Paris in the Southern Sudan springtime - aid effectiveness in action
February 2009. In March 2005, over 100 Ministers, heads of agencies and other senior officials in the sphere of international development committed their countries and organisations to continued efforts to increase harmonisation, alignment and managing aid for results, signing the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. In addition to establishing an agreed set of indicators against which to measure aid effectiveness, the Paris Declaration promoted a model of partnership to improve transparency and accountability on the use of resources. It recognised that for aid to become truly effective, stronger and more balanced accountability mechanisms were required at different levels. At the country level, the Paris Declaration encouraged donors and partners to jointly assess mutual progress in implementing agreed commitments on aid effectiveness. Four years later, in rural Southern Sudan, that key commitment to joint assessment is clearly in action. One of the most pressing development needs in Southern Sudan is access to clean water. According to the 2006 Sudan Household Health Survey, more than 40 per cent of the total population of Sudan does not have access to a safe source of drinking water. In all but one state in Southern Sudan, less than a quarter of households have access to clean water, and in one state nearly 75 per cent of households don’t have access to safe drinking water. When it comes to sanitation, the situation is even more worrying – on average across Sudan, less than one-third of the population uses adequate sanitation. In Southern Sudan, use of adequate sanitation is below the national average in all ten states. Massive investment in provision of clean water and sanitation has been high on the agenda in Southern Sudan since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005.Massive investment in provision of clean water and sanitation has been high on the agenda in Southern Sudan since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005. As the international community increased efforts to support the peace process through recovery and development, activities such as drilling of new boreholes, repair and installation of hand pumps and expanding access to household and community latrines have all attracted the interest of donors. But with the Government of Southern Sudan taking a lead in reconstruction, and myriad non-governmental organizations, UN agencies and donor partners all wanting to lend their support, the task of coordination and monitoring has become a challenge in itself.
In Wau, in late February 2009, a joint mission from the Government of Southern Sudan, the European Commission, the Multi-Donor Trust Fund and UNICEF undertook a week-long assessment visit to communities in Western and Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal to see just how improved access to water and sanitation was being delivered. Driving out into the isolated communities of the region underlines the challenges faced by those attempting to bring clean water to those who need it. While main roads between urban centres have been upgraded in the last three years, finding a specific village can mean weaving between trees and bushes on a track just a few metres wide – a track that can be impassable for days during the rainy season. One can drive for an hour without seeing a single habitation, until suddenly – as if dropped from the sky – a cluster of tukuls (traditional Sudanese mud and thatch houses) will appear, and in the middle of the village one finds a single hand pump, usually surrounded by groups of women and children, collecting their daily requirements in plastic jerry cans. Water really is the source of life in Southern Sudan – it provides for families, for livestock and for crop production. Not surprisingly, When a drilling rig appears in a community to start work on a new borehole, the site becomes a magnet for village elders and small children alikewhen a drilling rig appears in a community to start work on a new borehole, the site becomes a magnet for village elders and small children alike. The joint donor group seize the opportunity, and an in-depth discussion gets underway at each stopping point with members of the community and local officials to discover just how effective the water and sanitation programme is ‘in the field’. Listening to the needs – but also the suggestions – of a community is critical in shaping policy and strategy for development. Similarly – as on this particular visit – the role of the private sector comes under scrutiny, as donors and government alike address the balance between supporting public service delivery and ensuring maximum value for money in what has become a multi-million dollar initiative. One key strength of the development community in Sudan is that many donors have technical experts “in-country” – a fact clearly evident during this one-week mission, as frank exchanges took place on issues ranging from the potential of “lend-leasing” of drilling equipment for private sector contractors to the possibility of harnessing wind power for pumping water. The discussion is honest, passionate and practical – everyone here wants the same result; the discussion is about the best way to get clean water to every community that needs it. Seeing the reality of the challenges and witnessing first hand how they are being tackled is an essential part of assessing aid effectiveness. Ensuring that donor representatives, government agencies and other implementing bodies come together for that process is equally important. After a week visiting numerous villages, sitting in government offices in small towns, and hours of discussion and debate driving along bumpy tracks between the trees, it is clear that provision of clean water and sanitation is well underway in rural Southern Sudan – but there are real opportunities to do more, to try new approaches, and to maximise the impact of the donor dollar. In the burning heat of the sun, and caked in the red dust of the road, Paris may seem a long way away for this group of donors and their partners. But the Paris Declaration is certainly here, and being put into action, amidst the tukuls of Southern Sudan.
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