Guidance for urban situation analysis

Looking back

This is a reflection exercise, to assess what has been done in the previous five years to
improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene in urban areas.

This includes examining achievements and challenges, as well as considering

what has changed in terms of its strategy and goals, and also in government
policy or the external environment. At a minimum, a workshop to review
earlier initiatives and map their strengths and weaknesses.
National analysis areas

 Relevant national strategies, policies and legislation (directly WASH-related, water resources,
shelter and housing, women, minorities, health, education, environment).
 Incidence of human rights mentioned in policies and legislation, particularly recognition of the right
to water and sanitation.
 Specific understanding should be sought on how sanitation sits within the policy and financial
resourcing arena and how this might link to levels of service.
 Overarching national institutional structure (also looking beyond just WASH issues), systems,
structure and norms.
 Other key players active in the national context.
 Financial planning procedures of the city/local authorities, and identification of the adequacy of
financial resources available to be sourced from the city/town authorities for WASH service
provision.
 Existence and effectiveness of regulatory authorities.
Profiling the cities/towns

• Contextual profile of city/town (political structure, main economic drivers, settlement

patterns/demography, degree of autonomy, interconnectedness with surrounding areas,
geography and available water resources) for understanding the city/town and its WASH
service needs.
• City/town governance structures, how water and sanitation services are currently
delivered, levels of responsibility (including a service provider capacity and performance
analysis).
• Mapping of existing infrastructure.
• Current estimates of levels of service provision and assessment of the quality of this data.
• Existing service delivery systems
• Tariffs, subsidies, cost recovery, prevalence of meters, levels of non-revenue water.
• Location, size and nature of the urban poor, and particularly:
• Where people access water and for what purpose.
• Where people go to the toilet.
• What costs are incurred by households for construction, maintenance and service
tariffs.
• Hygiene practices, where it is feasible to gather information.
• To what extent existing WASH facilities are accessible and suitable for all,
• including women, older people and people with different types of disabilities.
• Livelihoods, social processes and structures.
Analytical tools

In our situation analysis we should identify the sector institutions in the town and assess
their capacities to fulfil their roles.

One useful tool is the governance/management triangle. The analysis should examine the
relationships and barriers between these key actors, and the opportunities for collaboration
among them.

A second common and useful tool is a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and
Threats) analysis.
A third possible tool is an ‘agencies and functions matrix’, which maps the
categories of all stakeholders (from consumer groups to service providers
and government actors) against activities (from policy, planning and
financing to operation and maintenance) providing cells in which to
describe roles and assess capacities.