DRAFT 2

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE STUDY ON WORKING WITH

PARLIAMENT ON IMPROVING WASH GOVERANANCE IN UGANDA.

Background
The Uganda national development plan identifies provision of safe clean water
and sanitation as key aspect in poverty eradication. The water and sanitation
coverage according to the Sector performance report 2009 has been steadily
increasing and stands at 63 percent in rural areas and 72 percent in urban
areas. In a study by WaterAid in 20051, it was observed that despite the
reported national increase in the coverage, equity in distribution is not being
achieved. In fact the level of inequity in distribution between parishes has
increased over the years hence widening the gap between the haves and the
have nots. WaterAid Uganda is therefore promoting a stronger focus on
equity, as part of a wider strategy to improve sector performance monitoring
and strengthen governance and accountability in the WASH sector.

Key Elements of WASH Sector Governance

Dimension Definition General WASH specific
examples Examples
Capability Extent to - -Taxes, tariffs and
which leaders Finance/revenu subsides.
and e ( capex/ -Skills, knowledge,
governments opex) behavior.
are able to -Capacity and - Regulation &
get things human decentralization
done. resources
-Institutional
arrangements.
Accountabili Ability of -Access to -Scrutiny in media,
ty citizens civil information and parliament,
society and decisions. watchdog.
private sector Inclusive -Multi stakeholder
to hold them decision participation
to account making. -Voice and social
-Capable and accountability
active CSO’s
Responsiven Whether -Rights and pro -Defining rights and
ess public policies poor policies legal standards.
and -Corruption and -Monitoring service
institutions integrity. level / quality
respond to -Equity -Targeting unserved
1
Study Of Factors Influencing Equitable Distribution Of Water Supply And Sanitation Services In Uganda June 2005
WaterAid in Uganda

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 needs of concerns
citizens

The WASH sector in Uganda acknowledges the need for improved governance
in order to effectively address equity and sustainability concerns in the sector.
The National Water and Sanitation Working Group recently established a sub
group on Good Governance that has initiated various governance measures in
the last year below:
• Fiduciary reports
• A corruption report
• Value for money audits

There are many reasons why governance practices differ across the sector.
The sector performance report of 2009 highlighted the need to conduct more
research and consultation to assess further the factors that contribute to
better WASH governance and the need to work closely with parliament on
WASH issues in order to ensure equitable distribution of WASH resources.

WaterAid in Uganda has for some time identified parliament as a potentially

important mechanism through which to strengthen accountability for WASH
sector performance. A recent scoping study by WaterAid UK2 suggests that
parliaments can generally act in the following areas: policy-making and
planning; legislation and implementation; oversight and monitoring; and
representation. In theory, this means parliaments can influence national
development strategies, allocate resources to them and monitor the results
(including programmes relevant to WASH) but the effectiveness of these
different parliamentary functions varies significantly across countries. Below
are the various acts that have been ratified by parliament, some need to be
revised to address the emerging issues in the sector like Private Sector
Participation, Decentralization, and the Sector Wide Approaches and the
revision of the no subsidy. As per time line these issues are post the some of
the key WASH statutes. This applies to sanitation as well.

• Constitution of the Republic of Uganda (1995),

• The Local Governments Act (2000),
• The Water Act (1995),
• The National Water & Sewerage Corporation Act (2000),
• The National Environment Act;
• The Land Act (1998), and amended 2009,

The WASH sector falls under the natural resources parliamentary committee.
On annual basis (see below), the indicative plan/ MTEF is submitted to
Parliament on the 1st April for approval by the 15th May. Subsequently, the line
2
Making Parliaments Works for WASH: Scoping Study on Parliamentary Engagement. Background paper, June 2010.
WaterAid.

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ministries prepare the detailed budget estimates. The MFPED finalizes the
budget allocations and Cabinet approves the final budget before this is
submitted to Parliament in early June with the objective of completing the
budget by the end of June. The first year of the MTEF forms the basis of the
annual budget allocations, which are voted by parliament.

The sector is still defining how its policy level relates with regulation:
separating policy and regulation under supervision lines and funding
investment responsibility with parliament.

The business transacted during the 4th session of the 8th parliament (4th June
2009 to 19th May 2010, parliament passed 22 bills of which 4 relate to the
WASH sector (i.e. that on land, finance , youth and planning). 27 reports were
presented and adopted of which two were WASH related with regard to the
environment. None of the petitions and loan requests under consideration and
oaths made was wash related3.

Purpose: To review parliamentary functions relevant to improving

accountability for WASH sector performance in Uganda, and to identify
opportunities and strategies for parliamentary engagement by WaterAid
Uganda and its partners.

Objectives
Specific objectives of the study:

1. Review parliamentary functions and their relevance to WASH in Uganda

(policy making and planning; legislation and implementation; oversight
and monitoring; representation).
3
The parliament of Uganda Report : Business transacted during the 4th session of the 8th parliament 2009-2010

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 2. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of existing accountability
mechanisms relating to WASH sector performance at different levels in
Uganda.
3. Identify opportunities and recommend strategies for parliamentary
engagement by WAU and partners in order to strengthen governance
and improve accountability for WASH sector performance in Uganda.

Scope of Work
1. Identify what roles and responsibilities parliamentarians have towards
insure Uganda meets WASH sector performance targets.
2. Assess, analyze and document factors that facilitate WASH governance
of water and sanitation services in Uganda.
3. Establish and analyze factors that hinder equitable WASH governance of
water and sanitation services
4. Identify policy weaknesses and or gaps associated with WASH
governance of water and sanitation services.
5. Suggest practically feasible approaches to overcome such weaknesses
or gaps at national, district and lower local government levels.
6. Examine the strengths and weaknesses in planning, budgeting and
implementation systems that lead to poor WASH governance and
ultimately inequitable service delivery at different levels.
7. Identify incentives that motivate such decision makers to improve
WASH governance of water and sanitation services at all levels.
8. Review lessons learned from parliamentary engagement in other
sectors and propose ways of working with parliament on WASH related
issues.
9. Generate, analyze and document any other information useful in
developing national guidelines for achieving better WASH governance.

Key Outputs
There are three outputs expected from the study.
1. The intending bidding will be expected to prepare technical and financial
proposals for the study providing details of methodology of how they
intend to conduct the study including data collection and analysis,
formats for reporting of findings, time frames for key activities.
2. Draft reports for comments and discussion by the Sector stakeholders
and other selected stakeholders.
3. Final Study Report of findings, recommendations and information that
will guide development of guidelines for strengthening governance and
accountability for WASH sector performance.
The proposal and reports should be presented in 2 hard copies and a
soft copy.

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Methodology
The consultant will develop appropriate methodology, tools and 8 select
sample districts in consultation with the client for purposes of drawing
acceptable results from this assignment.
The 8 (three from WAU GTF project) districts should be representative of
different political situation, rural and urban characteristics, different
socioeconomic, demographic, hydro-geological, relief, climate, and
technology options zones.
The consultant will apply the tools and conduct discussion with key sector
player and parliamentarians and their committees during collection of
detailed information on selected sample districts. Conduct extensive field
visits, meeting with District Water Officers, other relevant district
personnel and institutions, other water and sanitation sector actors and
community members. Review of available documentation (hard and soft)
relevant to the assignment.
The consultant will present the findings to the directorate of water
development Governance Technical team plus selected stakeholders as
means of final consultations before a final report is prepared and
submitted (The cost of this for the participants and selected stakeholders
will be born by the client separately).

Responsibilities of the Client

The client will provide the following
1. Assignment of a Contact and establishment of a Steering/Technical
Committee.
2. Introduction of the consultant to the various stakeholders for
interviewing.
3. Provision of available background documentation and information to the
consultant for the assignment.
4. Organise governance working group and selected stakeholders for
presentation and discussion of draft findings.
5. Timely feedback on draft reports, and attendance of appropriate staff for
clarification meetings requested by the consultant
Timing and Reporting
The study will commence in beginning of 1st December 2010 and last a total
of three calendar weeks up to 21st December 2010. The 25 days cover
preparatory work, field work, report preparation and consultation meetings.
Final reports must have been submitted by end of XX November 2010.

Profile of Consultants
The principal investigator and the co-investigator must adduce evidence of
wide experience in research in the water and sanitation sector issues in the
previous five years, excellent communication, good organizational and

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analytical skills, with significant experience and understanding of
decentralization and decentralized service delivery. The team leader must be
willing to fully participate in the study and to accomplish the assignment
within the indicated time frame.

Background Documents
The main background reference documents are:

1. SIP 15
2. Fiduciary reports
3. Value for money reports
4. WAU GTF reports
5. Water and Sanitation Sector Performance Report 2009, October 2009.
6. Other relevant documentation and communications with DWD and/or
districts, NGOs, etc.
7. Data from UBOS and DWD-MIS and any other relevant Water coverage
data.
8. WaterAid June 2009 UK Scoping Study on Making Parliaments Work for
WASH
9. WAU 2004 Report on factors affecting distributional equity
10. WAU 2009/2010 report / baseline on equity and inclusion (draft )
11. WAU 2009/2010 Scoping Report on Sector Financing (Unpublished)

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