The Water and Sanitation Committees would supervise use of the pump, collect
revenues for recurrent costs, keep accounts, and make repairs themselves or hire the services of a
private mechanic. Several water and sanitation committee members in each community (normally
women) would be trained to perform all normal repairs on VLOM (Village Level Operations and
Maintenance) pumps, and several local mechanics, including representatives of handpump suppliers,
would be trained to make all types of repairs.
Monitoring and Evaluation
[Describe the process for contract monitoring and evaluation, parties involved and their
roles and responsibilities.]
During the first year after completion, contractors and suppliers are liable for defects and malfunctions
not caused by improper system operation and maintenance. The LSP also continues to make a few
scheduled visits to guide and assist the community in the establishment of sound system management.
When the year is up, all responsibility of the contractors, suppliers and LSP ceases. The woreda WSS
Unit will monitor the system, and be available to the community to give advice on where to obtain any
outside services they may require to supplement their own operation and maintenance efforts.
The cycle set out above is summarized below in tabular form. It should, however, be noted that it has
been formulated on the basis of dividing decision-making power between the woreda and the
community.
Community Level Project Cycle
Phase Activities
Promotion • Publicity: Media, woreda leaders, NGOs and LSPs disseminate information about the woreda RWSSP
and promote community participation.
Project • Construction Grant Application: Community requests assistance from the woreda for financial
Identification assistance to improve its water supply facilities.
• Verification and review: Need and interest verified by woreda water unit, endorsed by woreda
assembly, and passed on to Regional Water Bureau.
 Project preparation contract: Woreda contracts LSP (local NGO, for profit group) to provide training

and TA for communities. Assisted by WSG fully qualified if initial contract completed satisfactorily.
• Community mobilization: LSPs mobilize communities ensuring women and minority group
involvement in planning, strengthen/establish Water and Sanitation Committees and facilitate
community needs assessment.
• Action plan: Community takes action on improved hygiene and environmental sanitation program it
sets for itself.
• Mobilization assessment: Woreda gives approval to proceed with planning, requires further
mobilization or terminate support for community.
Project Preparation • Preliminary design: Technical option and service level chosen by community with technical assistance
from LSPs.
• Water source siting: After community shows proof of deposit to water and sanitation committee bank
account, Regional Water Bureau authorizes local firm to confirm feasibility of proposed water source
and to site the proposed boreholes.
• Continued mobilization: LSPs continue support to community hygiene/environmental action program,

strengthening Water and Sanitation Committees.
• Facilities and Management Plan: With assistance of LSPs community prepares FMP giving proposed
design, expected cost and management/financing plan; submits it to the Woreda WSS Unit, including
proof of deposit full deposit of community cash contribution for dug wells and boreholes.
Project Appraisal • Appraisal of FMP: After endorsement of woreda, FMPs sent to Regional Water Bureau for
information and so that borehole construction can be arranged.
Project • Community support: Local Service Provider continues with hygiene training and strengthening of
Implementation Woreda.
 Construction: Wells and boreholes assigned to construction contractors previously selected, piped
system works packaged for local tendering after community cash contribution is paid in full.
• Certification: Water and Sanitation Committee, Woreda WSSD and Regional Water Bureaus, sign
certificate of completion after system tested and commissioned.
Monitoring and • Warranty: Equipment suppliers, contractors and LSPs all on 12 month retention.
Evaluation
• Follow-up: Worelda consolidates water and sanitation committee.
• Monitoring and Evaluation: LSPs, WSSP Unit and community carry out participatory evaluation one
year after woks are commissioned to check progress and sustainability. Woreda WSS unit makes
occasional visits to communities and always available to support them.
Timing of the Project Cycle

Whilst the whole process of mobilization, participatory project planning and construction might take as
little as six months for a simple dug well system, there are several factors that may cause delays:

(a) Packaging of individual requests for project preparation and construction into contracts
(or assignments under blanket contracting arrangements);
(b) Difficulties with construction and other fieldwork during the rainy season;
(c) Non-availability of communities for project preparation during the agricultural season;
(d) Seasonal availability of cash for community payments during the mobilization and
construction phases.
Taking all these time factors into account, a project implementation schedule might look as presented in
the following chart:
Table 3.5 Possible Project Implementation Schedule
Month
A M J J A S O N D J F M
Activity Rainy Season
Agricultural Season
1 Info. and Request
ACG
Review
2 Let Project Prep.
Contracts
Mobilization Δ
Assessment
3 Feasibility
Preliminary Design
Final Design (FMP)
Appraise, and Let Δ
Contracts
4 Construction
Certification

Δ Denotes period when community can best deposit cash
This scenario probably represents the maximum time it may take to carry a project through from initial
contact with a community to completion of the facilities. However, the process of community
participation should not be hurried, as this may lead to a loss of the sense of ownership which this is
designed to achieve, adversely affecting sustainability. Four to six months will be required for project
preparation to give adequate time for hygiene education and the participatory planning process, even
though the latter may be relatively brief, perhaps one month, for dug wells. This means that project
preparation should start at the end of one agricultural season and may often continue until the next one
starts, at which time the community will no longer have the time to invest in this work. Construction
would then have to wait until the next dry season, and would in any case require deposits of cash, most
likely to be available at the end of the agricultural (rainy) season. The initial phase of information
dissemination and community requests, and the packaging of project preparation contracts, may also
take several months, and may therefore not be able to be fitted into the same dry season as the project
preparation work. This would spread the whole cycle into a maximum of two and a half years, although
the great majority of community input would be concentrated in an 18-month cycle of project
preparation and construction.
MONITORING & EVALUATION PROGRAM
[Describe how the region will implement a participatory monitoring and evaluation program
for RWSS: what is to be monitoring, how, by whom and how often.]
Introduction
implementation of their WSS strategy and make adaptations as needed.
Guiding Principles
Program monitoring is an ongoing activity designed to ensure sustainability of water supply and
sanitation systems. Progress against overall program goals and against specific component targets can
be measured, and the degree to which procedures are being followed can be assessed. Evaluations can
measure program impact. Stakeholders can meet to share lessons and jointly devise solutions to
challenges that arise. A key objective of WSS programs is to provide sustainable service delivery. An
M & E system can be developed so that it assesses the extent to which sustainable service delivery is
being put in place and what modifications or additional work is needed to achieve sustainability.
The M & E system can be built based on certain, basic principles. First of all, it should be kept simple.
There are countless stories of M & E systems that collect huge amounts of data that are mostly
unanalyzed and unused. These types of systems can be very costly. Instead, M & E systems should be
constructed on a ‘need to know’ basis. What is the minimum amount of data needed so that the M & E

system can achieve its goals? What data will actually be used? Designers should not start from scratch,
but should see what M & E procedures are already in place and, as much as possible, adapt and revise
what exists. The monitoring and evaluation should be adequately documented.
There should be an emphasis on creating a user-friendly system. Forms and reports should be easy to
understand by those who will be reading them. Data collection tools and any computer programs
should be designed for those who will be collecting, inputting, analyzing and reviewing the associated
data, based on their educational level and degree of computer literacy.
The system should include a participatory mechanism. The goals of this mechanism are to strategically
involve stakeholders in M & E in order to: facilitate the use of their experience on the ground to
discover what aspects of the strategy are working and which are not, jointly devise adaptations where
needed and address problems that occur, and share lessons. Strategically organized stakeholder
workshops can be held at various levels (federal, regional, woreda) at appropriate intervals. The idea is
not to hold large, expensive workshops on a frequent basis, but to invite a limited number of
representatives from various stakeholder groups to meet at strategic points in time. Stakeholder groups
might include: community women and men who belong to water and sanitation committees or boards,
government representatives from different levels, and members of the private sector and NGOs, as well
as related ministries such as health. Stakeholder groups can also undertake participatory self-
assessments, as a way to monitor their own work and improve their performance over time.
The M & E system can be integrated closely with capacity building efforts. Training in various aspects
of M & E can be provided to those who need it. When monitoring is undertaken, it can be used as an
opportunity to build capacity of those involved. For example, if someone from the woreda is
monitoring rural water supply in several communities, he/she can provide ‘just in time’, on-site
‘coaching’ or training to water and sanitation committees or pump caretakers, based on areas of concern
identified during monitoring. Those monitoring town water boards can provide technical assistance in
areas where boards need improvement (for instance, concerning the correct setting of tariffs) or help
link them with people who can provide them with the needed expertise.
The M & E system can be based on the WSS program’s logframe. The logframe provides, as it were, a
‘roadmap’ for M & E. It clearly sets out the overall goal and objectives, along with outputs and
associated indicators and a data collection strategy. The M & E system can be built from this,
incorporating the logframe’s indicators and an approach for operationalizing the data collection system
indicated in the logframe.
Nuts and bolts and people: many M & E systems focus largely on ‘nuts and bolts’, that is, on the
number of systems constructed, costs, etc. Yet people and institutions also are critical to sustainable
service delivery. M & E systems therefore must also investigate institutional and consumer/user issues
as well: functioning of water boards and committees, consumer satisfaction with service, and
participation of both men and women and the poor and non-poor in WSS activities.
Framework

follow the same principles, each will have a slightly different construct and content, as described below.
Data can fall under several categories: physical (systems constructed, coverage rates), financial
(program budget versus expenses, user contributions to capital costs and O & M, user charges/tariffs,
functioning and viability of financial systems), institutional (functioning of water boards and
committees), social/environmental (including issues related to gender, poverty, and consumer
satisfaction as well as meeting environmental standards), capacity building (number and type of
trainings held), and involvement of certain stakeholder groups (private sector, NGOs).
The Ministry of Water Resources will need to track certain indicators at the federal level, such as urban
and rural coverage rates; number and type of systems constructed and water committees and boards
trained; and total budget, disbursements, and amount expensed. The ministry can sponsor WSS
Forums once a year or once every two years. Representatives from all stakeholder groups can be
invited to participate. Status of WSS implementation can be discussed, and lessons and challenges
shared. In addition, a special, salient topic could be chosen for more in-depth review (representing a
current WSS challenge, such as spare parts distribution or techniques for latrine promotion).
Regional bureaus will monitor the same issues at the regional level, and in addition will track the
progress of woreda and urban WSS programs (achievements versus targets, adherence to program rules
and procedures). This information can be used to determine where to target capacity building efforts
and to signal where modifications to the WSS strategy may be needed. Regional bureaus also will have
some responsibilities for more detailed monitoring of urban WSS programs.
M&E for Rural WSS Programs

Woredas and community water and sanitation committees will be key players in M & E for rural WSS
programs, along with other stakeholders. Water and Sanitation committees can hold quarterly meetings,
at which they discuss the status of their water system and sanitation activities (covering all aspects:
technical, financial, institutional, social/environmental). Challenges can be discussed and solutions
proposed (such as rationing water during times of drought). Key points and decisions can be recorded
in their minutes book. Special meetings can be held if an urgent problem arises. At least once or twice
a year they can hold community meetings to discuss the status of activities with women and men of the
community and to obtain their feedback.
Woredas will monitor their woreda water and sanitation programs, monitoring the same issues as the
regional bureaus (coverage rates, budget and expenses, etc.), and also examining status of activities in
communities. On a quarterly basis, staff of the woreda water and sanitation desk, working with staff of
the health desk, can use a ‘score card’ to monitor the progress of their WSS program: number of
community proposals reviewed and approved, status of contracts, status of construction and related
capacity building, institutional and other efforts (water and sanitation committees formed, training
completed, assessment of social and environmental issues). They will want to ascertain that both
women and men and the poor and non-poor are appropriately involved in WSS activities and that
environmental standards are being met.
Once systems are in place, woreda teams can visit communities at least once during the first year, to
assess how water and sanitation activities are functioning (looking at the various issues: technical,
institutional, financial, social and environmental). They can use these occasions to provide technical

assistance or capacity building to water and sanitation committees for issues that need attention. Each
year woredas can visit a sample of communities that have systems more than a year old. Woredas will
use the monitoring process as a way to identify challenges to be addressed and to devise solutions. At
least once a year the woreda can hold stakeholder meetings to share information on the WSS program
and conduct joint brainstorming on problems. A summary of the quarterly information and field visits
can be sent to the regional bureau, so that the bureau can track progress and implementation issues at a
regional level.
Evaluation
Evaluation will cover the same issues as monitoring. Evaluation tools can include monitoring reports
as well as sample surveys and participatory techniques. Impact can also be assessed along with
prospects for long-term sustainability. A mid-term evaluation exercise could take place three years into
implementation and another evaluation after five years have passed. The mid-term review can focus on
an assessment of the implementation strategy and any need for revision of the strategy. Each region
could conduct its own evaluation of its regional WSS program, examining overall regional attainments
and implementation lessons and sampling a number of towns and woreda WSS programs and
communities. The evaluation process can include stakeholder workshops to jointly share lessons and
discuss their implications. Lessons can be shared across regions at a national stakeholder evaluation
workshop.
Audits
Independent audits can take place at regional, town and woreda levels, conducted by independent audit
firms. They can be conducted as management audits: covering technical, financial, institutional, and
social/environmental issues.
Summary - Tools and Indicators

The tools used for monitoring could include the following:
 Community meetings
 water and sanitation committee meetings
 Follow-up on the water charges in practice
 Checks of water and sanitation accounts
 Technical check of systems and follow-up on performance of routine maintenance functions
Specific qualitative factors to be monitored could include the following:

 Satisfaction of community men and women with level of service provided
 Access of the poor to facilities
 Sanitary and technical condition of the facilities
 Water quality
 Adequacy of quantity of water produced and regularity of supply
 Time savings/ waiting time at water points and time pattern of use

 Adequacy of the water and sanitation committee financial system (adequate funds being
collected and maintained in bank account)
 Availability of spare parts
 Availability of area mechanics to assist as needed with repairs
 Transparency of the management, proper use of the cash generated by water sales or household
contributions, accountability of the water and sanitation committee to the community
 Adequacy of the documentation generated for the management of the system.
Specific quantitative indicators to be monitored could include the following:
At the community level:

 Population served (coverage ratio)
 Fee for water
 Amount in bank account
 Number of women and men on water and sanitation committee
 Number of caretakers functioning
 Number of times system has broken down
 Number of days on average before system repaired
 Number of household latrines constructed
At the woreda level:

 Population served (coverage level)
 Number and type of facilities constructed
 Number and type of trainings held, and number of participants (male and female)
 Number of gender-balanced water and sanitation committees established
 Program budget and expenses
[Decision points and tools needed

 Who will conduct program monitoring and evaluation?
 What will be monitored? (Should tie in to logframe)
 How often?
 Estimated resources required, including staff, vehicles, budget
 How will monitoring and evaluation be documented? (standard forms and guidelines)
 Feedback mechanisms]

SANITATION AND HYGIENE PROMOTION PROGRAM

[This section should spell out how the region will integrate sanitation and hygiene with
improvements in water supply in the UWSS program. Processes and roles and
responsibilities should be clarified.]
In addition to a commitment to genuine and active community participation, the other fundamental
aspect of the project approach is the integration of three complementary elements, without any one of
which improvements in health, potentially the most substantial benefit arising from the project, will not
be achieved. These are:
(a) Improved water supply
(b) Improved sanitation
(c) Hygiene education

Hygiene education is intended to lead to improved health-related behavior, and water supply and
sanitation facilities are two of the most important tools required for applying the lessons learned.
Excellent excreta disposal facilities without ready access to water for handwashing are a nonsense, as is
clean water when the household environment itself remains heavily contaminated, or promoting
improved personal hygiene in the absence of readily available water supplies. Additionally, hygiene
education will play an important part in generating demand for improved facilities and commitment to
their long term operation and maintenance. These three elements are therefore promoted within an
integrated and interrelated framework, rather than as separate activities, which has been common in the
past.
In order to achieve effective integration of these three elements it is not enough simply to formulate
three programs and coordinate them under the umbrella of the project agency; the focus for integration
must be at community level, under community management. This has important implications for the
delivery mechanisms to be employed; whilst water supply construction is a "one-shot" activity (or at
most a two to three step incremental process), sanitation and hygiene education are directed at
households and individuals rather than communities, resulting in individual decisions over time to build
a latrine or change hygiene-related behavior. Thus, it will be critical to coordinate outside support for
improvements in water supply with the continuous process of hygiene education and the promotion of
latrines from within the community. This can only be achieved through strong community organization
and decision-making, and close partnerships between communities and POs acting as the primary
channel for all technical assistance.
The effective integration of hygiene education into the project cycle is of paramount importance to
achieving both the potential health benefits of the CWSP and also in helping generate the level of
community participation which will lead to long-term sustainability. There is also a need for liaison
and agreement with other agencies involved in hygiene education, in order to avoid confusion arising
from the dissemination of conflicting messages.
To have maximum impact in association with the other project activities, hygiene education messages
will be introduced on a phased and gradual basis in manageable doses, with specific messages for each
phase in the project cycle. Initially they will focus on establishing the linkages between water,
sanitation and health, to provide motivation for the water supply and sanitation project. Much of this

work will be done in small groups, including some women's groups, where people can discuss health
and hygiene problems and identify sources and transmission routes for fecal contamination in their own
environment. Once the facilities are constructed, a more intensive phase of hygiene education will
focus on water management at the source and in the household, latrine use, and hand washing and
personal hygiene, aimed at obtaining potential health benefits from the new facilities.
The effective integration of hygiene education with community mobilization and support work, to
ensure that the health aspects of water and sanitation are given a high profile throughout the project
cycle, means that all those involved in community animation - Woreda Water and Sanitation Teams,
local service providers, volunteers and the water and sanitation committee members themselves - will
need skill training in hygiene education and play a role in promoting hygiene messages.
TECHNOLOGY
[This section should describe the basis for community choice of RWSS technology.]
It is important that communities are able to choose the technology that will give them the highest
service level that they want, can afford, and can maintain. It is particularly important that a higher level
of service accompany any increase in consumer costs where service level is determined by a number of
factors, including the quantity and quality of the water, the amount of time needed to collect water, and
the reliability of the system.
Groundwater has a number of advantages over surface water for the provision of water supply and is
recommended as the source of supply whenever possible: it is available within the community, is more
reliable throughout the year and in periods of drought, and generally does not require treatment.
Springs and hand dug wells are preferred sources of water because they are relatively inexpensive and
provide a good basic service. More expensive machine drilled boreholes should not be encouraged if
springs or hand dug wells are available. In all cases care must be taken that the source provides a year
round supply of water. Surface water treatment for small piped systems should be based on slow sand
filtration preceded by roughing filters and should make use of hydraulic rather than electro-mechanical
processes. Infiltration galleries can provide even better and more reliable treatment at lower costs and
should be used whenever technically feasible.
Different priced water supply options for both point sources and piped systems and information
materials, easily understood by community groups, showing typical designs and costs (capital and
recurrent) should be available. The technologies described in the Issues Paper on Project Design would
be standard options. They include dug wells with and without handpumps, boreholes with either direct-
action or high-lift handpumps, and small piped systems utilizing either groundwater or surface water
with appropriate pumping and treatment units. Pumping options would include electric submersible
pumps powered by the electric grid, photovoltaic cells or diesel generating units. Lower cost surface-
mounted, gas-powered centrifugal pumps with locally made storage tanks would also be an option.
Generally, hand dug wells would be the least cost option, regardless of the community size. Where
hand dug wells are not feasible due to hydrogeological constraints or a community wants a piped
system, the least cost technology would depend on the population size, well yield, and proximity of the
water wells to the national electric grid. The following chart shows the typical ranking of systems in
terms of capital cost.

Cost of Rural Water Supply

Capital Cost Total Cost (with TA)
($/capita) ($/capita)
HDW or Spring 15 25
HDW + handpump 20 30
BH + handpump 25 35
BH + electric/diesel pump 25-50 35-60
Source: Tropics Engineering Consultants, “Technology Options and Their Impact on Tariffs”
Sanitation technology - The demand for latrines has in the past been a problem because of the high
cost; it is therefore important that a range of different cost designs for improved household and public
sanitation be promoted through the National CWSS Program to allow communities and individuals to
choose the options most appropriate to their particular needs and resources. Technologies would
include the single pit VIP latrine, the sanplat and Mozambique type latrines with and without a vent
pipe, and in some cases the twin pit VIP latrine. Multiple pit VIP latrines (privately operated) would be
used at health centers, markets and other public places. Standard designs and technical specifications
will be prepared for each including drawings, bills of quantities, construction and quality control
procedures, and sample bidding documents and contracts.
HAND DUG WELL AND SPRING PROTECTION PROGRAM

The big advantage of hand dug wells is that they are relatively inexpensive and can take advantage of
community labor. The disadvantage is that they are subject to going going dry in the dry season.
Construction down to the water table is relatively easy, but construction 2-3 meters below the water
table to secure a year round supply of water is difficult. Designs and related construction techniques
and equipment require special training, and ability to deepen the wells after construction is complete.
[It is suggested that a national organization (such as UNICEF or Water Aide) could lead the design
and overall training program in the country. Similarly, an organization, responsible for building the
capacity of hand dug well contractors in each region should be identified.]
BOREHOLES AND CIVIL WORKS

Boreholes in Ethiopia are very expensive, primarily because of a lack of competition. Experience in
other countries in Africa clearly shows that if a reasonably large number of small borehole contracts
(10-25 boreholes each) are awarded through competitive bidding, the capacity to drill goes up and the
price drops. Experienced hydrogeologists/technicians are needed to site and supervise the construction
of boreholes. The need to package boreholes and to site/supervise their construction, suggests that
borehole construction should be contracted and managed at the regional or zonal level. On the other
hand, civil works civil works for small/medium sized piped systems can be awarded through
competitive bidding to local contractors by wordas and supervised by worda personnel or local service
providers.
[Describe the contracting and supervision arrangements for boreholes, springs and small piped
systems.]

[Standard bid documents for boreholes and small works will be prepared. These will include
specifications including testing /acceptance procedures and BOQ.]
EQUIPMENT AND SPARE PARTS

Once guarantee periods are finished, little contractual leverage remains to impose maintenance
requirements upon suppliers and contractors. As a result it is essential that the numbers of different
types of electrical/mechanical equipment be limited in a way that brings price competition but provides
a sufficient market to interest suppliers and distributors. Although spare parts supply belong naturally in
the private sector, abundant experience in Africa shows that the different levels of Government can take
simple measures to help this service develop in its early stages:
 Limit the number of types of equipment (handpumps, submersible pumps, generators) to 3 or 4;
 Avoid Water Bureaus or other public institutions directly managing equipment and spare parts
stocks. Rely rather on regional private retailers.
To maintain their water supply systems communities must have access to spare parts and replacement
components. In the long run the best way to ensure that communities have access to replacement
components and spare parts is to distribute them through private retail outlets. To make such a business
financially viable it is recommended that a strategy be employed where local retailers sell pumps,
appurtenances and spare parts, and install, warranty and service them. Continued direct importation of
pumps and spare parts by government and international agencies does not lead to sustainability and
should be phased out. In the interim it might be best for equipment and spare parts procurement to be
through local distributors who would provide services including distribution, sales from regional
centers, installation and warranty. If communities used their cash contribution to purchase handpumps
from local distributors, perhaps through a voucher system, the local market is established and the
community contribution is used for something tangible after they are sure the borehole/well will
produce water.
For complex systems like solar pumps or water treatment plants, it may be advantageous to develop
maintenance service contracts on a medium term basis (two to five years), that will be passed on a
voluntary basis between the utility and a service provide.
Key Design Principles for Community Water and Sanitation Services: The Do’s
1. Promote a demand responsive approach where communities make informed choices regarding their
participation, service level, and service delivery mechanisms.
2. Promote institutional reform based on clear roles for key stakeholders where communities own their
facilities, the private sector provides goods and services, and government facilitates the process.
3. Ensure appropriate legal framework for ownership and management.
4. Implement CWS projects within context of broader community and local government development.

5. Establish financial policies that underpin demand responsive approach where communities pay part
of the capital cost in proportion to the cost of the facilities, and all operations and maintenance
costs.
6. Support formation of representative, gender-balanced Water User Associations for planning,

implementation, and management of community water supply facilities.
7. Create competitive environment for allowing communities to access range of providers of goods and
services for all aspects of the project cycle.
8. Integrate water, sanitation and hygiene education in CWS projects.
9. Promote user investment in sanitation through public awareness and hygiene education, and
strengthen private sector’s ability to construct facilities.
10. Ensure representative and informed participation of all stakeholders.
11. Include clearly defined capacity building components that enable all stakeholders to play their roles
and build partnerships.
12. Set rules to target poor, unserved communities and vulnerable groups in these communities. Promote
effective participation of community women and men.
13. Support community-based environmental management to improve living conditions and protect water
resources.

3. URBAN WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION
OBJECTIVES OF THE URBAN WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION PROGRAM

[Describe the objectives of the UWSS program]
The objectives of the Regional UWSS Program are to:
 Build the capacity of institutions in the sector to support improvement of sustainable urban
water supply and sanitation in the Region.
 Increase sustainable urban water supply coverage from __% to __% by the year __.
 Increase access to improved sanitation facilities from __% to __% by the year __.
 Ensure sustainability of water supply systems through introduction of autonomous Town
Water Boards and efficient utility operators with appropriate mechanisms for monitoring and
evaluation.
 Maximize health benefits by integrating water, sanitation and hygiene education interventions
including the establishment of hygiene education and latrine construction capabilities within
the community.
These objectives should be incorporated into a logical framework showing the overall objectives,
outputs expected and costed components designed to achieve the outputs and objectives, with
performance indicators and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for each (see Annex 1 for sample
log frame).
DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONAL UWSS PROGRAM
[Provide a description of the current UWSS situation in the region and describe the UWSS
program]
Demographic and coverage information

[Provide summary information on urban water supply and sanitation in the Region – number of towns,
population, growth rates, water supply and sanitation coverage, service level (l/c/d, interruptions in
service, etc.)]

Local governments and their Town Water Boards
[Provide an overview of the institutional arrangements for urban water supply and sanitation,
including Municipalities, towns under woreda administrations, Town Water Boards and the
general provisions governing them (who appoints, composition of Boards, autonomy provisions)]
Partners and their responsibilities
[Provide a brief overview of the partners involved in improving water supply and sanitation
service in the region, including NGOs, contractors, consultants, training institutions.]
Demand Responsive Approach

The Region has prepared its Water Sector Development Program, which sets forth the investment
requirements for urban and rural water supply and sanitation, water resources management, irrigation
and sectoral institutions. This document elaborates the implementation strategy and implementation
arrangements, in particular, how the Region will go about prioritizing investments as funds become
available, who will be responsible for planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and how
funds will flow.
Under the demand-responsive approach, local governments, through their Town Water Board, will be
the primary implementing agencies for urban water supply and sanitation projects. The Regional
Program will not pre-define towns to receive funding for capacity building and investments. Rather the
Town Water Boards will apply to participate in the program and will have to demonstrate that they have
met the criteria established by the Region for participation (see below).
Rules of engagement – The Region will establish criteria (“rules of engagement”) for participating in
the program. These will include putting in place appropriate institutional arrangements, demonstrating
willingness to pay for improved service through community contribution and phasing in full cost
recovery tariffs, improving operational efficiency, customer service, billing and collections and
financial management.
A stepped approach is to be followed so that capacity building and technical assistance is provided in
the early stages to enable utilities to qualify for investment funding in later stages. This approach is
described in more detail below.

[Provide an overview of the institutional arrangements for the UWSS program and describe the
roles and responsibilities of each in more detail.]
The Region’s Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Program will be carried out as a tri-partite
arrangement between the Region and it’s Bureaus, each Municipality and its Town Water Board and
consultants
Ministry of Water
Resources
National and
International
Consultants
Regional Bureaus:
Water, Finance,
Urban
Development
Regional
Consultants &
Contractors
Municipalities &
Town Water
Boards

The following chart summarizes the various parties that will be involved in planning and
implementation of urban water supply and sanitation systems and their respective responsibilities:
Parties Involved Responsibilities

Federal Government:
Ministry of Water Finance & Economic Receive and pass through financing;
Dev. Report to external support agencies
Ministry of Water Resources Monitoring & evaluation; facilitation
Regional Government:
Regional Council Adopt enabling legislation
Approve WSS program
Allocate adequate resources
Regional Bureau of Water, Energy & Mines Develop and manage regional WSS program;
Promote WSS program within the region and to outside
stakeholders
Procurement – prepare short lists of consultants;
Review tariff calculations to ensure that they are in accordance
with established guidelines
Monitoring & evaluation – publish comparative performance
indicators for regional utilities
Regional Bureau of Trade Industry & Urban Promote WSS program to municipalities
Development Sit on regional project appraisal committee
Monitoring & evaluation
Regional Bureau of Finance and Economic Receive and pass through financing; report to MOFED and
Planning external support agencies
Sit on regional project appraisal committee
Others Procurement
Contract management
Works supervision
Municipal Government:
Mayor, City Manager, City Council Appoint Town Water Board members;
Monitor performance of Town Water Board
Provide funding for investments or subsidies, if needed
Municipal Finance Department Receive funds from Region for approved projects; channel funds
to consultants and contractors; accounting and financial reporting
Other municipal departments – Assist Town Water Board with procurement, contract
procurement, contract management, works management, works supervision, monitoring & evaluation
supervision, monitoring & evaluation
Town Water Board Develop proposals; manage contracts for implementation;
Hire operator;
Approve long term plans, annual budgets and tariff changes;
Conduct stakeholder consultation on utility issues;
Monitor performance of operator
Utility Operator Operate and maintain the water supply system in accordance with
contract / performance agreement;
Propose annual budget and tariff changes;

Manage finances and report as required

Other Stakeholders:
Consultants, contractors, NGOs, other Provide services under contract
private sector service providers
Training organizations Provide training under contract
Community organizations Participate in stakeholder consultations
The Regional Government, though its Water Bureau will be primarily responsible for planning,
program administration, promotion and monitoring and evaluation of the Urban Water Supply and
Sanitation Program. The Region will coordinate support to Town Water Boards and will assist them
with procurement and financial management throughout the process. In addition, the Region may
provide co-financing for investment. The Regional Water Bureau will work in coordination with the
Ministry of Water Resources and other regions on special initiatives designed to reduce the investment
cost per capita, improve sustainability of systems and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of
spending on urban water supply and sanitation. These will include:
 Cost effective design
 Electro-mechanical
 Spare parts
The Municipality or Woreda will appoint the Town Water Board and will monitor its performance. The
local government may also provide co-financing for investment or even operating subsidies until the
utility is able to phase in full cost recovery tariffs. The local government will be primarily responsible
for sanitation, and will be the implementing agency for sanitation planning and sanitation projects
supported under the program.
The Town Water Board will be the implementing agency for water supply and sanitation investments
and capacity building for water supply and will be responsible for selecting consultants and contractors,
entering into contracts, making disbursements and managing the contracts. The Water Board members
will be trained to take on these responsibilities and will be receive capacity building for business
planning and ongoing monitoring and evaluation and oversight of the water utility. The Water Board
will approve the annual budget and tariff proposals of the utility and can either hire a utility manager or
contract with a firm to operate the utility.
The Operator will be responsible for day to day operations of the utility and will have financial and
managerial autonomy, including on decisions of hiring and managing staff, contracting for services and
goods, handling customer complaints, collecting customer tariffs and paying bills.
Consultants, contractors, suppliers, NGOs and training organizations will be contracted under the
program to provide services for capacity building and construction of facilities, goods and training. The
program will include measures to build capacity and facilitate involvement of as many service
providers as possible to improve the level of quality and efficiency and to bring down the costs through
competition.
Ministry of Water Resources: Just as delivery of local level activities is supported by the Regional
level, so delivery of regional activities will need support from the national level. Whilst the Regional
Bureaus will organize most of the training activities, they will need materials (training guides,
handbooks, manuals, flip charts, etc.), assistance from more experienced trainers and someone to

facilitate transfer of lessons learned amongst the different regions. It would be the job of the MWR to
coordinate production/refinement of such materials. A related area of activity which should also be
seen in the national context is research and development related to monitoring and evaluation, where
the national unit would collate experience gathered in the field and translate this into improvements in
the strategy. The improvements made would be formalized and promulgated in the form of training
materials/methods and standards and guidelines. (See monitoring and evaluation section).
[Identify support needed from the MWR and other Federal agencies.]
Gender issues are a cross-cutting topic in urban water and sanitation activities. Male and female
consumers may have different levels of demand for improved water and sanitation, different levels of
consumer satisfaction with services, and different preferences with regards to placement and
management of public standposts. To address these differences, community consultation processes for
system planning should facilitate the participation of both women and men as should consumer
feedback mechanisms during system operation. Water boards (and water committees in the case of
public standposts) can include female as well as male members.
[Identify ways in which gender balance will be promoted within the Regional program]
FUND FLOW ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING
Channeling of Funds, Disbursements and Auditing

[Describe region’s fund channeling processes and implications on region and woreda budgets of:
o each step of the project cycle
o different interventions (capacity building, investment)
o different origins of funds`such as community/WRDF/Federal or Regional
budget/Woreda block grants/multilateral/bilateral/NGO).]
To the extent possible funds should flow through normal government channels – from MOFED, to
Regional Finance Bureaus, to Town Water Boards. Accounting and audit procedures follow normal
government practices. Contracts are arranged and paid through normal regional/Water Board
procedures. In addition, there will be periodic post construction audits to confirm that water supply and
sanitation facilities were constructed and proper records maintained.
For urban projects, the implementation agency will in general be the Town Water Board itself.
Disbursement, accounting and auditing procedures will need to be developed by each region when
developing the Region Implementation Manuals for implementation by the utilities. Water Boards will
initialize disbursement procedures, amongst others in certifying completion of works to be paid for.
Principles for channeling of funds, and accountancy and auditing procedures need to be developed in
detail at regional level, taking into consideration, amongst others, the procedures applicable to funding
agencies and agreed upon by all associated parties.
[Identify how the following will be handled at the regional level:
 Channeling processes and procedures in place on current water projects, including the status
of bilateral or NGO funding with respect to fund flows;

 Potential implication of grants made directly to Town Water Boards on the general budget of
the Local Government (“offsets”).]
[Clarify the region’s requirements for community contribution for UWSS.]
The regions will need to develop a policy with respect to the contribution of towns/ utilities to the
establishment of water schemes. The guiding principals should be:
 All beneficiary entities, including urban utilities, are required to pay a contribution as long as
the source of funds is a grant.
 The minimum cash contribution should be 10%.
 The contribution can come from either the local government or the utility customers
 The amount and form of contribution should be determined during project preparation and must
be deposited in an reserve account opened by the Town Water Board before construction of the
system can commence.
 The contribution can be withdrawn from the reserve account only after five years, for instance,
when the first significant renewal expenses are expected.
Options for contribution for urban water supply can be any of the following or a combination:
 Contribution from the local government budget
 Advance subscriptions for private connections
 In-kind contributions, like gathering materials or contributing in labor for construction of
distribution system (relevant especially for smaller towns)
PROGRAM PLANNING AND OVERALL COORDINATION

[Describe here the Region’s action plan and timetable for improving water supply and sanitation
coverage in urban communities.]
The Regional Water Bureau will be primarily responsible for program planning and overall
coordination. Preparation of this document is the first stage in the program planning process. Given
the demand-responsive nature of the program, planning does not involve pre-identification of the towns
and communities that will receive funding under the program to improve their water supply and
sanitation systems. Rather, it involves setting out the overall needs in the Region, coordinating
resources available to meet those needs, agreeing the rules of engagement – the criteria that will have to
be met by a community or town to participate and the procedures to be followed for planning and
implementation.
Before launch of the program, the Region will need to put in place the enabling environment that allows
for smooth implementation of the program by adopting legislation and establishing the institutional
framework required.
The Region will promote the program with local governments, communities and towns, explaining the
demand-responsive (performance based) nature of the program, the rules of engagement and facilitating
application and qualification by those who wish to participate. The Region will also promote the

program to potential financiers and will strive to achieve uniformity in their approach to
implementation across the region (see section on promotion).
Once the program is launched, the Region will play an overall coordination role to ensure that program
principles are being adhered to and objectives can be met. The Regional Water Bureau will directly
contract regional or international consultants to assist with capacity building and special initiatives at
the regional level and will assist Town Water Boards with procurement of consultants, contractors and
suppliers (see section on procurement). The Region will appoint a committee (e.g., Water, Urban
Development, Health, Finance Bureaus) to appraise and prioritize projects in accordance with
established criteria (see section on project cycle). The Regional Finance Bureau will channel funds and
ensure financial management and reporting is carried out properly (see section on funds flow). Finally,
the region will appoint a multi-disciplinary team to coordinate capacity building and participatory
monitoring and evaluation (see sections on capacity building and M&E).
PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACTING

[Describe the procurement process at Town Water Board and Regional levels.]
As a general principle, procurement and contracting should be the responsibility of the beneficiary
institution. For Regional capacity building, the Region would be the procuring and contracting agency.
For capacity building and works at the utility level, the Town Water Board would be responsible for
procurement and contracting, but will receive technical assistance from the Region. For sanitation
planning and preparation of proposals, the municipality or woreda would be responsible for
procurement and contracting. A representative of the Regional Water Bureau should sit on the selection
committee and provide technical assistance with procurement, contracting and contract management.
In addition, the Region should provide standard TOR, bidding documents, contracts, and procurement
procedures and forms (e.g., evaluation form, standard evaluation report).
CAPACITY BUILDING
[Describe the capacity building needs of various stakeholders in the region and the approach to be
taken in building capacity.]
Introduction
Capacity building is essential to ensure that various stakeholders are able to carry out the roles and
responsibilities. It is vital for sustainability. The most effective form of capacity building involves
learning by doing – on-the-job training or participatory methods. Capacity building should be timed
correctly so that the knowledge is given whne needed and can be put into practice immediately. The
different types of capacity building that will carried out for Urban Water Supply and Sanitation:
 On the job capacity building, often linked with monitoring and evaluation
 Formal training (e.g., classroom training, professional certification)
 Orientation for various stakeholders (e.g., Water Boards, utility staff, private sector
consultants and contractors)
 Guidelines, toolkits, operation manuals and other reference materials

Capacity Building needs

Regional Bureau staff will need capacity building to take up their primary roles in facilitation, contract
management and program monitoring and evaluation.
Water Boards will need capacity building for planning and oversight, which could include specific areas
such as consumer relations, business planning, budget and tariff review, management model options,
managing performance of the operator, understanding relevant technical issues.
Water utility staff will need capacity building for operational and financial management as well as
customer care.
Institutional arrangements
Initial capacity building for regional bureau staff, Water Boards and utilities will be provided under
contract with consultants.
The region will play a coordinating and facilitating role for capacity building. The Outreach Training
Unit, which has worked at the federal level to match training needs with resources and to develop
curricula for practical on-the-job training as well as more formalized training, is to be rolled out to the
regional level and can act as a regional coordinating body. The Region Bureau will also organize
roving multi-disciplinary teams to visit urban utilities and Water Boards to conduct informal on-the-job
training and troubleshooting in conjunction with monitoring and evaluation.
Formal training can be provided by the private sector and educational/vocational institutions.
The Federal government will support capacity building for Urban Water Supply and Sanitation and will
play a facilitation and coordination role.
Technical Training
Technical training will be provided to community personnel as follows (requirements may vary
depending on the technologies and on the level of delegation to the private sector):
 Training of tap attendants: they must be able to operate a standtap and realize simple
maintenance operations;
 Training of meter readers;
 Training of community members for routine maintenance where operation is not delegated to
the utility.
In addition, technical training must also be provided to private service providers, as follows:
 Training of local plumbers and masons to perform simple maintenance operation on taps, pipes
and fittings, standtaps, manholes, and to build latrines, small civil works (standtap stabs,
manholes) and private connections;
 Training of electricians and electro-mechanics at local level to perform routine maintenance on
generators and submersible pumps;
 Training of electricians and electro-mechanics at regional level to perform complex
maintenance on generators and submersible pumps, transformers and power lines.

Management Training
Management training will be provided to community / utility personnel as follows systems
(requirements may vary depending on the level of delegation to the private sector and to the
institutional arrangements between the town level and the quarter levels):
 Training of quarter tap committee members (if relevant) to control the operation of the tap
attendant;
 Training of Town Water Board members in the following fields: regulation and oversight,
contract management.
 Training of water utility personnel in the following fields: accountancy, finance, contracting,
conflict resolution and team building.
Trainees’ Certification
Trainees having successfully undergone training sessions, whatever their level, should be given a
certificate that will progressively be required to apply for utility jobs.
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
[This section should set forth the rules of engagement – the criteria towns will have to meet to
participate in the program and the stepped approach to be followed.]
The Region aims to change the provision of urban water supply and sanitation from a supply- to a
demand-driven process, with Town Water Boards taking the lead in planning, constructing and
operating water supply and sanitation facilities that best respond to the needs of the community and
their physical and financial ability to operate and maintain. Institutional structures and capacity of
water utilities in the Region vary.
Criteria For Towns To Receive Funds For Capacity Building And Investment
A Stepped Approach To Urban Water Supply

Urban water supply requires large, lumpy, sometimes multi-year investments (about Birr 1m for a town
with 2,000 people and 10m for a town with 20,000 for basic services to today’s population), that are
beyond the ability of local governments and regions to finance from their annual budgetary transfers.
Current GOE policy calls for full cost recovery for urban water supply. This clearly is the target, but
analysis shows that full cost recovery would only be possible if some grant financing is provided
initially to establish the utilities on a sound financial footing. Otherwise, tariffs will exceed people’s
ability to pay.
The World Bank and other donors can support initial grants to establish a utility (capacity building,
basic repairs and initial investment in facilities). “Lending” would have to be to creditworthy utilities
on commercial terms, but at present, water boards are not creditworthy, and would not be eligible to
borrow on commercial lending terms. However, the number of creditworthy water boards will increase
over time (in part, due to efforts under this proposed Water and Sanitation Project) and would
eventually be eligible for borrowing.

For these reasons, a stepped approach to financing and implementation of urban water projects is
proposed, with 3 main steps as described on Figure 2 hereunder.
In the first step technical assistance would be provided for preparation of an application that would
include information on the community, the existing situation regarding water supply and sanitation,
preliminary identification of investment needed to meet the needs for the coming five to ten years and,
where there is an existing water supply system, preparation of a proposal for immediate repairs that
would improve service to existing customers (up to some ceiling identified by the Region). Before
qualifying to receive additional assistance under step two, basic institutional and financial requirements
would also have to be met. If an autonomous Town Water Board is not already in place with
appropriate enabling legislation and membership, assistance would be provided to help establish the
Board. Also during this step, the community would be required to demonstrate some willingness to pay
for improved water supply. If there is an existing water supply system, the tariffs should be sufficient to
at least cover existing operating and maintenance expenses.
[Decision points and tools needed:

1. What will be the maximum allowed for basic repairs?
2. How will Town Water Boards and utility customers demonstrate their willingness to pay in
order to move to next step?
3. How much will be paid for Technical assistance? (recommend standard lump sum amount)
4. Standard TOR and contract document for technical assistance]
The second step would include technical assistance for preparation of cost effective project design,
sustainability assessment and preparation of a business plan in consultation with stakeholders. Where
there is an existing water supply service, capacity building would be provided to improve operations,
including financial systems, customer billing and collections and technical operations. Some basic
repairs could also be made to improve service to existing customers (e.g., pump repair, provision of
meters or operating and maintenance tools). Technical assistance would also be provided to build
capacity of Town Water Boards for utility planning and oversight. This step would also include
provision of technical assistance to the municipality or woreda for preparation of a plan for improving
sanitation in conjunction with water supply improvements with grant funds to be provided under the
project in the third step.
[Decision points and tools needed:

5. How will Town Water Boards and utility customers demonstrate their willingness to pay in
order to move to next step?
6. How will rates for Technical assistance be determined? (recommend fixed unit rates)
 Can basic repairs be included in consultancy contract (to be sub-contracted)?
 Guidelines for project design, sustainability assessment
 Guidelines for technical assistance to local government to develop proposal for sanitation
 Standard TOR and contract documents for consultants (recommend lump sum/fixed budget
contract)]

To qualify to receive assistance for implementation of the plan in the third step, an existing utility
would need to be operating autonomously with accountability systems in place, the tariffs would need
to be sufficient to cover operating and maintenance expenses plus a provision for renewal and
replacement of existing assets. Where there is no existing system, the community would need to
demonstrate its willingness to pay for improved water service, possibly by making advance payments
for connection fee or contributing cash in some other manner.
In the third step consultants would prepare detailed design and tender documents, assist with
procurement of contractors and supervise construction. While construction is underway, further
technical assistance would be provided to build capacity of Town Water Board members and operators.
Additional consultations with stakeholders would be held to explain the business plan and the schedule
of tariff increases needed for its implementation.
Once the urban water system has been established or rehabilitated with grant financing, it should be
able to renew and replace assets and fund expansion with internally generated funds and by borrowing
on commercial terms. The final step will provide technical assistance for preparation of project
proposals for expansion and system improvements as well as business plans so that the utility can apply
for loans. Some of the larger water utilities in the country – those that have previously received
financing to improve their water supply systems – may need Technical Assistance to improve
governance by the Town Water Board, introduce performance agreements with the utility operator,
improve efficiency of operations, customer billing and collection systems, design interventions for
improved demand management and sanitation, and put in place financial systems necessary to establish
creditworthiness.

Figure 2: A Stepped Approach to the Upgrade of Existing Urban Water Systems
STEP 4
Expansion:
Investment financing to
financially viable utilities
STEP 3 for longer term expansion,
through internally
Rehabilitation or Initial generated cash and lending
Investment: on commercial terms.
Technical Assistance to
urban water utilities to
STEP 2 implement business plans
and rehabilitate and expand
Capacity building and facilities in towns that have
basic repairs: not previously received
grant financing for
Technical Assistance to
rehabilitation and
prepare project proposal
expansion. Financially viable
(project design and utilities ready to
STEP 1 sustainability assessment, borrow on
business plan) and build commercial lending
Technical Assistance capacity, i.e. train board terms.
to establish Town members and operators,
Water Board and implement financial
systems, carry out basic Business plan Main Criteria to Qualify for
Prepare Application:
repairs. implementation, Step 4 (expansion):
Technical Assistance to rehabilitation and
 Rehabilitation and expansion
expansion activities completed and adequate
prepare applications for leading to financial
step 2. service ensured
Prepare project viability
 Billing and revenue
proposal: design,
collection systems in place
sustainability
and efficient
assessment, business
 Revenue covers running
plan; carry out basic
Main Criteria to Qualify for costs, provision for renewal
repairs to improve
Step 3 (project design, & replacement and
service
business plan preparation & expansion
sustainability assessment):  Technical and administrative
Prepare application Main Criteria to Qualify for  Basic repairs done and staff adequately trained;
for design of water Step 2: minimal service ensured performance agreement and
supply & sanitation  Application filed with  Revenue covers current incentive policy in place
system rehab or basic information on O&M costs  Good command of
expansion; conduct existing water supply and  Technical and procurement procedures
sustainability sanitation & needs administrative staff  Accountability and
assessment and trained at basic level transparency
 Creation of autonomous
prepare business plan  Utility operating  Initiatives in long-term
Town Water Board and
appointment of board autonomously with management of water
members accountability in place resources
 Demonstrate willng to pay  Initiatives in excreta mgmt

4.
TOWN LEVEL PROJECT CYCLE

The following sketch (Figure 1) represents the cycle model that will be used for projects and programs
throughout this document.
As discussed hereunder, some of the steps indicated hereunder include an “iterative” process of
feedback to the community/utility that can result in the amendment of the project, or in its cancellation
if the community/utility fails to fulfill the criteria it has to meet to get to the next stage.
Figure 1: The Project/Program Cycle
5. Monitoring & Evaluation

 Social, environmental, technical,
economic, institutional
 Feedback to Regional 1. Project Identification
Implementation Manuals  Promotion
 Application by Town Water
Board
 Screening by reference to menu
of eligible systems and feedback
4. Program Implementation to Town Water Board - Decision
 Detailed engineering to go through the complete
 Contracting for works, supplies, design and sustainability
services & supervision assessment
 Construction & works supervision  Municipal or Woreda / Town
 Training & capacity building Water Board decision
(technical & business)
 Works supervision & completion
reports 2. Project Preparation
 Operation & Maintenance:  Social Assessment
contracting, implementation &  Water Resources &
supervision Environmental Assessment
 Technical Assessment/Design
 Economic/Financial Assessment
3. Project Appraisal
 Institutional Assessment
 Appraisal
 Scheduling  Feedback to applicants
 Funding approval  Proposal
 Agreement on implementation
arrangements for procurement,
contracting, funds flow, M&E

Project Identification
Overview of the Project Identification Process

The following sketch (Figure 3) gives an overview of the project identification process and of the
associated information flows between the Regional Governments and the communities:
Figure 3: Overview of Information Flows During the Identification Process

REGIONAL / LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Information flow
PROMOTION
Menu of Eligible Water Systems
TOWN WATER BOARDS

The objective of the demand-driven approach is that communities can choose with a range of options
APPLICATION
which water system suits them best, in terms of level of service versus establishment and running cost.
In each Region, a “menu” of eligible systems will be defined, NO taking into consideration the
hydrogeological/hydrological conditions, the financial and technical environment in the Region, the
demand for water and the willingness to pay for improved levels of service.
SCREENING
This menu will include the following for urban systems:
 List of technology options that are deemed feasible YES in the region depending on
hydrogeological and other technical factors,
 DECISION
Establishment cost for each of these options for each range of population size,
 Operation & Maintenance cost for each range of population size,
 Amount of the contribution to be paid by the community or utility (depending on the region’s
option in this respect, see and following paragraphs).
The menu of eligible water systems will be prepared at region level as part of the regional
implementation guidelines. Amendments may be needed from time to time, for example to match
specific donors’ requirements and technology progress.

Appendix 2, prepared by Tropics Consulting Engineers, presents a framework that can be adapted at
regional level to develop these menus. It includes estimates, for each technology option, of the
investment and operation & maintenance costs, that can be used for the development of the regional
menus of eligible water systems. The following chart summarizes the typical ranking of systems in
terms of capital cost.
Cost of Town Water Supply Including TA ($/capita)
Population
1000 2000 5,000 10,000 20,000 50,000
HDW + handpump 25 - - - - -
BH + handpump 35 - - - - -
BH + motorized pump 60 35-60 35-60 35-60 35-60 -
River intake - - 95 80 70 60
Impoundment - - 130 100 85 70
Source: Tropics Engineering Consultants, “Technology Options and Their Impact on Tariffs”
Promotion
[In this section clarify responsibilities, messages, targets, methods, players involved in promotion
of the UWSS program]
Objectives
Promotion is the process that generates informed demand for sustainable water supplies. Keeping in
mind that long term sustainability is the objective, promotion must aim at triggering informed
decisions, and to this effect balance the following two aspects:
 How the water supply is going to improve the community’s life, in terms of hygiene, public health,
comfort and gain of time;
 How in the same time the local government has to organize itself to ensure sustainability, which is
going to impose new constraints, especially in financial and organizational terms, that they must be
prepared to face and deal with.
Content and Methods of Promotion Activities
Promotion includes the following messages, which will need to be matched to each individual region,
program and category of target communities:
 Benefits of potable water: health, increased quantities available, time gained for other purposes,
comfort, quality of life, home and personal hygiene, …;
 Obligations generated by modern water supply systems: cost recovery and payment,
maintenance and management constraints;
 Benefits of improved sanitation and water conservation at community and domestic levels, with
specific focus on women;
 Water Supply Programs and Projects, Water Supply Strategies, with emphasis on the
obligations of the communities of users and the funding opportunities (conditions, procedures
and timing for applications, contractual approach between the Region and the Community);
 Menu of eligible water schemes, as described above,

 Roles of the Government at Central, Regional and Woreda levels.

The main channels used for promotion in the community can be the following, depending on the
specificities of each region:
 Information to woreda and municipal officials active in the field, and of all development agents,
 Information to health officials,
 Information and provision of didactic material to school teachers,
 Radio, and to a more limited extent television and press,
 Culturally specific communication means that may exist in some regions (like Afar).
Promotion will also target decision makers at regional, woreda and municipal levels, particularly on the
issues of management, cost recovery and tariff. This could be done through dedicated focus groups or
other methods.
Where communities express interest to the woreda or regional level, they could be targeted for more
specific promotion activities, including a detailed review of above-mentioned benefits, conditions and
constraints, and explanations on the application procedures.
Promotion activities will target women as a specific group, to develop awareness of the potential
benefits and management constraints of drinking water schemes, and to encourage them to take
responsibilities in the future management organizations created at community level.
Existing Urban Water Systems

As mentioned above, existing urban water systems are to be upgraded following the stepped approach
outlined in Figure 2. Promotion will aim at creating the conditions of the town qualifying for step 1 as
per the sketch presented in Figure 2, ie. the creation of a Town Water Board, and the putting in place of
its board, while regions need meanwhile to take the necessary regulatory steps ensuring utility
autonomy.
Promotion can be enhanced through available staff like meter readers and bill collectors, who visit
customers’ houses on a periodic basis. Similarly, tap attendants have a direct interest in increasing
water sales, and can be trained to undertake promotion activities.
Regional Level
Water Supply Promotion activities will be under the responsibility of the Regional Water Bureaus.
However, promotion is a specialized activity that can only be organized by experienced specialists. To
this effect, the establishment of specialized divisions under the Regional Water Bureaus, dealing with
Rural Water Supply and with Urban Water Supply, has been recommended during the regional
consultation workshops. These specialized divisions will implement promotion action plans once the
targets and associated means involved are defined, including promotion activities aimed at specific
targets, like regional and woreda or municipal decision makers, other Regional Bureaus, NGOs, the
press.
Other stakeholders that can assist in the design and implementation of promotion activities include the
Regional Bureaus in charge of Culture & Information, of Health, and of Women’s Affairs. NGOs,
cultural associations, development-oriented community-based organizations.

Woreda/Municipal Levels
While the Regional Level will provide technical support and expertise, the everyday implementation of
the promotion activities will be done at woreda or municipal level, where Water Supply Promotion can
be integrated with other activities like public health awareness (including HIV/AIDS). This will require
at least one “water supply & sanitation promotion correspondent” to be dedicated to this task from
among Zone and/or Woreda officials, and to undertake the associated training of this individual.
Community Level
As mentioned above, individuals working in the communities, like agricultural extension agents,
community health workers and school teachers, will also assist in the implementation at field level of
the promotion activities. This includes workers from both Government and Non Government
Organizations.
Promotion Action Plan

The basis for Promotion Action Plans will be prepared as part of the development of Regional
Implementation Manuals, and will address the following topics:
 Messages to convey to communities and other targets;
 Communication, awareness and information methods;
 Operational responsibilities for promotion activities;
 Physical means, budgets and human resources dedicated to promotion at regional and woreda
levels, including potential players non related to water bureaus (other governmental institutions
and NGOs).
Promotion Action Plans will include relevant tools, forms and procedures.
Town Water Board Application

[In this section describe the application process, players involved and responsibilities.]
Objectives
This is the process whereby, following promotion activities, a Town Water Board applies for funding
for the construction, expansion or rehabilitation of a water system and sanitation interventions.
Procedure
The application should include a short profile of the community, its institutions and the existing
situation regarding water supply and sanitation:
 The community’s name, with the administrative subdivisions it belongs to (woreda, zone
kebele);
 Demographics – population, growth and household income statistics;
 Profile of existing water supply system – extent of coverage and service level (geographic
coverage, l/c/d; hours per day of service); description of facilities and assessment of condition,
customer profile; customer demand; tariffs and connection fees; water produced, water sold,

revenues billed, collection ratio; operating costs; operating efficiency; description of

management and financial systems in place;
 If no system exists, description of current practices for obtaining water and associated costs;
 Institutional arrangements in place – Town Water Board (provide names and particulars of
members); operator (provide information on relationship with Board, existing staff and
qualifications, staffing requirements);
 Identification of potential sources of water and type of system the community is applying for
(new/expansion/rehabilitation);
 Preliminary assessment of investment needs with cost estimate;
 Simple beneficiary assessment;
 Simply affordability assessment;
Application will be done by the Town Water Board to the Region.

Details relevant to the application procedure and forms will be finalized when the Regional
Implementation Manuals are prepared. Appendix 3 provides model application forms for urban
projects.
Screening And Feedback

[In this section clarify the process, players involved and responsibilities for screening and
feedback.]
Objectives, Overview and Project Categorization

Screening is the process whereby it is checked whether eligibility criteria are met by the applicant, ie.:
 Whether the selected water scheme is part of the menu of eligible water systems,
 For existing urban water systems, whether the utility and its board are in place.
A positive outcome of the screening process does not imply a final commitment to provide immediate
funding to the proposed project. It means that the project is eligible a priori and that the appraisal
process will proceed.
Figure 4 hereunder gives an overview of the screening process. It is based upon a categorization of
projects in three categories, depending on their complexity:
 Category C includes the simplest rural projects;
 Category B includes both complex rural projects (involving higher running costs and more
sophisticated technology options), and urban projects corresponding to step 1 as defined in
Figure 2;
 Category A includes other urban projects.

Figure 4: Overview of the Screening Process
PROMOTION
COMMUNITY / UTILITY APPLICATION
SCREENING SCREENING SCREENING

CATEGORY A: CATEGORY B: CATEGORY C:
ALL URBAN  COMPLEX RURAL SIMPLE
PROJECTS PROJECTS RURAL
BEYOND PROJECTS
 URBAN UPGRADES
UPGRADE STEP 1 STEP 1
SUSTAINABILITY APPRAISAL APPRAISAL

ASSESSMENT
APPRAISAL

Description
Provided they undergo the more detailed screening procedure defined in Appendix 3 for Category B
projects, more complex rural projects and step 1 urban upgrades will not need to go through the
sustainability assessment either.
Appendix 3 provides screening forms for urban water supply projects (Category A), that will need to be
finalized in the Regional Implementation Manuals, consistent with the application and screening
procedures.

Screening will be done at regional level for all urban water supply and sanitation projects.
It is advisable for regions to set up a screening committee that will collectively make screening-related
decisions. Water bureau personnel must be involved as technical advisors in field verifications for
example.
Feedback to Community and Right of Appeal

Whichever decision results from the screening process, it will be conveyed to the applicant Town Water
Board, both in writing (return of one copy of the completed application/screening form), and verbally
through a community meeting. The feedback to the applicant Town Water Board will include:
 The decision itself and the reason why this decision is taken with reference to the menu of
eligible systems,
 The possibilities of appeal in case the decision is negative, or the need for the Board to present
another, different application, including for instance a different type of water supply system.
Feedback to the community should take place as quickly as possible and within less than two months
from application.
In case the screening decision is negative and/or the Town Water Board representatives disagree with
this decision, a right of appeal is warranted to communities. The details of the procedure will need to
be organized by each Region, and disclosed when screening decisions are released.
Project Design and Sustainability Assessment
[In this section clarify the process, players and responsibilities involved and the content of
the sustainability assessment for UWSS projects. Identify tools needed.]
Overview Of The Assessment Process

The following sketch (Figure 5) gives an overview of the project Sustainability Assessment process:

Figure 5: Overview of the Project Design and Sustainability Assessment Process
UTILITY APPLICATION
Screening
Feedback
Utility Decision
PROJECT PROPOSED BY UTILITY
PROJECT DESIGN AND
Institutional Assessment
Environmental & Water
SUSTAINABILITY
Resources Assessment
ASSESSMENT
Economic/Financial
Assessment/Design
Social Assessment
Assessment
Technical
PROPOSED SUSTAINABLE PROJECT
DISCUSSION WITH COMMUNITY
FINAL PROJECT PROPOSED FOR APPRAISAL

Scope of Project Design and Sustainability Assessment

The Project Design and Sustainability Assessment will primarily target urban water supply and
sanitation (Category A) projects, where a detailed assessment of technology and management options
are critical for long-term sustainability.
Provided they undergo the more detailed screening procedure defined in Appendix 3 for Category B
projects, more complex rural projects and step 1 urban upgrades will not need to go through the full
sustainability assessment either.
Each Region will define the exact scope of the project design and sustainability assessment, by
reference to the categories of communities and water schemes, as part of the Regional Implementation
Manuals. The Menu of Eligible Systems, as defined above, can be used as a framework to define which
communities and which water schemes will have to go through a full sustainability assessment.
Implementation of the Design and Assessment Process
Principles
In general, the Project Design and Sustainability Assessment will be carried out by specialized
consultants selected and contracted by the Town Water Board, with assistance from the Regional Water
Bureau. To ensure consistency and a comprehensive view, one single consultant team should deal with
all aspects of the Design and Sustainability Assessment for a given town, ie. technical, environmental,
social and economical and financial, except for test drilling, which will be carried out by a consultant
hired by the Region under a batch contract (see below).
Content of the Design and Assessment

The following aspects need to be investigated:
 Social Assessment: assessment of the social cohesiveness, political power, representation of
women, awareness of water quality issues, description of the settlement organization, housing
organization and mapping of inhabited areas, practical implications for management of water
supply,
 Water Resources and Environmental Assessment: hydrogeology, current water supply, areas
with greater potential, hydrological context (water courses, quantitative assessment, water
quality, potential risks upstream and downstream on the water shed),
 Potential environmental impact of the proposed water catchment (summary water balance for
both ground and surface water based on the proposed abstraction),
 Hydrogeological reconnaissance to be planned (hydrogeology, geophysics, supervision of test
drilling),
 Technical performance of existing systems if any and assessment of components to rehabilitate,
 Technical Assessment: needs for water, technologies for water catchment and pumping,
technologies for excreta disposal, sanitation issues, technical environment, potential
construction difficulties, technical proposal of water catchment (location, abstraction,
technologies), treatment requirements if surface water, analysis of acceptable technologies with
main focus on operation & maintenance constraints,
 Design of proposed system

 Economic and Financial Assessment: present livelihoods and incomes, family expenses
associated with water, willingness to pay for improved water services, based on a household
survey (10% minimum sample), access of the poorest to improved water services, banking
environment, acceptable cost levels, establishment cost, water cost and comparison with
community capacities, cost recovery issues,
 Existing financial management experience in the town, assessment of the capacity of existing
town institutions, in both technical and economic/finance/budget terms, assessment of the
capacity in terms of bidding/contracting procedures, needs for training and building of
technical/managerial capacities within the town. Economic and financial performance of
existing systems if any,
 Existing management experience of town infrastructure, description of the management system
of existing schemes, assessment of the adequacy of the existing staff and operation techniques,
potential for private sector involvement,
 Institutional Assessment: existing development institutions in the community, management
experience, technical experience in operation & maintenance, financial management
experience, capacity of women, needs for training and capacity building, practical propositions
for community organization (water committee, management of funds, bank or other account,…)
A detailed project proposal is required as the final deliverable for the project design and sustainability
assessment exercise, together with all field information collected. The project proposal must be
sufficiently detailed to allow a proper cost estimate.
The level of effort required is highly dependent on the size of the town and the complexity of the
project (for example if there are existing installations to assess in view of their rehabilitation). These
investigations should therefore be priced on a case-by-case basis by short-listed consultants. The
consultant’s team should include the following specialists, one of whom should serve as the team
leader:
 One socio-economist dealing with social, economic, financial and institutional aspects and
providing overall coordination of the final project description,
 One hydrogeologist/hydrologist/environmentalist who will take care of the water resources and
environmental assessment,
 One water works engineer who will assess the technical aspects and prepare the technical
components of the detailed project description.
Generic Terms of Reference for the Project Design and Sustainability Assessment of urban water supply
and sanitation projects are presented in more detail in Appendix 4.
Ascertaining the Water Resources

During this stage water resources will have to be ascertained where there may be doubts on their
availability, particularly where the choice option is groundwater. Geophysics reconnaissance, test
drilling and pumping tests may be required for urban programs. While the contract for overall Project
Design and Sustainability Assessment will be managed by the Town Water Board, it will generally be
more cost effective to procure drilling contractors on a batch basis at the Regional level or for a cluster
of woredas. Drilling contractors will be hired on a retainer basis for drilling of both test and

production boreholes. Drilling contractors will bid to work under the Regional program based on unit
rates for test and production boreholes of various sizes. It is recommended that two or three different
drillers be contracted so that work can be done in various places in parallel and to encourage lower
prices and better performance through competition. Once selected the drillers will be given a retainer
contract for up to a specified maximum number of test and production boreholes, the exact number of
boreholes and locations to be specified in contract addenda as needed during the Project Design and
Sustainability Assessment phase. The Town Water Board’s consultants will be responsible for
geophysical reconnaissance and supervision of test borehole drilling.
Review and Endorsement by Utility

The consultant’s draft report will be formally submitted to the Town Water Board for review,
comments, and amendments. The utility may seek the regional water bureau’s technical assistance in
the review.
Feedback of the Design and Assessment to the Town and Final Project for Appraisal
As mentioned above, in the case of urban projects, a first step of feedback is taking place when the
consultant’s draft report is reviewed in the presence of town and utility representatives. Following this
review meeting, the project will be refined and a final version will be presented during an additional
meeting, with final amendments being incorporated as needed into a final project proposed for
appraisal.
Project Appraisal
[In this section clarify the process, players involved and responsibilities for project appraisal]
The Regional Bureau will be responsible for appraising proposed projects submitted by Town Water
Boards. The Region will appoint an appraisal committee, which should include representatives from at
the Bureaus of Water, Health, Regional Development.
The Appraisal committee should ensure that proposals are in accordance with guidelines and principles
Program Implementation
[In this section clarify implementation responsibilities.]
Overview of Implementation Arrangements and Responsibilities

The implementation agency for urban water supply projects is the Town Water Board, but the Board
will need assistance from the Regional Water Bureau with selection of consultants and contractors,
contracting and contract management. The following table summarizes responsibilities of the parties
The key steps in project implementation and responsibilities are summarized in the following table and
described in more detail below:
Activity Responsible party

Procurement Town Water Board with assistance of Regional

Water Bureau
Detailed design and preparation of tender Consultants
documents
Construction Contractor
Construction supervision Consultants
Capacity building Consultants
Monitoring and evaluation of contracts Town Water Board with assistance of Regional
Water Bureau
Operation and maintenance of utility Water Service Unit under performance
agreement or private sector operator under
contract
Monitoring and evaluation of water utility Town Water Board; local government with
performance reporting to Region
Procurement
Once a project has been approved for funding, the first step in the Implementation Stage is selection of
consultants to carry out detailed design and preparation of bidding documents, provide support to
tendering for works and supervise construction. The Town Water Board will be the implementing
agency, but will receive assistance from the Regional Water Bureau. The Region will provide standard
TOR and contracts as well as guidelines for procurement. A representative of the Regional Water
Bureau will sit on the selection committee and provide technical assistance with procurement and
contraction as required. The Region may also advertise for proposals from consultants for multiple
towns. The Region will keep on file records of performance of consultants and contractors for
reference.
Detailed Design, Preparation of Bidding Documents, Assistance with Tendering, Construction

Supervision
A single consulting firm will be hired to prepare detailed design and tender documents, assist with
tendering for the contractor and supervise construction. In preparing detailed designs, topographic
surveys may be required for piped systems, together with the resulting detailed estimates of piping, civil
works, pumps, water catchment and treatment systems.
Standard technical and administrative clauses will be prepared as part of the Regional Implementation
Manuals development, using available documents, but they will need in most cases to be matched to the
specificities of the town by the consultant preparing the bidding documents. Testing and
commissioning procedures will also be prepared as part of the Regional Implementation Manuals for
piped networks (hydrotesting, civil works, commissioning of treatment plants, water quality control).
The engineering consultants will assist with the tendering process and supervise works. The Regional
Water Bureau should closely monitor all consultancies and works.
Contracting for works

Based on the contracting procedures set forward in the Program Document, and in the bidding
documents, contracting for works will be undertaken by the Town Water Board with assistance from
consultants and the Regional Water Bureau. Generally, works for urban water systems should be
tendered as a turn-key operation , including all civil works as well as supply and installation of pipes,
fittings and electro-mechanical equipment.
Supervision
Supervision will be carried out by consultants hired at utility level for urban projects. Supervision will
include the following tasks:
 Everyday on-site technical supervision of construction;
 Advise to contractors on construction methods and works organization;
 Reporting to implementing agencies on any particular issue arising from construction;
 Production of progress reports (see Appendix 6 for a model outline of these progress reports);
 Preparing and certifying disbursement requests;
 Quality control, testing and commissioning, following procedures detailed hereunder.
Operation & Maintenance: contracting, implementation & supervision
Principles
An Issues Paper presented in November 2002 by Metaferia Consulting Engineers of Addis Ababa( 2)
presents in detail the current situation of water supplies management and the models that could be put
in practice in Ethiopia for urban and rural schemes, together with many practical recommendations and
proposed legal improvements. Urban systems usually require more sophisticated management
arrangements, including involvement to various degrees of private operators.
Urban systems will fall under the overall responsibility of a Town Water Board, with the following
options for private sector involvement:
 Direct management with private sector intervention limited to specialized maintenance operations,
contracted out on a case-by-case basis,
 Same with privatized water distribution to the public: the public tap attendants are metered and pay
their water bills, they sell water as a small business operation,
 Delegation of maintenance under service provision contracts of more or less broad scope,
 Full delegation of operation and maintenance: all billing, revenue collection, daily operation and
periodic maintenance are performed by a private operator.
Economies of scale can lead to group systems one to another, so that larger lots be formed for private
management to be more efficient and cheaper.
Community Decision
Towns will be assisted in making a decision on the management model that suits them best. This
assistance will be provided by consultants and the Regional Water Bureaus, in the form of specific
2
() Metaferia Consulting Engineers, Issue Paper on Management Models, and Contractual Legal
Arrangements of Water Supply Utilities, October 2002.

training sessions grouping neighboring towns that experience similar management issues. In terms of
timing, this assistance to town decision-making must take place early in the process, and the training on
this matter should start at the latest during construction if not before. The objective is to have the town
make an informed decision before the system starts operation, in order to launch the contracting
procedures early enough for the management services to be in place well before the guarantee period
comes to an end.
Contracting
Short lists of qualified operators will be prepared at regional level by the Regional Water Bureau for the
different types of services potentially offered to towns (maintenance, partial delegation, complete
delegation).
Draft model contracts will be prepared at regional level, then matched to the specificities of the system
on a case-by-case basis.
Implementation and Supervision

Once the management contract is in place, the regional level will provide technical assistance to the
towns in supervising that the private operators meet their commitments.
Contract Monitoring and Evaluation

Contract monitoring and evaluation is usually carried by the Bureau’s Contract Management staff. Its
purpose is to ensure consultants, contractors and suppliers deliver in accordance with their contracts.
Contract monitoring would usually include:
 Systematic review of periodic progress reports and identification of deviations in schedules,
methods or budgets
 Site visits during construction, testing for commissioning , training sessions
 Periodic quality control on works being constructed and completed
Decision points and tools needed

 Who will monitor contracts?
 What will be monitored?
 How often?
 How will monitoring and evaluation be documented? (Forms and guidelines)
SANITATION AND HYGIENE

[This section should spell out how the region will integrate sanitation and hygiene with
improvements in water supply in the UWSS program. Processes and roles and
responsibilities should be clarified.]

Objectives of Initiative
The main objective of the sanitation and hygiene initiative is to contribute to alleviating poverty and
improving health and well-being of Ethiopians by (i) improving sanitation coverage and hygiene
awareness to the majority of people without access to improved sanitation and hygiene services and (ii)
enabling capacity building of front-line actors, particularly Woredas and municipalities, in decentralized
planning and management as a means to sustaining sanitation and hygiene interventions.
Guiding Principles
The following proposed principles would guide delivery of the sanitation and hygiene intervention
component;
 the definition of the program of intervention will follow the main divisions of rural and urban
WSS.
 the Ministry of Health ( through its Environmental Health Department) would be the lead
partner. MoH shall be actively engaged in the planning for these components, as well guide the
delivery of the capacity building sub-component (this would be in line with efforts under other
programs such as the Health Extension Package of MoH);
 close collaboration and coordination of programs and interventions with other development
partners (e.g. UNICEF which remains the main supporting organization of sanitation programs)
and relevant GOE ministries, departments and agencies, especially MWR .
Description and Scope of Initiative
Capacity Building Component

An important outcome of the issues and options study on sanitation and hygiene during program
preparation is the proposal for the creation of sanitation and hygiene forums (SHFs) at national,,
regional and Woreda levels. The Government of Ethiopia shall initiate Strengthening Sector Capacity
for Networking and Knowledge Sharing and take forward the idea of creating a “forum” of stakeholders
as proposed by the Adama Declaration. A working group comprising main WSS sector actors
(including MoH, UNICEF, WaterAid , CRDA, MoWR, MoE, Irish Aid, Finnida etc) shall be
established to define the modalities of the forums .
For urban areas (i) consolidation of best practices such as the Tigray experience and its
dissemination/replication for municipalities (and eligible small towns) and (ii) other specific areas to be
defined through further consultations .
Generic National Sanitation Guidelines are to be developed at the national level that shall lay the
principles and strategies for sanitation development.
Sanitation Marketing and Development

Based on main issues and action plans drawn from regions and captured in Issues Paper #4 this
component will focus on the following for urban areas :
 supporting municipalities to facilitate sanitation and hygiene promotion,
 supporting municipalities (and small towns) to undertake environmental sanitation assessments
and audits to aid them in developing strategic sanitation plans for excreta, sullage, solid waste,
drainage etc., and

 providing financial support for high priority initiatives consistent with municipality-level
development plans.
Hygiene Education and Promotion

The advocacy and demand-creation efforts of the GoE is receiving support from a number of programs.
The Bank-Netherlands Water and Sanitation Program is providing funding for the formulation of a
“State of the Art Hygiene and Sanitation Promotion” in support of large-scale RWSS projects in
selected countries including Ethiopia. It is expected that the initiative will provide international
experiences in refining existing strategies for Hygiene and Sanitation Promotion in rural communities
and towns.
As part of the IDA WSSP, the activities in hygiene will therefore focus on learning and adapting the
ingredients of success for advocacy and promotion for HSP that shall be developed with BNWP
support. The main activities will include supporting the production of an integrated Information,
Education and Communication (IEC) strategy and guidelines for hygiene behavioral change in support
of local initiatives (appropriate for rural and/or urban as the case may be).
Institutional Arrangements
Institutional collaboration and coordination has been highlighted as very important and a number of
proposals have been made for achieving not only improved advocacy but also for sustaining SHE
interventions including financing .
Some of the proposals from interactions with regions (Issues Paper 4 – Hygiene and Sanitation)
include:
 the creation of National Sanitation and Hygiene Forum (N-SHFs), Regional Sanitation and
Hygiene Forums (R-SHFs) and at Woreda level (W-SHF)
 for small towns sanitation and hygiene promotion interventions would be covered as part of
their respective Woreda-level programs (perhaps the above two can be combined as they
would be the responsibility of WHOfs )
 for urban local governments interventions would be led by the respective municipalities
 Woredas/municipalities would obtain professional and advisory/support services from
Regional Health Bureaus, and other service providers including NGOs and private sector
partners (this tripartite partnership/collaboration exist at regional ,Woreda and community
levels)
 there is need for building capacity at regional level (for Health and Water Bureau staff) in
support of Woreda projects and programs, however, regional bureaus shall receive capacity-
building support directly from Regional Bureau of Finance and Economic Development as
part of traditional GoE’s recurrent budget to Regional Bureaus.

Institutional Linkages and Funds Flow

Federal Level
Ministry of Finance
Block grants
Other sources
WSSP funds
REGIONAL GOVERNMENT
 Regional Bureau of Finance
& Economic Development
 Regional Health Bureau
 Regional Water Bureau
Regional SHF Fund
Services Private Sector Partners

Funds,
 NGOs, private operators
Advisory
Services  Consultants
Services
Woreda Administration
Woreda Fund
Integrated Water, Sanitation, Health
and Hygiene Programs
Services
Private Sector Partners
Funds,
 NGOs, private operators
Planning
Support  Consultants
Services
Communities
Integrated Water, Sanitation, Health

and Hygiene Promotion projects

PROGRAM MONITORING & EVALUATION

[This section should clarify how the region will implement participatory monitoring and
evaluation for the UWSS program and should define what is to be monitored, how it will be
monitored, how often and who will be responsible for monitoring and evaluation.]
Introduction
implementation of their WSS strategy and make adaptations as needed.
Program monitoring is an ongoing activity designed to ensure sustainability of water supply and
sanitation systems. Progress against overall program goals and against specific component targets can
be measured, and the degree to which procedures are being followed can be assessed. Evaluations can
measure program impact. Stakeholders can meet to share lessons and jointly devise solutions to
challenges that arise. A key objective of WSS programs is to provide sustainable service delivery. An
M & E system can be developed so that it assesses the extent to which sustainable service delivery is
being put in place and what modifications or additional work is needed to achieve sustainability.
The M & E system can be built based on certain, basic principles. First of all, it should be kept simple.
There are countless stories of M & E systems that collect huge amounts of data that are mostly
unanalyzed and unused. These types of systems can be very costly. Instead, M & E systems should be
constructed on a ‘need to know’ basis. What is the minimum amount of data needed so that the M & E
system can achieve its goals? What data will actually be used? Designers should not start from scratch,
but should see what M & E procedures are already in place and, as much as possible, adapt and revise
what exists. Monitoring activities must be adequately documented, amongst others in order to be used
for external evaluation. Forms and formats for tables should be developed in this purpose.
There should be an emphasis on creating a user-friendly system. Forms and reports should be easy to
understand by those who will be reading them. Data collection tools and any computer programs
should be designed for those who will be collecting, inputting, analyzing and reviewing the associated
data, based on their educational level and degree of computer literacy.
The system should include a participatory mechanism. The goals of this mechanism are to strategically
involve stakeholders in M & E in order to: facilitate the use of their experience on the ground to
discover what aspects of the strategy are working and which are not, jointly devise adaptations where
needed and address problems that occur, and share lessons. Strategically organized stakeholder
workshops can be held at various levels (federal, regional, woreda) at appropriate intervals. The idea is
not to hold large, expensive workshops on a frequent basis, but to invite a limited number of
representatives from various stakeholder groups to meet at strategic points in time. Stakeholder groups
might include: community women and men who belong to water and sanitation committees or boards,
government representatives from different levels, and members of the private sector and NGOs, as well
as related ministries such as health. Stakeholder groups can also undertake participatory self-
assessments, as a way to monitor their own work and improve their performance over time.
The M & E system can be integrated closely with capacity building efforts. Training in various aspects
of M & E can be provided to those who need it. When monitoring is undertaken, it can be used as an
opportunity to build capacity of those involved. For example, if someone from the woreda is

monitoring rural water supply in several communities, he/she can provide ‘just in time’, on-site
‘coaching’ or training to water and sanitation committees or pump caretakers, based on areas of concern
identified during monitoring. Those monitoring town water boards can provide technical assistance in
areas where boards need improvement (for instance, concerning the correct setting of tariffs) or help
link them with people who can provide them with the needed expertise.
The M & E system can be based on the WSS program’s logframe. The logframe provides, as it were, a
‘roadmap’ for M & E. It clearly sets out the overall goal and objectives, along with outputs and
associated indicators and a data collection strategy. The M & E system can be built from this,
incorporating the logframe’s indicators and an approach for operationalizing the data collection system
indicated in the logframe.
Nuts and bolts and people: many M & E systems focus largely on ‘nuts and bolts’, that is, on the
number of systems constructed, costs, etc. Yet people and institutions also are critical to sustainable
service delivery. M & E systems therefore must also investigate institutional and consumer/user issues
as well: functioning of water boards and committees, consumer satisfaction with service, and
participation of both men and women and the poor and non-poor in WSS activities.
Framework
follow the same principles, each will have a slightly different construct and content, as described below.
Data can fall under several categories: physical (systems constructed, coverage rates), financial
(program budget versus expenses, user contributions to capital costs and O & M, user charges/tariffs,
functioning and viability of financial systems), institutional (functioning of water boards and
committees), social/environmental (including issues related to gender, poverty, and consumer
satisfaction as well as meeting environmental standards), capacity building (number and type of
trainings held), and involvement of certain stakeholder groups (private sector, NGOs).
The Ministry of Water Resources will need to track certain indicators at the federal level, such as urban
and rural coverage rates; number and type of systems constructed and water committees and boards
trained; and total budget, disbursements, and amount expensed. The ministry can sponsor WSS
Forums once a year or once every two years. Representatives from all stakeholder groups can be
invited to participate. Status of WSS implementation can be discussed, and lessons and challenges
shared. In addition, a special, salient topic could be chosen for more in-depth review (representing a
current WSS challenge, such as spare parts distribution or techniques for latrine promotion).
Regional bureaus will monitor the same issues at the regional level, and in addition will track the
progress of woreda and urban WSS programs (achievements versus targets, adherence to program rules
and procedures). This information can be used to determine where to target capacity building efforts
and to signal where modifications to the WSS strategy may be needed. Regional bureaus also will have
some responsibilities for more detailed monitoring of urban WSS programs.

Programming Monitoring & Evaluation for Urban WSS Programs

Regional bureaus, municipalities, and water boards all have a role to play in M & E for urban WSS
programs. Town water boards will need to monitor the implementation of works and then the
functioning of their water systems. These can be analyzed under the categories listed above: physical,
institutional, financial, social/environmental, and capacity building. Water boards will want to monitor
the performance of system operators. They will want to assess whether operations and maintenance is
taking place, financial systems are functioning adequately (tariffs are set at appropriate levels, fees are
being collected), there is an appropriate exchange of information and discussion with consumers,
environmental issues are being addressed, etc. The boards will monitor the achievements of the targets
in their business plans and assess whether there is a need for any revisions to the plans. The water
board (or the operator) can, on a quarterly basis, use a simple ‘scorecard’ reporting format to gather data
under the categories listed above. The water board can use this ‘scorecard’ to assess whether everything
is functioning properly (the physical system, financial system, etc.) or whether adjustments need to be
made. The monitoring thus becomes a management tool for the water boards. A summary of the data
can be sent to the municipality and the regional water bureau. The water board can schedule meetings
with the community, perhaps on a yearly basis, to provide transparency on the operations of the system
and elicit feedback from consumers. Special community meetings may be held as needed, to discuss,
for example, proposed tariff increases.
The regional water bureaus will be intensely involved in monitoring of urban water supply systems
during construction/rehabilitation, as the regional bureaus will be managing the construction contracts.
On a quarterly basis, they can use a ‘score card’ to monitor the progress of construction and related
capacity building, institutional and other efforts (water boards formed, training completed). Once
construction/rehabilitation is complete, the bureaus can review the quarterly summary reports coming
from the water boards. Roving, multi disciplinary teams of regional bureau staff can also visit
completed systems (perhaps twice a year in the first year, once a year thereafter) to discuss performance
with the water boards and operators. Regional bureau staff will be accompanied by staff from the
Health bureau, to assess sanitation activities. These visits can be used as an occasion for capacity
building, working with the water boards to address challenges that arise, ascertaining where particular
technical assistance may be needed. Once again, the M & E process will serve as a management tool,
helping the regional bureaus to assess if there are implementation issues that need to be addressed. The
regional bureaus can organize urban WSS stakeholder meetings (perhaps once a year), so that
representatives from all stakeholder groups can discuss share lessons, discuss implementation issues,
and propose solutions to problems. A summary of the quarterly information from all towns in the
region can be sent to the Ministry of Water Resources, so that the ministry can track progress and
implementation issues at a federal level.
Evaluation
Evaluation will cover the same issues as monitoring. Evaluation tools can include monitoring reports
as well as sample surveys and participatory techniques. Impact can also be assessed along with
prospects for long-term sustainability. A mid-term evaluation exercise could take place three years into
implementation and another evaluation after five years have passed. The mid-term review can focus on
an assessment of the implementation strategy and any need for revision of the strategy. Each region
could conduct its own evaluation of its regional WSS program, examining overall regional attainments
and implementation lessons and sampling a number of towns and woreda WSS programs and

communities. The evaluation process can include stakeholder workshops to jointly share lessons and
discuss their implications. Lessons can be shared across regions at a national stakeholder evaluation
workshop.
Audits
Independent audits can take place at regional, town and woreda levels, conducted by independent audit
firms. They can be conducted as management audits: covering technical, financial, institutional, and
social/environmental issues.
Summary - Tools and Indicators

The tools used for monitoring could include the following:
 Community meetings, water committee and water board meetings,
 Follow-up on the water tariffs in practice,
 Checks of water utility accounts,
 Rapid surveys of users’ satisfaction.
Specific qualitative factors to be monitored could include the following:
 Customer satisfaction with level of service provided
 Sanitary and technical condition of the installations, including catchment, treatment, storage,
distribution,
 Water quality (suspended solids, bacteriological parameters, residual chlorine if relevant) at
production, at distribution, and after storage at home,
 Actual use of the system and adequacy of its sizing (ratios distribution/production,
production/capacity and distribution/capacity),
 Connection regulations and effectiveness in terms of evolution of the number of private
connections,
 Disconnection regulations and enforcement,
 Regulations related to the access to the water points, waiting time at water points and time
pattern of use,
 Adequacy of the accountancy system and correct reconciliation between the records and the
available balance,
 Effectiveness of the cost recovery system in place, adequacy of the tariff in terms of
affordability and of revenue generated to cover the cost in the short, mid- and long terms,
 Performance of the utility service providers and compliance of their services with contractual
clauses,
 Transparency of the management, proper use of the cash generated by water sales or household
contributions, accountability of the water board to the town and region authorities and to the
general public,
 Adequacy of the documentation generated for the management of the system.
Specific quantitative indicators to be monitored could include the following:
 Population served (coverage ratio)

 Quantity of water produced and sold

 Unaccounted for water
 Number of connections
 Collection ratio
 Average tariff
 Cost per m3 of water produced
 Staff per 1000 connections
 Financial ratios
 Average time taken to resolve complaints
[Decision points and tools needed

 Who will conduct program monitoring and evaluation?
 What will be monitored? (Should tie in to logframe)
 How often?
 Estimated resources required, including staff, vehicles, budget
 How will monitoring and evaluation be documented? (standard forms and guidelines)
 Feedback mechanisms.

Annex 1: Sample Logframe
Narrative Summary Performance Indicators Monitoring & Evaluation Assumptions/Risks
GOAL: (from Goal to Bank mission)
CAS OBJECTIVES
Improve human capital and    Social, economic and

provide direct and political stability
immediate benefits to the
poor as foundation for
sustained long-term
development

Development Objective (from Objective to Purpose)

(DO):
1 Increased water supply 1. Urban water supply 
and sanitation coverage coverage increases from
80% to __%
with improved efficiency
and quality of service as 2. Urban sanitation
well as sustainability of coverage increases from __
service provision in urban % to __%
and rural communities
3. Rural water supply
coverage increases from __
% to __%
Outputs:
1. Improved water supply
1.1a Urban water supply  
and sanitation facilities and
systems rehabilitated,
management systems
expanded or constructed in
__ towns, operated by
autonomous service
providers with cost recovery
tariffs
1.1b Urban sanitation  Cost effective solutions

improved in __ towns are sought and found
1.2 __ water and sanitation 

providers trained and
certified
F.GIOVANNETTI Appendices - i Rev.4 – March 2003

2.1 Improved capacity of 2.1a __ regional bureau  Sector policies are

regions to support staff trained in project upheld by all levels of
development of water supply appraisal, procurement, government, including
and sanitation systems and financial management, tariff cost recovery,
carry out monitoring and regulation, monitoring and decentralization,
evaluation in a decentralized evaluation involvement by all
environment stakeholders (incl. the
2.1b Monitoring and private sector)
evaluation systems for
project monitoring and
utility monitoring in place in
four big regions
2.1c Water service provider

certification program
developed and piloted in at
least one large region
2.2 Improved capacity of 2.2 Strategy and  Funding is available for

emerging/pastoralist regions implementation plan for development of new
to improve water supply and improving water supply and WSS systems in these
sanitation service sanitation developed in at regions
least two emerging/
pastoralist regions
2.3 Improved capacity of 2.3a Training provided to

local governments to manage __ Town Water Boards
contracts for urban water
supply and sanitation 2.3b Utility performance
investments and oversee monitoring system in place
ongoing operations in __ towns
2.4 Improved capacity of 2.4 Woreda water staff  Funding is available for
local governments to support trained to provide support to investment in RWSS
rural water supply and rural communities in at least
sanitation 20% of the woreda
2.5. Increased capacity of 2.5a __ artisans / small  All levels of

private sector to support the scale service providers Government committed
water supply and sanitation trained and equipped to to creating opportunities
sector support RWSS for private sector
participation
2.5b __ spare parts
distribution centers stocked
and under contract to
maintain minimum level of
spare parts
3 Improved capacity of 3.1 WRM monitoring and

federal government to evaluation system
monitor water resources established within MWR
F.GIOVANNETTI Appendices - ii Rev.4 – March 2003

Components: Inputs: (budget for each Project Reports: (from Components to Outputs)
component)
Component 1: Urban
Water Supply and  Counterpart funds are
Sanitation provided on time
 Project design,
1.1 Provide financing for including technical,  Demand responsive
rehabilitation, expansion and financial and economic approach to identifying
development of new urban analysis projects is taken
water supply and sanitation
schemes  Project completion  Communities are
reports involved in selecting
technology options
based on information
about associated costs
 Affordability is
theoverriding concern in
projects design
 Project implementation
is streamlined
1.2 Support capacity building  Record of service  Water Boards

for autonomous Water provider training and established and
Boards and service providers certification members available for
training
 Service providers have

adequate staff who are
made available for
training
Component 2: Institutional
Strengthening to support  Curriculum  Regional bureaus assign
Decentralization resources, including
 Reports of training staff
2.1 Build capacity of regional
bureaus to facilitate  Certification program  Regional bureaus
improvements to urban and design report respect decentralization
rural water supply and process
provide regulation,
 Monitoring and
monitoring and evaluation
evaluation system
design and
implementation reports
2.2 Support development of  Regional Strategies  Regional bureaus assign

strategy and implementation and Implementation resources, including
plan for improving water Plans staff, and actively
supply and sanitation in participate with all
emerging/Pastoralist regions relevant stakeholders
F.GIOVANNETTI Appendices - iii Rev.4 – March 2003

2.3 Build capacity of local  Curriculum  Town Water Boards

governments to manage appointed and available
contracts for urban water  Reports of training for training
supply and sanitation
investments and oversee  Performance  Local governments
ongoing operations evaluation system respect autonomy of
design and Boards and service
implementation reports providers
2.4 Build capacity of  Curriculum  Woredas have adequate

woredas to assist rural staff and other required
communities in improving  Reports of training resources
water supply and sanitation
and provide ongoing support
2.5 Develop capacity of  Curriculum  Individuals and small

private sector to support firms are available and
urban and rural water supply  Reports of training interested in
and sanitation systems participating
 Implementation
completion report for
spare parts distribution
centers
2.6 HIV/AIDS prevention  
 Monitoring and  MWR assigns

Component 3: Water evaluation system appropriate staff and
Resources Management design and adequate resources
implementation reports
3.1 Capacity building for
improved water resources
monitoring
F.GIOVANNETTI Appendices - iv Rev.4 – March 2003

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Water Supply and Sanitation Generic Implementation Guidelines

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Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Water Supply and Sanitation Generic Implementation Guidelines

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Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

The World Bank

Water Supply and Sanitation

Generic Implementation Guidelines

1 Revision: May 2003

SCOPE OF THIS DOCUMENT

WATER POLICY AND STRATEGIES

2 Revision: May 2003

STRUCTURE OF THE DOCUMENT - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

3 Revision: May 2003

1. REGIONAL WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION PROGRAMS -

WATER SECTOR BACKGROUND

OBJECTIVES OF THE WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION PROGRAM

4 Revision: May 2003

PRINCIPLES OF THE WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION PROGRAM

DESCRIPTION OF THE WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION PROGRAM

5 Revision: May 2003

6 Revision: May 2003

Other Stakeholders: Provide services, works & goods to government

7 Revision: May 2003

PROGRAM PLANNING AND PROMOTION

Channeling of Funds, Disbursements and Auditing

8 Revision: May 2003

MONITORING & EVALUATION

Introduction: guiding principles

9 Revision: May 2003

10 Revision: May 2003

2. RURAL WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION

11 Revision: May 2003

OVERVIEW OF REGIONAL RWSS PROGRAM

12 Revision: May 2003

 Regional Bureau of Rural Development

Regional Water Bureau – Manages the region’s

13 Revision: May 2003

Regional NGOs/consultants  Train local, district-based NGOs/consultants.

14 Revision: May 2003

 Community development, hygiene education, and technical assistance with design.

 Handpump installation and repair, plus spare parts supply.

 Dug well, spring catchment and borehole apron construction.

 Latrine marketing and construction

 Past experience of the organization. Experience in planning and implementing community-level

 Experience and specialized knowledge of personnel. At least __ years of secondary education,

 Administrative and management capabilities Satisfactory references from funders and

15 Revision: May 2003

16 Revision: May 2003

FUNDS FLOW, ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING

17 Revision: May 2003

Community contribution is usually regarded as an adequate way to enhance ownership by the

18 Revision: May 2003

PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACTING

Capacity Building needs

19 Revision: May 2003

COMMUNITY LEVEL PROJECT CYCLE

20 Revision: May 2003

The Project Cycle

The Project/Program Cycle

5. Monitoring & Evaluation

21 Revision: May 2003

Summary of the Project Cycle

22 Revision: May 2003

Responsibilities and Players Involved

23 Revision: May 2003