Linking quality of government and water and sanitation outcomes

Proposed network

Purpose and aims

This cross-national network of researchers and practitioners from Sweden, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda will:

• Initiate and facilitate evidence-based research and learning between the countries.
• Engage and strengthen the alumni network of the Sida-sponsored Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation international training programme (SUWAS ITP) at the regional level.
• Organize a validation workshop to discuss and validate the proposed research idea.
• Develop a full proposal including the design of case studies in the various countries – Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, and plan for the implementation of the proposed research.

This project will gather interested alumni of the SUWAS ITP around the proposed research topic. The aim is to engage the alumni and support research and knowledge sharing in the East African region.

A validation workshop will be held with the alumni of the Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation programme (SUWAS) from Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda. The purpose is to initiate and facilitate learning between the countries, engage and strengthen the alumni network at the national and regional levels, discuss and validate the proposed research idea (see below), develop a full proposal including design of case studies in the various countries, and plan for the implementation of the proposed research.

Proposed research idea

 Background and overview

The disparity in basic service delivery varies from country to country, so does trust in institutions. The type and quality of services citizens receive, and their level of satisfaction are important aspects to consider in understanding citizens’ perception of government institutions and service providers. This is even more important as the responsibility for delivering basic services is increasingly being shifted from the central government to local government authorities and other non-government actors.

Lack of attention to user satisfaction is highlighted as one of the factors hindering progress on commitment 1 of the Ngor Declaration on sanitation and hygiene.

The following research questions will be examined:

• How do citizens in different settings – rural, urban, peri-urban –perceive the type and quality of basic water and sanitation services they receive from government and other actors (private actors and civil society)?
• What are the differences in citizens’ perception of the type and quality of services they receive for water supply and for sanitation, and how can these differences be explained?
• To what extent do the type and quality of water and sanitation services citizens receive from the government and other actors influence their willingness to pay for services and to participate in development?
• How do citizens in different settings perceive their own responsibility in providing basic water and sanitation services?
• What are citizens’ perceived expectations from government and other actors providing basic services and how do these match or mismatch with the services provided?
• To what extent are service delivery outcomes for water and sanitation sustainable and inclusive particularly for females and vulnerable groups in society?

Standard models of accountability dynamics posit a direct relationship between the decline in service access and quality and citizens’ negative perception of the government. This proposed research seeks to further explore this assertion in the case of basic service delivery in Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda. To improve understanding of the extent to which disparities exist for sanitation and hygiene in relation to other services, we intend to compare and contrast with that for drinking water supply in different contexts.

Funder: Formas

Potential Network Partners

• Institute of Human Settlements Studies (IHSS), Ardhi University, Tanzania
• School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg
• Quality of Government Institute, University of Gothenburg
• Program on Governance and Local Development (GLD), University of Gothenburg
• Department of Urban planning and Environment, KTH
• Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD)
• African Minister’s Council on Water (AMCOW)