Getting Communities Engaged in Water and Sanitation Projects: Participatory Design and Consumer Feedback

Content - Summary

2nd of 4 learning documents by BPD on WSUP's African Cities for the Future programme: How can we encourage and elicit input and feedback from people living in low-income communities on the design of water supply and sanitation projects? This Topic Brief presents an overview of challenges, case studies and recommendations.

Community engagement in water and sanitation service delivery is key for ensuring project sustainability and accountability. In all of its programmes, WSUP works with local service providers, community groups and local authorities to enhance stakeholder participation. This Topic Brief looks at community engagement approaches used by WSUP in three cities within the African Cities for the Future (ACF) programme: Antananarivo (Madagascar), Kumasi (Ghana) and Maputo (Mozambique). The specific focus is on ways to encourage community involvement in the design of water supply and sanitation projects, and ways in which service providers can elicit input and feedback from people living in low-income communities. The Topic Brief discusses several cases in which community engagement has positively contributed to the development of WASH services. It highlights some of the key challenges currently faced by WSUP and other sector organisations, and ends with practical recommendations for programme managers about how to engage low-income communities.

Bibliographic information

Keatman, T. (2013). Getting Communities Engaged in Water and Sanitation Projects: Participatory Design and Consumer Feedback. Building Partnerships for Development (BPD), Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), UK

Filter tags

English Public awareness, advocacy and civil society engagement (WG9) Sub-Saharan Africa

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