Study Session 5  The Pillars of the OWNP

Introduction

The principles that you read about in Study Session 4 provide overall guidance about the approach to be taken in the OWNP. The Programme is further supported by three fundamental strategic pillars that underpin its contents and implementation. These pillars are sometimes referred to as overarching domains, a term which implies a broad general topic or relevant area, but the term pillar gives a more appropriate idea of the foundation and support upon which the structure of the OWNP is built.

In this study session you will learn what these pillars are and what they mean. As part of the description, we will discuss what is meant by an enabling environment and good governance, and how to create these conditions in the WASH sector. In addition, you will learn how demand for better WASH services should be created and about capacity development for WASH. The study session will therefore help you to understand how the pillars are practically applied in the OWNP implementation cycle, both individually and in a concerted manner, and how they contribute to the success of the programme.

Learning Outcomes for Study Session 5

When you have studied this session, you should be able to:

5.1  Define and use correctly all of the key words printed in bold. (SAQs 5.1 and 5.3)

5.2  Outline the pillars on which the OWNP rests. (SAQ 5.2)

5.3  Explain what is meant by each of the three pillars. (SAQs 5.3 and 5.4)

5.4  Describe how the pillars of the OWNP complement each other. (SAQ 5.5)

5.1 The pillars on which the OWNP rests

Before explaining about the three pillars of the OWNP, we will revisit some points about the Ethiopian National Hygiene and Sanitation Strategy (NHSS) that you were introduced to in Study Session 2. The NHSS identified three strategic pillars to support the effort towards ensuring 100% coverage of improved hygiene and sanitation services across Ethiopia.

These pillars are described in more detail in the NHSS (MoH, 2005) and can be summarised as:

• Pillar 1: An enabling environment to support and facilitate an accelerated scaling-up [of sanitation and hygiene] through policy consensus, regulation, political commitment, inter-sectoral co-operation, partnership, capacity building, sustainable finance, research, monitoring and evaluation.
• Pillar 2: Sanitation and hygiene promotion to create demand and change behaviour using participatory approaches, advocacy, communication and social marketing.
• Pillar 3: Improved access to hardware to strengthen the provision of sanitation and hygiene through appropriate technology and product design for different situations (e.g. rural/urban, schools, health posts etc.).

The NHSS was followed in 2011 by the Strategic Action Plan (introduced in Study Session 2) which used the three pillars for its cover illustration in recognition of their importance (Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1  The three pillars of hygiene and sanitation improvement. (MoH, 2011)

Figure 5.1 depicts that the intended result of nationwide improved hygiene and sanitation can only happen if all three pillars are in place. If one of the pillars is neglected and efforts are inclined towards one or both of the others, it will ultimately end in failure. You can imagine this by its resemblance to house construction. It is common sense that, to build a durable house, you need strong pillars on which the whole structure will rest. The durability and reliability of the house is guaranteed not only by the strength of the pillars but also by their number. All the required number of pillars appropriate to the size of the house should be erected without any compromise, otherwise the house may not provide long service or may collapse immediately before it is finished.

This important principle of strong supporting pillars given balanced attention was adopted for the formulation of the OWNP. The original wording of the pillars of the NHSS gradually evolved and was improved and clarified to become the three pillars on which the OWNP is founded, shown in Box 5.1. You will notice these are very similar to the pillars of the National Hygiene and Sanitation Strategy, but the language has changed and the emphasis shifted in response to inputs from various stakeholders and developing priorities. Each of these pillars is described in detail in the following sections.

5.2 Enabling environment and good governance

The first pillar, as in the NHSS, is about an enabling environment, but for the OWNP this is extended to include good governance. These two terms are conceptually different but are similar in their relevance to WASH sector development effort in general and to OWNP implementation in particular. We will describe them separately and then summarise their overall significance.

5.2.1 Enabling environment

Put simply, an enabling environment refers to the fulfilment of conditions that can enable a certain phenomenon to happen. From your elementary school biology, you will know that a plant seed can germinate and grow only if important elements such as water, soil and sunlight are available. In this example, water, soil and sunlight create the enabling environment. If these factors are partially or totally unavailable, growth will not happen or at least will not be successful. Likewise, for the OWNP to be successful, several prerequisites must be fulfilled. These prerequisites are the foundation for the programme and are described as an ‘enabling environment’. They consist of a wide range of policies, strategies, institutional arrangements and formal agreements, together with the commitment and integrity of personnel at all levels, access to information, compliance with agreed norms and standards, and contractual relations among implementing bodies.

Commitment and integrity of personnel are also mentioned as elements of the enabling environment. What do commitment and integrity mean for a potential urban WASH worker? Commitment is the strong feeling and decisiveness of a person to carry out duties and fulfil obligations. Integrity is a person’s quality to carry out duties and responsibilities consistently and honestly. An urban WASH worker, working with communities, would have to be a role model to the people they were working for. This could mean working extra time, at the weekends, and on holidays if it is needed. However, an important aspect of integrity is honesty and no one should promise to people what they may not be able fulfil.

Creating an enabling environment for WASH sector development is a continuous process. The stronger the enabling environment that can be created, the better we can promote WASH to a wider population. In Ethiopia, the basic elements in the making of the enabling environment for WASH have been developed in the past decades and the achievements so far are encouraging. The policies and strategies in both health and water sectors and the formal consensus-building documents such as the MoU and WIF demonstrate this progress. However, there is still a need to strengthen the environment for even better results. For example, the shortage of suitably trained and qualified WASH personnel from federal to woreda levels is still visible. An integral part of the enabling environment for WASH sector development is having a sufficient number of WASH workers at all levels, and this is one of the areas to be improved in the future.

5.2.2 Good governance

Nowadays, the terms governance and/or good governance are widely used in the spheres of development and aid due to an ever-growing understanding and recognition of the key roles that governance plays for any sort of development endeavour. There is a general consensus that the fate of any development programme, either to succeed or fail, is directly related to the characteristics of existing governance. In other words, if there is good governance, then a programme will probably be successful, but if there is bad governance, it is likely to fail.

Good governance is about the processes for making and implementing decisions. It’s not about making ‘correct’ decisions, but about the best possible process for making those decisions (Good Governance Guide, n.d.). Good governance can be defined by a collection of several characteristics, as shown in Figure 5.2. For governance to be ‘good’ it should fulfil those characteristics, or at least be judged against them.

Figure 5.2  Characteristics of good governance. (UNESCAP, n.d.)

Figure 5.2 shows eight major characteristics of good governance, which are further described below (adapted from UNESCAP, n.d.).

1. Participatory:Participation means taking part or being actively involved in something, usually a decision or activity. It is particularly relevant to decision making; participation by a wide range of stakeholders tends to lead to better decisions. WASH programmes, from planning to implementation, need the full participation of people regardless of gender, age, occupation, wealth, or any other differences. Participation of beneficiaries significantly increases their sense of ownership, which, in turn, improves sustainability.
2. Consensus-oriented: This means that the governance processes should be aiming to reach consensus among stakeholders. Consensus means a general agreement. Good governance requires consideration of the different interests of the stakeholders in order to reach a decision or create a situation that is in the best interest of the whole community. It requires open thinking that is not trapped in a single perspective or biased towards one particular side of a debate. Reaching a consensus requires a good understanding of the historical, cultural and social contexts of a given society or community.
3. Accountable: Accountability was defined in Study Session 3 as an obligation or willingness by an organisation or individual to account for their actions and accept responsibility for them. It is a key requirement of good governance. Not only governmental institutions but also the private sector and civil society organisations must be accountable to the public and to their stakeholders. In general an organisation or institution is accountable to those who will be affected by its decisions or actions.

4. Transparent: Transparency literally means you can see through something, so in the context of governance it means that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in such a way that is easy for anyone to see what procedures have been followed. In the Ethiopian WASH context, transparency means sharing of all information concerning the WASH programme (financial, material, human resource, etc.) in a given area. Providing this information is the duty of the programme coordinating body, while receiving the information is the right of the programme beneficiary.
5. Responsive: To be responsive means to respond appropriately and in good time. Good governance requires that institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe.
6. Equitable and inclusive: You may remember the definition of equity as the allocation of resources, services and opportunity to all segments of the population according to their needs. Good governance requires that all members of society, especially the most vulnerable, are treated equitably and are not excluded or ignored by decisions and processes. Equity and inclusiveness of the WASH programme are among the basic implementation considerations that have been included in the One WASH National Programme Operating Manual.
7. Effective and efficient: It is common sense that good governance should be effective (achieve its intended purpose) and efficient (make best use of resources). Efficiency of good governance also covers the sustainable use of natural resources and protection of the environment. In the Ethiopian WASH sector, the move from project-based to sector-wide approaches was made to enhance effectiveness and efficiency of WASH programmes so that resources (financial, material, time and human) can be used in such a way to yield maximum results and ensure sustainability.
8. Follows the rule of law: Again, it is common sense that good governance should follow the rules of law. Impartial enforcement of fair legal frameworks that protect human rights is essential.

Looking at these characteristics of good governance, what is your opinion of them? Do you think it is possible to fulfil all eight elements? It may appear very difficult to achieve all of them. Only a few countries and societies have come close to achieving good governance by fulfilling these characteristics. But it is important to remember that without good governance it is impossible to ensure sustainable human development. Working towards the attainment of good governance by all responsible bodies, including individual citizens, is a continuous process.

As you can see from the detailed explanation above, an enabling environment and good governance, as one of the three pillars of the OWNP, embrace a wide range of issues. They are crucial for the success of the programme but, at the same time, implementing them all is very challenging. Nevertheless, as you have seen from the historical development of WASH in Ethiopia, the situation is changing, and with the joint effort of all partners and stakeholders more improvements in this essential pillar can be made.

5.3 Creating demand for better WASH services

The second pillar is about creating demand for WASH services through maximising the availability and efficient use of human and financial resources. Let us first look at the meaning of demand. You have probably come across the term before. Demand is a concept of economics that is frequently mentioned with supply. From a practical point of view, demand and supply are complementary. Simply put, demand is a strong need or desire for a certain commodity or service. It refers to how much (quantity) of a product or service is desired by users. Supply, on the other hand, refers to how a product or service can be provided to meet the expressed demand.

Accordingly, ‘demand creation’ is a process whereby the unrealised need of people for a certain commodity or service is converted to an expressed demand. To give an example, in Ethiopia the use of household water treatment chemicals, was not common in the past (Figure 5.3). However, after many years of activities to raise awareness of the importance of these chemicals in preventing waterborne diseases, more and more families are using them. Particularly during the 2006 acute watery diarrhoea epidemic in some parts of the country, the need for water treatment chemicals increased dramatically, resulting in a rapid rise in price that in some places even tripled. The demand had been created and nowadays these chemicals are commonly seen in shops.

Figure 5.3  Water purification chemicals are increasingly popular.

Demand creation as a process requires systematic, targeted and continuous communication and engagement with the people in whom we are aiming to create demand. Let’s consider another practical example. In Ethiopia, many rural communities have been provided with a safe water supply that is close to their homes and available at all times of the day. However, it has been observed that the amount of water used remained the same as it had been in the past when people had to travel many hours every day and spend even more time queuing for water that was of very poor quality. This observation suggested that, regardless of the new water supply, people were still only using water for the same purposes as before, i.e. cooking and drinking.

Pause for a moment and analyse this practical case. What do you think were the reasons for communities using the same amount of water both before and after they were provided with a safe, adequate and accessible water supply? What were the main factors that prevented community members from using more water? Do you think they should use more water for purposes other than drinking and cooking? What actions could you take to encourage people to use more water?

Generally, demand for a product or service comes from the knowledge, awareness and belief of its value(s) to those involved. From this basic fact, we can deduce that the reason why community members continued to use the same amount of water is mainly associated with low awareness of the benefits of using water for hygienic purposes. In other words, the community members were not well aware of the importance of personal hygiene in preventing communicable diseases such as diarrhoea, intestinal parasitic infection, trachoma, scabies, jigger flea infestation, and many other hygiene-related diseases. They were not using as much water as they needed for adequate washing to prevent these diseases. If you come across such a case, your action should focus on creating the demand for more water use and the best way to do this would be by raising awareness through hygiene education.

As you can see from Box 5.1, the wording for this pillar in the OWNP document clearly states that the main mechanism to be applied in creating demand for better WASH services is maximising availability and the efficient use of human and financial resources. This implies that if there are sufficient numbers of trained people and sufficient funds, it is possible to carry out continuous and systematic WASH awareness-raising interventions in a given community. In this way, the demand for new or improved WASH services can be created.

The OWNP document emphasises the efficient use of resources (human and financial) rather than the mere availability of them. According to the programme document, the need to focus on efficiency came out of consultation with regional WASH bureaus and cities during the programme formulation. In this regard, the programme document states ‘during consultations with the regions and cities, human resources and capacity were mentioned more frequently than funding and other resources as constraints to effective implementation of WASH activities on the ground.’ (OWNP, 2013). This recognition of the importance of human resources for the successful implementation of the OWNP leads us to the third pillar.

5.4 Capacity development for improved delivery of WASH services

Capacity development for improved WASH services delivery is the third pillar for the OWNP. In short, capacity is all about the ability to do something. This brief definition, however, tells us little about what that ability entails. Capacity means all the different skills of individuals and groups that combine and interact to shape the overall capability of a given system or organisation. Capacity development (or capacity building) means changes in capacity over time. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) defines capacity development as ‘The process through which individuals, organisations, and societies obtain, strengthen, and maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their own development objectives over time’ (UNDP, 2008).

The WASH Implementation Framework (WIF) has a similar definition. It describes capacity development as: ‘A set of planned and linked activities, strategies, approaches, and methods designed to improve the performance of individuals, organisations, and systems by creating the conditions through which change and improvement can take place’ (WIF, 2011). It goes on to describe the capacity development strategy for the WASH programme, which aims to develop capacity at many different levels. This includes building:

• Individual capacities – skills, knowledge, attitudes, and confidence of individual players at all levels to effectively carry out their assigned tasks.
• Organisational capacities – institutional development and strengthening of the new WASH structures at different levels.
• Operational systems – that support harmonised planning, financial management, procurement, capacity development, supervision, reporting, information management, and monitoring and evaluation.
• Teamwork – communication and collaboration among implementing partners (governmental and non-governmental), donor agencies, private sector and other institutions in one integrated programme.
• Supply and logistical support – high-standard and timely inputs increasingly accessed by communities through the private sector to promote local ownership and management and enhance the sustainability of services.
• Strategic sector support – to inform WASH policy, implementation and coordination through strategic studies, evidence, sector reviews and support for networks and forums.

The significance of capacity development and the reason why it is included as one of the three pillars of the OWNP is highlighted in the OWNP document which states that ‘Capacity gaps at all levels have been identified as one of the most pervasive threats to the successful implementation of the programme’ (OWNP, 2013). The high importance given to improving WASH sector capacity is further emphasised by the inclusion of capacity building in one of the four components of the OWNP, which will be the focus of the next study session.

Summary of Study Session 5

In Study Session 5, you have learned that:

1. The OWNP has three pillars, namely: enabling environment and good governance, creating demand, and capacity development.
2. The OWNP pillars were developed from the pillars identified in the National Hygiene and Sanitation Strategy and the Strategic Action Plan.
3. An enabling environment and good governance are essential for the effective and efficient delivery of WASH services.
4. Good governance can be described by eight characteristics.
5. Providing improved WASH services is not enough; demand for the services also needs to be created. This can be done by raising awareness and education. The process of demand creation should make best use of human and financial resources.
6. Capacity development that improves the skills and capabilities of individuals, organisations and wider society is essential for successful implementation of the OWNP.
7. The three pillars of the OWNP complement each other in meeting the ultimate objectives of the programme. It needs a balanced focus on each of the pillars to achieve the objectives set out.

Self-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 5

Now that you have completed this study session, you can assess how well you have achieved its Learning Outcomes by answering these questions.