The Role of Civil Society in the Sector in Improving Sustainable Service Delivery

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The Role of Civil Society in the Sector in
Improving Sustainable Service Delivery

• PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE, WATER AND SANITATION,
  PARLIAMENT, CAPETOWN, 24 MAY 2006
• Presented by Victor Thoka
• Director of Rural Development Services Network,
  and Member of Masibambane National CSOs Steering
  Committee

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OUTLINE

• Analysis of the role of CSOs in provision of
  social services, in terms of
• Key principles guiding CSOs involvement
• Key areas of involvement
• Key challenges faced by CSOs involvement
• Initiatives to deal with these challenges

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Principles guiding CSOs involvement

• Combine Service delivery with developing people
  thereby building social capital
• Community driven, community owned,
  participatory and empowering approaches
• Deepen democracy and people ownership of
  development
• Mainstreaming cross cutting issues

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Principles guiding CSOs involvement (cont.)

• Treat citizens as key role players (stakeholders
  and beneficiaries) and not only as consumers
• Put emphasis on the process as on the product
• Sustainability is the cornerstone of CSOs
  participation
• Understanding the terrain much better

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Principles guiding CSOs involvement (cont.)

• Being the conscience and voice of the poor and
  the marginalized
• Social development is a social construct as
  opposed to a technical process thus, dealing
  with subjects not objects

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Key areas of involvement

• PLANNING
• Research capacity building information
  desemination policy advocacy lobbying
  campaigning monitoring and evaluation
• Examples Development of IDPs, WSDPs and project
  development BPs Training of ward committees and
  community development workers

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Key areas of involvement (cont.)

• How does this improve Sustainability in planning?
• Build trust of the process by communities as CSOs
  are seen as impartial facilitators.
• Knowledge and experience in community based
  approaches
• Better product through better process
• Hold government accountable to electorate

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Key areas of involvement (cont.)

• PROJECT MANAGEMENT
• Appropriate technologies for remote rural
  communities less onerous O M requirements
• Buying in by communities
• Linkage to local economic benefit
• Happy communities, less vandalism

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Key areas of involvement (cont.)

• Sustainability in project management
• Experience in providing cost effective services
  in remote areas
• Maximum cents in the rand stay in the community
• Maximum participation, ownership
  responsibility
• Better product through better processes

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Key areas of involvement (cont.)

• INSTITUTIONAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT (ISD)
• Understanding the political economy of
  communities involved (empathy trust)
• Effective participatory techniques
• Experience in community based approaches
• Going the extra mile (volunteerism)
• Understanding behaviour change (H HE)

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Key areas of involvement (cont.)

• Benefit to Sustainability in ISD
• Institutional development grounded within the
  local context
• Integrated and holistic approaches in training
  and education lead to all rounded development
  practitioners
• Informed communities and beneficiaries

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Key areas of involvement (cont.)

• OPERATIONS MAINTENANCE
• Strong and effective communications with
  communities through education and campaigns
• Effective stakeholder and beneficiary management
• Appropriate technologies to manage free basic
  water allocation
• Effective and affordable solutions to sewage
  system failures
• Effective cost recovery and cheaper WSP
  arrangements

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Key areas of involvement (cont.)

• Benefit of O M to Sustainability
• Ensuring Community involvement in O M
• Sound stakeholder and beneficiaries relations
  through local knowledge and good communication
• Appropriate technical solutions
• Facilitation of affordable service levels
• Satisfied communities through better process

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Key challenges affecting CSOs involvement

• Lack of political will, especially at the local
  level
• Absence of policies and strategies to guide
  municipalities at local level
• CSOs engagement often driven by cosmetic window
  dressing rather genuine intentions
• Lack of clarity on the role of CSOs
• Adversarial relations among traditional
  authorites,government and CSOs
• Need for paradigm shift by both CSOs and
  Government
• Treating CSOs as an added on, rather than a
  partner in development

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Challenges affecting CSOs involvement in service
delivery continues

• Little budgets allocated to building the capacity
  of CSOs despite the call for more budgets
• Procurement policies not accommodative of CSOs
• BEE BBEE policies have not benefited CSOs sofar
• The Challenge of CSOs speaking with one voice.

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Innitiatives to address these challenges

• The development of a strategic framework by SALGA
  in colloboration with CSOs and other partners
• Development of a five year activity plans by the
  nine provinces to be mainstreamed into DWAF s
  Water and Sanitation Five Year Plan
• Business Plans for the nine provinces completed
• National data-base for CSOs completed and the
  provincial ones in progress
• Development of National Communication Strategy
  in progress
• Skills training and accreditation for CSOs
  started in certain provinces
• CSOs Summit next month to address some of the
  challenges.

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CONCLUSION

• We need a political leadership to champion CSO
  involvement. Together we can contribute to a
  growing economy through sustainable services.
• I THANK YOU!