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| Author: |
UNDP and GEF SGP, 2006-11-13
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| Title: |
Community Water Initiative: Project Portfolio Review |
| Publisher: |
UNDP BDP Environment and Energy Group, 23 pages
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| Type: |
Case Studies
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| Country / Region: |
Global
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| Categories: |
Water & Sanitation,
NGO's/CSO's
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| Themes/Issues: |
Access,
Development,
Participation
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| Date Posted: |
2006-09-26 |
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The Community Water Initiative (CWI) supports decentralized, demand-driven, innovative, low-cost, and community-based water resource management and water supply and sanitation projects (WSS) in rural areas. CWI projects began in 2004; to date, CWI has allocated grants amounting to more than USD $620,000 for implementation of 39 projects, benefiting over 10,000 rural households (US $10 investment per capita) in six countries: Guatemala, Kenya, Mauritania, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Uganda. A seventh country, Ghana came on board in July 2006.
CWI works in close partnership with the GEF Small Grants Programme . It takes advantage of and builds upon several SGP strengths, among others: 14 years of experience on the ground, a country-driven programming approach, and local decision making and implementation mechanisms. Additional benefits of this partnership include SGP’s local country programme staff, partnerships and grantee networks; and ability to fund key aspects of WSS relevant to the global environmental values promoted by the GEF, such as sustainable land management and ecosystem conservation.
CWI uses the SGP’s National Steering Committees and National Coordinators to carry out the programme locally, including identification of local co-financing, while using the SGP’s global database to monitor and record the progress of CWI projects and country portfolios.
Driven by an innovative approach to grassroots development through informed and active community participation, CWI has demonstrated impacts and learned valuable lessons from implementation in a number of areas. CWI follows an approach that attempts to influence policy from practice. It demonstrates a feasible and low-cost approach that relies on informed and active participation by stakeholders and local level decision–making.
Links between communities and national policy decision-making are facilitated through the National Steering Committees (NSCs) of the GEF’s Small Grants Programme, which have responsibility for project guidance, selection of grantees and strategic oversight.
CWI faces the challenge of scalability and sustainability of a proven and successful grant making model for development of remote rural communities. Target groups are clearly defined in every project: The CWI is reaching poor, marginal, and indigenous groups (the Maya in Guatemala and the Maasai in Kenya) and is empowering women – “We are helping to reduce the workload of women and children in all our projects (Tanzania); “Local women’s committees participated in the project… At community workshops, women outnumbered men” (Guatemala).
CWI has proven ability to develop community capacities and self reliance. It offers potential for development of community enterprises (the establishment of kitchen gardens for the Maasai is an innovative practice introduced by CWI).
CWI has a rich and diverse portfolio of innovative projects ranging from sanitation in schools, to rock water harvesting, to the use of wind mills and solar energy for pumping, domestic and productive uses of water, including irrigation. CWI is implementing projects that improve livelihoods and serve as entry points for poverty reduction, improvements in food security, health (reduction of incidences of water borne diseases in Lufumbu, Tanzania by 80%), education, gender equity, democratic governance at local level, and environment management (bio-remediation of nitrate in wells in Sri Lanka through improved agriculture and forestation practices).
CWI is implementing projects in partnership with over 30 international and local organizations. Pages 10 through 19 feature highlights from completed CWI projects in Guatemala, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Uganda.
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