Desafíos en la implementación de proyectos de cooperación en servicios de agua dentro del proceso de urbanización sostenible. Cuatro casos de estudio en ÁfricaMaputo (Mozambique), Idjwi (DR Congo), Wukro (Etiopía) y Mecufi (Mozambique)

Résumé

Many NGOs have tried to implement cooperation projects in water services in Africa. A percentage of them has been successful when it comes to sustainability but a significant proportion has failed . Discovering and analyzing the conditions that make the sustainability of development cooperation projects has been the ultimate goal of our research. A first objective was to determine the limitations that development projects in water services face in the process of sustainable urbanization. In a subsequent step we have tried to study whether the acceptance of private water connections meets the demand generated by the target population. Moreover, the comparison of the evolution of cooperation projects in the four case studies allowed us to determine whether the interaction of stakeholders ensures the inclusion of all actors and the optimal response to the needs of the final beneficiaries. We have employed various methodological instruments. First we have addressed four case studies where focus groups and interviews with key informants have been conducted in the qualitative analysis. It has also been supplemented by the quantitative study from developed questionnaires to the target population. For data processing three software tools have been used EPANET, SPSS and ArcGIS. Among the final conclusions we highlight the need to focus on continuous support for cooperation projects in water services for a period not less than ten years. The second final conclusion indicates that all projects studied required a strengthening of the structures responsible for decision making. In our case studies institutional sustainability has proven to be the weakest dimension. The third final conclusion is the need to sacrifice the sense of ownership of the systems implemented in the community for longer than the time period of implementation. The case study in Idjwi shows that the interventions where there has been more participation from the external organization, resulting in a reduction in the sense of ownership, show better rates of progress towards sustainability. The fourth final conclusion is the need to offer alternatives to the population to have access to improved services. The data show that residents of the case study in Maputo could not access the services offered for a domestic connection due to the economic conditions attached to such service. The fifth final conclusion establishes the need to incorporate the specific needs of the vulnerable population in the overall approach. In the case study of Wukro public standpipes have been reduced although they served part of the population infected with HIV who have fewer economic resources and higher water needs . The sixth final conclusion would be the creation of a methodology to address the sustainability of cooperation projects in water services. A template is provided which can be used by the implementing agencies, both NGOs as funding agencies, in order to assess the sustainability of projects. This tool includes indicators grouped into five areas: economic, technical, health-environment, social and institutional . The evaluation of these indicators will both analyze long -term outcomes of an implementation and guide the formulation of the objectives of the implementation in the design stage.