How successful are community-led organizations for water management? Evidence from an assessment of Water Management Organization in Coastal Bangladesh

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MI    

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How successful are community led organizations for water management? Evidence from an assessment of Water Management Organization in Coastal Bangladesh

Nandish Kenia 22-10-2014 Dhaka

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Index

•  Introduction to the WMOs •  Research Objective •  Selection criteria •  Methodology •  Assessment of each criteria •  Ratings •  Conclusion •  Recommendations

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Research Objective

•  Understand the different institutions and key actors involved in water governance in the coastal polders

•  To assess the success water

management organization in the coastal zone of Bangladesh

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Some  Facts:  •  242  WMOs  were  created  by  BWDB  

from  2003-­‐11  led  by  project  IPSWAM  •  280  Sub  projects  were  implemented  

by  LGED  under  SSWRDP  between  1995-­‐2000  and  another  300  between  2002-­‐09  

•  33%  women  should  be  members        

Long  term  ObjecQve:  •  Develop  capacity  of  local  stake  

holders  in  ParQcipatory  Water  Management  and  establish  sustainable  ownership  in  Water  Resource  Management  

What are WMO’s? A common name of organization of the local stakeholders of a water resource project/subproject scheme  

When were they created? Created in the early 2000’s

Why are the they created? Increase/improve stakeholder participation/involvement in water management and give them decisive voice at all stages of water management

How are they created? A participatory process where all members vote and elect the members

Introduction to WMOs

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Various Stakeholders of the WMO

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Criteria to assess the water management organization

OperaQons  &  Maintenance      

Financial  Accountability  

LegiQmacy    

Transparency    

ParQcipaQon  

CRITERIA  

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Study Area

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Methodology

Number  of  households  

Number  of  villages  

Number  of  sampled  

households  

Number  of  sampled  villages  

Latabunia   104     1   40   1  Jabusa   2,267     2   80   2  Jainka:   71   1   36   1  Polder  30   8462   44   280   14  Polder  3   35356   117   280   14  Poler  43-­‐2F   6457   12   284   12  TOTAL   52,542     177   1000   44  

Sampling  

Water  Management  Organiza:on  ques:onnaire  SecQon  1  –  IdenQficaQon  SecQon  2  –  InsQtuQonal  features  SecQon  3  –  Financial  features,  income  SecQon  4  –  Financial  features,  expenses  SecQon  5  –  operaQon  and  maintenance  

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Participation

•  Good  parQcipaQon  level  is  seen  during  the  start  of  the  project  but  not  in  the  informal  commi]ee  •  However,  parQcipaQon  gradually  diminishes  as  projects  come  to  an  end  •  Low  women  parQcipaQon  in  decision  making  process  •  In  most  villages  WMO  elecQons  are  not  held  regularly  

4  6  

0  

1  

3  

0  

0  

1  

0  

3  

2  

2  

0  

6  

1  

0  

2  

4  

6  

8  

10  

12  

14  

16  

18  

20  

Informal   WMG   WMCA  

None   Yearly   Half  yearly   Quarterly   Monthly  

3  

0   0  

10  

2   3  

2  

2  

17  

0  

5  

10  

15  

20  

25  

Informal  Commi]ee   WMCA   WMG  

No  parQcipaQon   Li]le  parQcipaQon   Complete  parQcipaQon  

At  the  creaQon  of  WMO   Number  of  Qmes  they  conduct  meeQngs  in  a  year  

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RaQngs  on  transparency  by  the  WMO  members    

Transparency

•  Regardless  of  land  size  or  WMO  membership  the  overall  raQngs  remain  low    •  Large  amounts  of  potenQally  relevant  informaQon  remains  unavailable  in  public  sphere  ü  Opening  and  closing  of  gates  ü  Agenda  of  public  meeQng  ü  Publicity  of  decision  taken  •  In  effect  this  may  have  consequences  on  people’s  willingness  to  contribute  (monetarily  or  voluntarily)    

3   4  0  

8  

11  

3  

2  

7  

0  

0  

5  

10  

15  

20  

25  

Informal   WMO   WMCA  

Poor   Neither  good  nor  bad   Good  

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Decisions  taken  for  various  expenses    

Financial Accountability

•  Most  WMOs  are  registered  and  have  a  savings  account  but  are  non-­‐funcQonal  or  have  become  dormant  

•  More  ogen  than  not  decision  making  over  the  expenses  remains  in  the  hands  of  one  

One  Member  26%  

Some/Other  EC  member  63%  

All  the  members  11%  

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Naming  the  organisaQon  for  solving  various  problems    

Legitimacy

•  Majority  of  the  people  want  the  government/local  insQtuQons  to  act  on  the  problems  •  PotenQally  LGI  would  have  more  power  than  the  local  communiQes  

21.4   25.2   22.1  

3.3   1.2   1.9  

52.2  31.4  

20.8  

19.6  

37.5  

6.5  

2.9   1.2  

47.4  

0.7   3.4   1.3  

0.0  

20.0  

40.0  

60.0  

80.0  

100.0  

120.0  

Informal   WMG   WMCA  

People  from  the  community   WMO   UP   BWDB   LGED   Others  

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OperaQons  of  the  gate    

Operations & Maintenance

•  OperaQons  of  the  gates  is  mostly  handled  by  gateman  appointed  by  the  commi]ee  •  Most  of  the  canals  are  of  bad  quality  in  polders  and  sub  projects  (no  excavaQon,  desiltaQon)  except  

Jabusa  •  Not  adequate  work  is  being  carried  out  in  most  polders  and  subprojects.  ü  Last  maintenance  acQvity  was  4  years  ago  ü  Almost  no  contribuQons  have  been  received  in  any  form  

0%  

10%  

20%  

30%  

40%  

50%  

60%  

70%  

80%  

90%  

100%  

3   30   43/2F   JB   JK   LT   Total  

23.2  

5.4   4.2   0.0   5.6   0.0  9.4  

11.8  61.4  

34.2   47.5  

66.7  

42.5  38.1  

41.1  

0.4  

0.7  

6.3  

0.0  

12.5  12.8  

6.1  14.6  

27.1  8.8  

0.0  

15.0  14.8  

8.6   11.4  26.4  

23.8  19.4  

12.5  16.2  

9.3   6.8   7.4   13.8   8.3  17.5  

8.7   Others  

Several  people  depending  on  the  needs  

Voluntary  gateman  living  nearby  

Gateman  appointed  by  gher  owners  

Gateman  appointed  by  commi]ee  

Khalasi  

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Large  Farm  Owners  Small  Farm  Owners  

3  2  

Rankings on various parameters •  Participation •  Transparency •  Financial accountability •  Legitimacy •  Operations and management

Taken from 1000 household survey

1   6

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Members  

Non-­‐Members  

3.5  

1.75  

Rankings on various parameters •  Participation •  Transparency •  Financial accountability •  Legitimacy •  Operations and management

Taken from 1000 household survey

1   6

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In conclusion…

•  Inadequate participation is impacting the effectiveness of the WMO •  Lack of transparency may have consequences on people’s

willingness to contribute •  Absence of financial transactions is being observed •  People showing more faith in local governing institution than

community led organization •  Dearth of contribution reflects in maintenance of embankments,

canals and the gates

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Recommendations…

•  More co-ordination amongst various institutions and stakeholders •  Defining clear/specific roles for all to have clear water governance

framework

•  People have faith in the local government to take decisions •  Formal role to be given to government institutions

•  Promote a more targeted approach to achieve more equity in water management

•  Support women and most vulnerable segment of the community in participation by tapping their inherent strength

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