Capacity building report

Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION 3
1.1 General 3
1.2 The importance of capacity building 3
1.3 The "Stepped Approach" Program 3
1.4 Project background 3
1.5 Locations of the Project Towns 3
1.6 Scope of the report 3
2 POLICIES AND STRATEGIES 3
2.1 The National UWSS policy 3
2.2 Capacity Building Strategies 3
2.2.1 Ministry Level Capacity Building 3
2.2.2 Regional level capacity building 3
2.2.3 Woreda level capacity building 3
3 Special Strategies and Initiatives 3
3.1 Hygiene 3
1.1 TSG Consultants 3
1.1.1 Activities for capacitating 3
3.2 Regional Help Desks 3
3.3 Town Water Boards 3
3.4 Planned Capacity building at Town Water Board level: 3
4 Implementation procedures of Capacity Building 3
5 Capacity building out puts3
6 Monitoring and evaluations 3
6.1 General 3
6.2 Framework 3
6.3 Programming Monitoring & Evaluation for Urban WSS Programs 3
6.3.1 Evaluation 3

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6.3.2 Management Audits 3

Specific quantitative indicators to be monitored could include the following:
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7 Conclusions and Recommendations 3
7.1 Conclusions 3
7.2 Recommendations 3

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 General
In 2004, the World Bank launched the Ethiopia Water Supply and Sanitation
Project, which builds on earlier projects and scales up World Bank
involvement in town and rural WSS. The project provides support to the
Government of Ethiopia’s new National Water Supply and Sanitation Program.
The program recognizes that increasing access to sustainable WSS services
depends on more than just the construction of new facilities, which is why its
emphasis is on developing institutional capacity at all levels.
The Ethiopia Water Supply and Sanitation Project specifically provides a
US$75 million IDA credit and US$25 million IDA grant to improve
approximately 5,500 rural water supply schemes serving 2 million people, and
about 75 town water supplies serving 1 million people.
In improvement of the services the targeted activities are mainly
capacitating the Water Supply Services technically and financially. In line
with this introducing of the board management is also taken as one objective
of the program. Planning of sanitation integrated with water supply is
another target of the project.

1.2 The importance of capacity building

Capacity building is essential in this decentralized approach. Years of central
government decision making have left most local and regional entities without
the capacity to identify and implement changes needed in their WSS
systems, even though they are the ones best positioned to understand their
communities’ needs.

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How exactly, however, is all this capacity being developed? In order to build
it, the program is relying on a system of international, national, and regional
sector professionals working with one another to develop capacity across all
levels and among all stakeholders—from the ministry down through to
participating communities and local artesian.
International consultants are working with the MWR to train a group of
national consultants, who are working with the RWBs to train a much larger
group of regionally based sector professionals. These regional consultant
teams are each responsible for assisting several Town Water Boards and
woreda’s with preparing and implementing their WSS programs through each
phase of the stepped approach. The regional consultancy teams also train
local communities and artisans to operate and manage their own water supply
and sanitation facilities.
The layered structure maximizes the number of sector professionals at
every level that can be trained in a short period of time to speed up the
expansion of WSS access. Over time, the fledging consultant groups will
develop into private sector organizations that can support operations of town
WSS facilities on a professional basis.
The National Water Supply and Sanitation Program sustainably improves
WSS access by focusing on capacity building at all levels and allocates limited
government resources to where they will have the greatest impact.
The program demonstrates the government’s commitment and provides a
road map for scaling up WSS access at an increased pace. The challenge now
lies with the donor community, which has a history of piecemeal support to
the WSS sector. Some donors have already expressed an interest in
channeling their funding through the National Water Supply and Sanitation
Program, and they should be encouraged. Only with increased and more
coordinated aid can Ethiopia achieve the WSS MDGs.

1.3 The "Stepped Approach" Program

The National Water Supply and Sanitation Program incorporate a demand-
driven, performance-based approach for allocating assistance to towns and
rural communities. Towns and rural communities receive access to financial
and technical resources in steps. They must meet certain targets before
moving from one step to the next. The approach ensures that the
government’s limited resources are only targeted to towns and rural

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communities that are capable and committed to improving their WSS

systems.
Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Program is one of IDA
funded projects in Ethiopia. The program aimed at improvement of health
and living conditions of urban dwellers through capacitating Water Supply
Systems in all aspects to upgrade their way service giving to the dwellers.
The stepped-approach varies slightly for urban and rural WSS. The urban
component of the program is helping towns establish Water Boards and
improve the capacity of their local utility operators. The rural component, on
the other hand, is providing financial assistance to woredas (rural districts)
to help communities establish water supply and sanitation committees
(WASHCOMs) and build facilities. WASHCOMs represent the communities in
planning and managing their WSS facilities. WASHCOMs contract local
artisans to operate and maintain the installed facilities.
The program’s emphasis on local government decision making reflects an
overall government shift of responsibilities and resources to the lowest
possible level. It contrasts markedly with the former centralized supply-
driven approach whereby the Federal Ministry of Water Resources (MWR)
identified, financed, and implemented WSS projects for towns and rural
communities. Under the new program, the MWR and the Regional Water
Bureaus (RWBs) refocus on facilitation, coordination, monitoring, and
evaluation, while towns, woredas, and communities plan and implement the
program.

1.4 Project background

At country level Water Supply and Sanitation improvement program was
under way and in some regions the program is still under implementation
having a vision of changing living conditions of rural and urban society.
This program is launched at the end of year 2005 in Oromia Regional State
focusing on selected 28 small towns in the region that require system
improvement both technically and administratively.
For implementation of the program Oromia Regional Water Bureau (RWB)
invited local Ethiopian Consultants to express their interests in performing
the intended work. Following the invitation, Stretch Consultants Plc
expressed its interest to render the service required deploying a team of
experts as per the terms of references.

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Consequently, Oromia Regional Water Bureau evaluated the technical and

financial proposals submitted by the Consultant and found it satisfactory to
carry out the work.

1.5 Locations of the Project Towns

1.6 Scope of the report

This report is a Capacity building report that shows the planned
capacity building strategies and evaluates the capacity building
executed among different stakeholders with in the implementation of
the program. It also shows the National Capacity building strategies to
be adopted, the methodology used to capacitate the different
stakeholders involved in the stepped approach of the program. The
report also gives us the draw back of the program and helps to draw
lesson for the future use.

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2 POLICIES AND STRATEGIES

2.1 The National UWSS policy

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;
1) Access to water is a right, however it is also recognized as an
economic good, and its service has to be paid for;
2) A demand- responsive approach is promoted rather than a supply
driven approach at all stages of the projects development
3) Owner ship and management autonomy are developing to the lowest
possible local level, in line with the National decentralization policy.
4) Involving all stakeholder, including the private sector, to improve
efficiency in service provision;
5) Full cost recovery for urban schemes, and recovery of operation and
maintenance cost for rural schemes, are required to ensure their
sustainability.
6) Planning of Integrating Sanitation and hygiene with water supply
7) 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
Therefore, for the implementation of the program under decentralization
policy, the national government empowers the local government and builds the
capacity of different stakeholders involved in the implementation of the
program.

2.2 Capacity Building Strategies

In general, the approach to capacity building in the region should be learned
by doing to the extent possible, to be augmented by formal training. Under
the backing of PCU, the regional water resources bureau will be responsible
for ensuring regional participation in capacity building efforts led by MWR,
coordinating capacity building in the region, and monitoring progress.

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The training for water boards and operators will be provided by regional
town consultants (TSG). This tripartite partnership between the regional
bureau, Consultants and towns is fundamental to successful implementation.
To complete on-the-job training, participatory monitoring and evaluation,
practitioner groups and regional help desks / outreach training units are
other practical, job related ways of building capacity and refining the
implementation strategy at the same time.

2.2.1 Ministry Level Capacity Building

MWR will be responsible for facilitating capacity building at the Federal level
in the key topics. An important element of this would be a practitioner’s
network, where leading specialists (the National Consultants) with in key
disciplines hold periodic workshops to share lessons and refine their part of
the program.
The Ministry of Water Resources also performs the following;
i. Develop and manage over all UWSS program of the country
ii. In collaboration with ministry of finance and economic development,
coordinate fund channeling to support UWSS program
iii. Assist the regional bureau of water resources in the development of
UWSS program
iv. Collaborate with other partners to build the capacity the regional
bureau of water resources
v. Create conducive situations to integrate water supply and sanitation
vi. Assist the bureau of water resources to develop guide lines, rules and
regulations for the study, design, operation and maintenance of urban
sanitation facilities
vii. Oversee the overall implementation of UWSS program of the region

2.2.2 Regional level capacity building

RPCU would assign point persons for each of the above-mentioned specialist
areas, to participate in facilitated discussions, share experiences in the
Region, raise issues and discuss possible solutions and ensure lessons learned
are incorporated into Regional programs.
Consultants (TSG) were contracted to assist region with development of
systems and capacity for financial management, procurement, appraisal,
monitoring and evaluation. Regional staffs were also developed capacity
primarily through on-the-job training, working with consultants. Any

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additional support available for the TSG under the project implementation
needed basis throughout the life of the project with program management is
also facilitated by the RPCU.
At the Town level, consultants were contracted to assist town water boards
and utility operator to develop their UWSS Programs and to build capacity
for implementation. Town water board and Utility operators learned about
program development, management and monitoring and evaluation primarily
through on-the-job training, working with consultants through different time
to time consultations and trainings. The Regional UWSS team/RCPU
monitors the progress of the program at the town through time to time.
The Regional water resources Bureau also perform the following;
The primary role of Regional Water Resources Bureaus was contracting of
town supporting consultants that will be primarily responsible for
development of systems and capacity for financial management, procurement,
appraisal, monitoring and evaluation and will appraise readiness of towns to
receive further assistance at each step. In addition to this the regional WRB
performs the following;
a) Promote UWSS program at regional level;
b) Develop and manage UWSS program;
c) Implement systems for financial management, internal audit,
procurement and contracting and monitoring and evaluation and assign
focal persons responsible for coordinating these functions at regional
and Ana levels;
d) Establish criteria and screen and select towns to participate in Step
2 and then move to step 3;
e) Pre-qualify consultants and contractors to be engaged in consultancy
and construction activities respectively;
f) Establish tripartite arrangement between the Bureau, consultants
and town, in sanctioning consultants works with towns;
g) Contract consultants for regional capacity building;
h) Appraise proposed projects;
i) Coordinate international procurements;
j) Support development of private sector consultants, contractors &
suppliers to work in the region;
k) Monitor & Evaluate program implementation; and Monitor & Evaluate
results on an ongoing basis

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2.2.3 Woreda level capacity building

Town Water Boards- responsible for planning and managing their own WSS
projects, including financial and procurement management and monitoring and
evaluation and planning for contracting the works and goods with the assists
of the town support consultants.
Being the higher management body of the Utility, Town Water Board has to
be capacitated to properly carry out its duties and responsibilities. Major
software capacity building for TWB has to be regarding their performance
of their duties and responsibilities. According to their duties and
responsibilities stated on the regional proclamation, the TWB needs training
in all aspects.
The major steps in capacitating town water board are the following:
Developing manuals for town water boards
Training of water board members in areas of water supply operation,
financial control and monitoring. (The details are given in the training
program)
Providing board members with working manuals that will enable them to
direct and monitor the activities of the water service.
Organizing experience sharing and visit to more advanced and high level
water supply Authorities.

In addition to these, strengthening of the water board would require

introducing incentives and strong political leadership from the city
administration. Furthermore, strengthening the authority of the board in the
following areas:
 Tariff decision;
 Investment decision;
 Procurement of goods and services without limitation;
 Deciding on organizational structure and salaries.

Tariff decision has been made the responsibility of the local administration;
therefore, it requires a change in the regional proclamation. The remaining
issues have been delegated to the board and it requires only orienting the
board members and provide with the necessary guidelines.
 Policy and proclamation issues
 Contract management
 Utility plan monitoring and evaluation

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 Minor technical matters regarding water supply and sanitation

service providing Highlights of Utility management, etc

Utility operators – responsible for day-to-day operation and management of

water supply systems
Technical and financial capability plays a vital role in efficient performance
of any intended activity. To serve the customers to their satisfaction, the
utilities have to be capacitated in all aspects. Capacity building for managing
body, Town Water Board, the Utility who gives the service is one of the
major issues to be addressed for reliable and sustainable functioning of the
system.
From experiences and under normal condition in small towns as well as large
towns in the country, the utilities lack favorable conditions to serve their
customers satisfactorily. Particularly transportation facilities required for
operators working at pumping stations far away from the towns are mostly
looked over in planning of water supply systems. This problem discourages
the operators to perform their duties. Due to problems similar to these, the
service of the Utility badly influenced. Likewise lack of sufficient office
facilities and financial system facilities have its negative impact on their
day-to-day activities.
In general, capacity strengthening enables the Town Water Services to
operate independently (gradually, at the beginning with less support)
Improve the operational efficiency of the Town Water Services
Enable the Town Water Services financially to be self-contained
Improve the skills and capability of the staff of the Town Water Services
Provide Town Water Services with improved infrastructure and systems
The strategies for the capacity-building plan are the following:
The capacity-building plan should be based on the existing capacities,
traditions, systems and organizations.
Capacity building should be objective oriented focusing at upcoming
programs and projects.
Capacity building should always harmonize needs, inputs & timing. It should
be carefully planned to provide facilities that perform as designed and not
sit idle.
The capacity building for urban water service includes the following.
Institutional strengthening

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Human Resources Development

Systems Development
Strengthening Financial Resources
Enhancing Facilities and Logistics
The Capacity strengthening shall be both hard ware and software.
Under hardware capacity building, facilities of the Utility are
strengthened. These includes:
Logistic facilities
Office facilities
Accounting system facilities, etc
Regarding software capacity strengthening, various trainings have to be
arranged. Similarly, various manuals are prepared and submitted.

The Town support Group (TSG)/ consultants- Establish town water board
and Utility, where not available, assists the Town water board to prepare and
propose projects,
For improving skills of the Town Water Board members and utility operators
different methodologies are adopted by the TSG consultant. The first task
performed was identifying skills of each members of the board and staffs of
the utility. Following capacity need assessment, the TSG consultant improved
skills of the board members and utility staffs through on job training.
Regarding hardware capacity building, field physical observation and
identification method was adopted.

3 Special Strategies and Initiatives

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

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3.1 Hygiene
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 hand
washing are 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

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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 - Ana Water Desks, 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.

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PLANNED CAPACITY BUILDIND

Based on the ‘’stepped approach’’ of the program, hardware and soft ware
capacity building programs were considered to be implemented at each levels
of the stakeholders’. Stakeholders at Federal level, Regional levels and towns
were the targeted groups to be capacitated for the proper implementation
of the UWSS program.
A special initiative was developed to capacitate the town water boards and
utility operators to implement the WSS program. The approach to the
capacity building was expected to be learned by doing through project
implementation. Capacity building was planned at all levels and among all
stakeholders – from the Ministry through to practicing community members.
To build the capacity needed and to provide the house holds with sustainable
water supply and sanitation it was planned that all available expertise must
be drawn up on in a collaborative effort between the MWR, Regional water
bureaus, Consultants, and beneficiary towns.
Regional Water bureaus, Training Teams, Regional help desks, Regionally
based consultant teams, and a practitioners’ net work were the important
roles planned at the beginning of the program. Regional water bureau training
team was planned to offer a technical assistance as part of their normal
monitoring activities and drawing attention to skills that require
strengthening and arranging for follow-up support.
Region based consultants was planned to assist Town water Boards to
prepare and implement their water supply and sanitation projects. This was
assumed to use through practitioners’ net work that should provide a
framework to facilitate training and lesson learning amongst professionals in
key skill areas.
Practitioners’ Network
The key to capacity building is ensuring that Regional Water Bureau staff
and regionally-based consultants can effectively support the development of
the urban water supply and sanitation program. To this end the MWR will
organize practitioner specialist groups. Initially basic skills training will be
provided to MWR and RWB point persons and to regionally based consultants
who will be involved in implementation. This will be followed by periodic
facilitated discussions to exchange experiences and lessons learned in order
to improve training materials and to address specific implementation issues.
Most practitioner groups would be led by a consultant with extensive

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international experience and a core team of national specialists. Consultant

contracts would be structured to allow them to participate in practitioner
specialist group workshops and to obtain advances sufficient to cover start-
up costs.
The UWSS practitioner specialist networks will include:
Town Water Board development
Business planning and cost effective design
Utility operations
Contract management
Regional Water Bureau Training Teams;

The RWBs assigned a focal person for each of the above-mentioned

specialist areas, to participate in facilitated discussions, share experiences
in the Region, raise issues and discuss possible solutions and ensure lessons
learned are incorporated into Regional programs. The Regional Water Bureau
will also form multi-disciplinary teams to monitor and evaluate performance
at the town level. These teams will provide on-the-job training and organize
follow-up technical assistance to improve weaknesses.

3.2 TSG Consultants

3.2.1 Activities for capacitating

Town Water Boards and utility operators are planned to be trained by TSG
consultants. Regionally-based Town WSS Consultants supported and trained
Town Water Boards and local operators. This three-way partnership
between the RWBs, consultants, and beneficiaries were expected
fundamentals to successful implementation. In addition to the above the TSG
consultant planned to capacitate the Town water board and Utility operator
on the following activities;
Capacitate the utility operators on management and operation of the
system by giving them time to time trainings and giving them different
operational manuals (provision of technical operation and maintenance
manual, Contract administration and procurement manual, managerial and
non managerial employee manual, stock and property management manual
and financial and finance administration manual.)

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Assisting the town water board and Utility in project preparation, project
implementation, business plan preparation, supervision and monitoring of all
the activities
Assisting the TWB in procurement of goods
Financial and property management formats
Awareness creation among all stakeholders on sanitation, personal hygiene
and environmental protection
Assists the Utility data recordings methodologies, developing different
recording formats (water production, water distributed, unaccounted for
water, power consumed (EEPCO/diesel) and water sold, etc.
Hardware capacitating, that is capacitating the utility through
Immediate service improvement (ISI) for water supply system
provision utility office (by ISI construction) except Getema,
provision of office facilities (computers, printers and stationery), except
Getema
operation and maintenance tools: plumbing tools, mechanical tools and
water meters
Generally, the Utility should be capacitated for efficient service
providing to the customers. The capacity building shall be with respect
to the following:
Organizational Development
Human Resources Development
Facilities and Infrastructure Development and
Plan of Action and Budget
Organization development

Sustainable operation and management of the water supply schemes can only
be achieved if appropriate organizational structures and management system
are put in place. Thus, appropriate organizational structure has to be
developed and implemented parallel to the system improvements.
Considering other influences
In developing organizational structures, various factors should be
considered. Among the factors that influence organizational structure, the
following are the most important and should be considered in improving the
structures.
Policy and Strategy
Goal of the Organization

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Functions / Tasks of the Organization

Technology
In designing the organizational structure of Water Services the policy
and strategic issues like providing reliable and sustainable service and
full cost recovery must be considered. This means that the new
structure should enable the Water Service to provide reliable and
sustainable service and cover the full cost of service from its revenues.
The consequence is that the Water Service will perform all functions
autonomously with limited supervision and support from the
government.
The goal of the Water Service (as an Organization) is the provision of
adequate water supply service for the town. Its impact in restructuring is
that the organization must be constituted as a Utility company/organization
to provide effective service to its customers. The technology applied in the
Water Service has also a certain impact in the restructuring. Either
sophisticated technology is applied which requires skilled personnel but less
number of employees or less sophisticated technology that will require more
people and supervision from others.
The next important issue is defining the functions of the organization.
The following are the major functions which are the necessary
activities of any urban water supply institution:
Planning of the water supply development of the town,
Conducting water supply study and design,
Construction of the facilities,
Other engineering activities,
Administration of the Water Service,
Providing water supply service,
Conducting maintenance of the facilities,
Collecting water service fees,
Conduct procurement of goods and service, Formulate tariff, Liaise with
customers.
Based on these assumption required organizational changes will be developed.
The other important aspect of Utility capacity building is human resource
development that enhances the skills and knowledge of the staff of the
water services. Human resource capacity building shall include the following
activities:
Prepare staffing plan for all town water services.

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Priority in employment shall be given to the three key personnel; that are
Manager, Chief Accountant and Head Operations.
Train the three key personnel so that they can provide on the job training
for other subordinates.
Develop and implement suitable and competitive compensation and benefits
plan.
Develop strategies to retain essential trained manpower - through
motivation, incentives and creating the proper working environment

Training is one of the key drivers that enhance the effectiveness of any
organization. Therefore, in order to enable the Water Service operates
autonomously and efficiently, a staff-training program has to be designed
that covers all aspects of the operation and management of the water
Service.
The training needs have been identified in comparing the future skill
requirements and the current conditions in the water Service.
The Utility should also be capacitated with respected to work plans and
financial management systems. It is essential to have a plan of action and
budget. Unless it has a plan of action showing how to implement it, any good
capacity building program is worthless.
The plan of action should include the following:
A concise method of identifying the major tasks
Identifying the period that each task will be done
A tool for reviewing the progress
The timeframe of the plan of action should also be shown. Further,
detailed required budget for the realization of the capacity-building
plan shall be shown.

3.3 Regional Help Desks

The MWR and Regional Water Bureaus are also planned to establish ‘Help Desks’
which Town Water Boards and utility operators can contact to request
assistance. The Help Desk would provide information and or put an applicant in
contact with a practitioner in their vicinity with the requisite skills to help them
fix a particular problem or build particular skills. Training would be on-the-job
by local professionals, so fees and travel costs would be affordable to the
applicant.

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3.4 Town Water Boards

Town Water Boards are the primary implementing entities of the UWSS
project. Regional consultants are contracted to assist Town Water Boards to
develop their project proposals and to build capacity for implementation. Town
Water Board members were planned to learn about planning, management, and
monitoring and evaluation through workshops and on-the-job training. The
Regional Water Bureaus is responsible to monitor progress at the town level and
provide supplemental technical assistance.

3.5 Planned Capacity building at Town Water Board level:

Planning cost effective town water supply systems – design and feasibility of
initial construction, rehabilitation or expansion and business planning for
sustainable service provision, longer term planning for expansion
Integrated sanitation planning
Contracting with utility operator for day-to-day operations and for
professional technical support
Monitoring utility performance - customer service, operational efficiency
and tariffs
Utility Operators
Utility operators are responsible managing day to day operations and
maintenance of water supply systems.
Planned Capacity building for utility operators focused on:
Operations and maintenance
Financial management
Monitoring and evaluation
Problem solving

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4 Implementation procedures of Capacity Building

The implementation procedure for Capacity building is based on the planned
capacity building strategies set at different stakeholders.
At the start of the WSS Project, there are not enough consultants with the
experience and qualifications required to support all of the towns needing
assistance. There are, however, many individuals who have been educated or
trained as engineers, economists, sociologists and institutional specialists.
Therefore, the Project will support them to form together into region-based
consulting groups and receive training and on-the-job capacity building so
that they can assist towns and their Town Water Boards go through the step
process. They will be selected based upon their education and training and
will not be expected to have had extensive experience. Their contracts will
include provision for establishing themselves as firms, purchasing basic
equipment required to do the job and attending periodic formal training
sessions and practitioner specialist network meetings and workshops. Those
that perform satisfactorily will qualify for follow up contracts throughout
the life of the Program.
User friendly guidelines, toolkits and reporting formats are prepared,
which guides the region-based consultants in their work. These used in
the initial training sessions and are continuously improved with input
from the consultants themselves as they gain experience.
International and national consultants are contracted by MWR to assist with
development of the initial training materials and delivery of training,
establishment of and ongoing support to the practitioner specialist networks
and

International consultants will initially work on the following:

Prepare Training Program
Implementation plan for capacity building developed
Implementation plan for establishment of UWSS practitioner specialist
networks developed
Prepare Training and Orientation Materials
overview of the UWSS component principles
requirements for towns to receive financing for UWSS
implementation arrangements, the approach to capacity building
development of practitioner specialist networks

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Facilitate Orientation Workshops

Decision makers at regional and town levels (those expected to be
launched in first six months of the Project) understand how the Program
works and what their roles and responsibilities will be
Potential national and region-based consultants and relevant RWB staff
understand how the Program works
Prepare guidelines for Step 1
Establishment of town water boards
Facilitation of stakeholder consultation
Preparation of initial assessments
baseline indicators
collecting baseline information, including demographic, technical, customer
demand, willingness and ability to pay
rapid assessment of customers’ willingness and ability to pay up front
contribution/connection fee and ongoing tariffs
identifying immediate service improvements
estimating cost of WSS improvements and resulting tariffs and
connection fees
how to estimate system cost and tariffs
format for Step1 application
Prepare guidelines for Step 2
Preparing project proposals
Feasibility studies and designs
assessment of customers’ willingness and ability to pay, including household
surveys, based on design alternatives and more accurate cost estimates
conducting environmental and social assessments; preparing
mitigation/action plans
options for affordable design, cost sharing/connection agreements,
improvements to sanitation
Cost effective design
Cost sharing arrangements/connection agreement
Environmental and social assessments and mitigation/action plans
Performance agreements/contracts between Town Water Board and utility
operator
Performance monitoring
Building capacity of Town Water Board/Committee and utility operator

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National Town WSS Program Consultants will be contracted to

Support Project Implementation. Their Terms of Reference will include
the following:
Support development of practitioner specialist networks
organizing periodic trainings and workshops for region-based consultants
and relevant MWR and RWB staff to facilitate experience sharing, provide
specific training and to discuss particular issues that have arisen during
project implementation
facilitating inputs of international consultants to support the practitioner
specialist networks
disseminating information to members of the network and other
interested parties
Assist RWBs with recruitment and selection of region-based Town
WSS Consultants
Assist RWBs to formulate/refine pre-qualification criteria and procedures
for Town WSS Consultants;
advise RWB and the towns in consultant selection – reviewing statements
of qualifications, assessing presentations (program critiques), short-listing
and negotiation contracts;
Provide on-the-job assistance to relevant RWB staff who will be involved
in selecting and supervising Town WSS Consultants.
assist Town WSS Consultants to register as business entities and advise
them on business planning and financial management;
Provide on-going assistance to RWBs with orientation and supervision
of region-based consultants, as requested. In particular:
Carry out initial and periodic “refresher” training workshops for selected
Town WSS Consultants and RWB staff to ensure a common understanding
of Project implementation guidelines, systems and procedures;
Design and facilitate a series of regional level training/capacity building
activities for Town WSS Consultants, relevant RWB staff and other
regional stakeholders based on participatory needs assessment;
Provide specific training to relevant RWB decision makers and staff who
will be involved in review, appraisal and prioritization of proposals from
Town Water Boards/Committees at each step;
Facilitate lesson learning and refinement of training materials

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Facilitate participatory monitoring and evaluation of Regional UWSS

Program:
Facilitate monthly forums for Town WSS Consultants and relevant RWB
staff to track progress, share lessons learned, identify and resolve
problems and continue training;
Design and implement stakeholders’ assessment of national/regional
training materials and operational manuals and contribute to revisions as
appropriate.
Coordinate periodic review and update of guidelines and toolkits,
incorporating input from practitioner specialist network members working
in all regions.
At the town Level, provide periodic support on-the-job:
Provide on-the-job support to Town WSS Consultants as they carry out
their assignments with the Town Water Boards/ Committees
Facilitate on-going training and capacity building for Town Water
Board/Committee members, including facilitation of experience sharing
and comparative information about performance of utility operators;
Support on-going training and capacity building of town WSS utility
operators, including facilitation of experience sharing ;
Region-based Town WSS Consultants will be contracted to provide
assistance to Town Water Boards/ Committees and their utility
operators throughout the step process.
The main services to be provided by the region-based Town WSS
consultants are as follows:
In Step 1
Establish Town Water Boards/Committees
Prepare initial assessments and proposals for immediate service
improvements
Consult with stakeholders
In Step 2
Prepare designs and carry out feasibility studies
Carry out environmental and social assessment, propose mitigation/action
plans
Assess customer willingness and ability to pay required tariffs and
connection fees
Propose arrangements for cost sharing / connection agreements

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Prepare integrated sanitation plans in consultation with local government

Facilitate preparation of business plans
Propose arrangements for management and oversight; assist with
preparation of performance agreement or contract between Town Water
Board and utility operator
Facilitate consultation with stakeholders throughout the process
Carry out specific capacity building activities with Town Water Boards and
utility operators, including introducing or improving systems and
procedures for technical operations, financial management and reporting,
customer management, performance monitoring and reporting
Supervise implementation of immediate service improvements;
In Step 3
Supervise construction
Carry out additional capacity building for Town Water Board and utility
operator
Provide post-construction support, in particular to ensure proper
operation of systems, performance monitoring and reporting.

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5 Capacity building out puts

Capacity building for the stakeholders is implemented based on the stepped
approach of the program. And the out puts are also expected on different
stakeholders in different steps.
Step-1
The Town water board is established and oriented
Utility staff in place and trained in basic operations
The town water board able to make application for a grant to support the
immediate improvement plan with the assistance of TSG consultant
Data on existing water supply systems, operation and maintenance is
collected. Existing problems are identified and possible solutions are
recommended.
Step-2
Improved capacity of regions to support development of water supply and
sanitation systems and carry out monitoring and evaluation in a
decentralized environment
Improved capacity of local governments/Town water boards to manage
contracts for urban water supply and sanitation investments and oversee
ongoing operations
Improved capacity of local governments /Town water boards to support
town water supply and sanitation services
Improved capacity of the Utility in basic operations for sustainable and
sufficient supply of water
Improved capacity of community awareness on sanitation and
environmental protection
Improved capacity of utility office logistics
Improved capacity of town water board in preparation of business plan to
make application a grant to support a construction of long term project/to
move to step 3
Improved capacity of town water board to monitor and evaluate the Utility
operator for sustainable water supply and sanitation, with improved
coverage, efficiency and quality of service in urban communities
in preparation of business plan to make application a grant to support a
construction of long term project/to move to step 3
Improved capacity of the Utility water supply system by implementing ISI

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Improved capacity of TWB to manage contracts for urban water supply

and sanitation investments and oversee ongoing operations
Well trained TWB and Utility operators
Step-3
Though the implementation of step three is in the future, most of the
capacity building activities performed in step 2 are also expected in
step 3.

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6 Monitoring and evaluations

6.1 General
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.
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:

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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.

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6.2 Framework
The M & E system exists 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, 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.

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6.3 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

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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.

6.3.1 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.

6.3.2 Management 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.
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

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 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

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 Staff per 1000 connections

 Financial ratios
 Average time taken to resolve complaints

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7 Conclusions and Recommendations

7.1 Conclusions
From the out puts of capacity building it can be concluded that most of
capacity building strategies planned are executed with considerable
benefits; Some of the benefits gained from capacity buildings are;
Capacity building make the Utility strong, autonomous, good working
environment, introduce full cost recovery, perform good operation and
maintenance team, good governance, and resulted in sustainable, quality
and sufficient water supply.
Software Utility Capacity buildings
Water committee is developed to autonomous Utility.
Technical Utility operators got training for good performance
Financial and technical Recording system of the utility is improved
Management system of the utility is improved
Property control of the Utility is improved
Capacitated on how to procure goods and works
Service provision of the Utility is improved
Office facility of the utility is improved
Management body of the Utility/TWB are capable of managing technical
and managerial issues related to water supply and sanitation
The utility well aware of water supply integration to sanitation
All residents of the town were being awarded of sanitation and
environmental protection
Hardware Utility Capacity buildings
 Water supply System expansions such as distribution line expansion,
water point construction, Generator house construction, pump and
generator installations, utility office construction, supply of office
furniture and equipments, supply of fittings and spare parts and
construction of public dry pit latrines.
 Capacity building program make the region based consultants
stronger, capable and experienced in water supply and sanitation
consultancy service.
 TWB is capacitated through training for proper Utility management

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7.2 Recommendations
To have sustainable water supply for the community and well performed
operating system, time to time capacity building training are recommendable
for the key technical personnel. The capacity building programs implemented
in the last steps of this program make considerable initiations among all
stakeholders that should have continuity.
The Utility is the main stakeholder in supplying of sustainable, sufficient and
quality water supply for the community. So thus, by hook or crook the utility
shall be capacitated by software and hardware for successful working
condition of the water supply system.

References
TSG References, Regional implementation manual
World Bank Guide lines for water supply and Sanitation
Millennium Development goals, WATER SUPPLY & SANITATION for all
Community
Guide Line for step I processes, World bank aided project (by Ministry of
water resources)

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