Oxfam team in DRC shares learning on managing water supply systems – and conflict

The Oxfam team in DRC has been piloting the ‘ASUREP’ model of water network users’ associations for the management of water supply systems in semi-urban areas

A sign highlights an area where Oxfam partner PPSSP is working in Sake, North Kivu

SWIFT partners participate in a workshop on approaches to WASH in semi-urban settings in DRC. The team is now piloting the ASUREP model

Oxfam’s partners in DRC have been sharing ideas for low-cost household latrine designs for challenging contexts, such as the volcanic rock seen at this PPSSP project site in North Kivu

Following research conducted by ODI, the Oxfam team in DRC has been piloting the ‘ASUREP’ model of water network users’ associations for the management of water supply systems in semi-urban areas, where there is currently no established approach. This is a hybrid model (blending community and private management) which focuses on formalising and professionalising existing community-management organisations, and stipulates that water users’ associations must include both legal and community representation.

The approach has been applied successfully in the western part of DRC by ADIR (Action pour le Développement des Infrastructures en milieu Rural, or Action for Community Development in Rural Areas), and SWIFT is in the process of piloting it in eastern provinces.

In addition to increasing the sustainability of water supply management, it’s hoped that this approach will improve transparency and inclusion, through a voting process which includes every household in the community. The aim is to use this model to positively influence female leadership, and take advantage of the opportunities it offers to strengthen accountability mechanisms at the community level.

However, the challenge remains in creating a framework of collaboration between independent ASUREPs and government bodies. The approach is being continually refined by SWIFT, and it’s hoped will lead to an appropriate and sustainable institutional model in the transition to a decentralised administration.

Implementing the ASUREP approach

Following a workshop on the ASUREP approach held by ADIR for SWIFT staff, the team has been holding meetings with local communities to establish the principles of the model since June, with community leaders, local associations and members of previous water committees in attendance. The new approach will be used to manage targeted, gravity-fed water supply systems in towns including Sake, Lubiriha, Lubero, Kanyabayonga and Kirumba.

In Mweso, Oxfam partner PPSSP plans to install water meters to monitor the connections of public institutions to the rehabilitated gravity-fed water system, enabling the ASUREP to see the water consumption of the church, hospital, schools and NGOs. Water meters will also be installed in households that previously benefited from unauthorised private connections, allowing the ASUREP to set appropriate and affordable tariffs for different stakeholders, and so support the sustainability of the system in terms of maintenance.

The process of installing water meters at key points in the system will be initiated for all of the gravity-fed systems being constructed or rehabilitated.

Increasing cost recovery

As in other towns, cost recovery in Sake was done only occasionally in the past, when the water supply system broke down, which did not support sustainable operation and maintenance. Using the expertise and experience of ADIR in successfully developing the ASUREP approach elsewhere, SWIFT reviewed the financial management system and will continue to develop it, to enable payment of maintenance costs and the recruitment of paid members to the management unit to improve professionalism, while ensuring that water tariffs are affordable for vulnerable members of the community.

At other existing water-supply systems which Oxfam’s partners are rehabilitating, extending, or supplementing – for example at Lubiriha, Lubero, Kirumba and Kanyabayonga – water-management committees have also tended to have low cost-recovery rates, as a result of a lack of control over water users; cost recovery is estimated at around 40-50% for the different systems. Oxfam’s partners are developing ongoing support plans with each water-management committee to address this problem of cost recovery and promote a more structured approach to the collection and management of water tariffs, something which has been shown to promote sustainability.

At newly constructed water-supply systems – for example at Kabasha, Kaseghe, Kasima and Mihake – water-management committees have only recently started to fully implement monthly cost recovery. For most systems, June was the first month that water tariffs were collected, and cost recovery was estimated at around 30%. This is expected to improve as the community develops a better understanding of the need to pay for the maintenance of its water supply.

Building appropriate, low-cost latrines

Learning is also emerging around the design of low-cost, household latrines in areas where the ground is rocky or the water-table is high. Oxfam has been supporting its partners CEPROSSAN, Hyfro and PPSSP to share ideas for above-ground latrine designs and how to reduce the cost of building them, taking into account the environment and habits of a community, which varies according to context.

The adaptations developed include raised latrine pits constructed from stone masonry, brick masonry, plastic barrels, or sacks filled with earth, as appropriate for the conditions.

Conflict management and potential weapons

The Oxfam team’s construction of a gravity-fed water supply system in Lubero, to supplement an existing system which had insufficient coverage, attracted a lot of interest from stakeholders such as local leaders. This was a determining factor in achieving high levels of community participation, but as the new system extended water coverage beyond that of the existing system, the desire for more influence began to feed latent conflicts at community level between religious and other institutional leaders.

The team’s response was to hold meetings and training sessions on conflict management, supported by an ad-hoc training module on preventing and managing conflicts at the community level. The situation continues to be monitored, and similar conflicts are being tightly followed up at other rehabilitated gravity-fed systems, particularly in the southern part of North Kivu province.

Meanwhile, following a joint decision taken by the humanitarian community working in Beni territory, maintenance and construction kits provided by SWIFT to support villages working to improve their water, sanitation and hygiene provision through the Healthy Villages and Schools approach have had to be adapted. Any material considered to have the potential to be transformed into a weapon has been removed, including machetes.

Find out more about the SWIFT programme in DRC