Public-Private Partnerships For Small-Scale, Decentralized Services

The USAID Rural Water Supply Activity is enhancing water infrastructure, reducing network losses, and fostering community participation for lasting impact through a novel approach to Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) that offers a promising approach to improve rural water access through decentralized management models.

This session unveils the success of the USAID Rural Water Supply Activity in overcoming the effects of climate change on glacier melt, inefficient irrigation, exploitation of groundwater, and large network losses in drinking water supply to create healthier, more water secure communities. By protecting water resources in Tajikistan, a country uniquely critical to the central Asian region due to its abundance of source water for neighboring nations, the program improves ecosystem security to reduce transboundary tensions. Strong engagement of local communities through self-governing Consumer Advisory Boards, including women and youth, are complemented by strategic PPPs with water operators, such that institutionalization and community participation can form the basis for successful entrepreneurship. Transferring facility management from local authorities to the private sector for sustainable management under agreements, reinforced by the program’s work in policy reform, has resulted in vastly improved operator performance. This has translated directly into increased revenue and numbers of beneficiaries reached. The program’s approach offers a small-scale solution to attract private investments through community-based partnerships that improve service quality and accountability, as well as water fee collection rates for sustainable, decentralized services.