Steps to sustainability: a road map for WASH

This paper presents a strategy for achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 6.1 and 6.2 (universal access to clean water and to adequate sanitation and hygiene) in the context of rural Uganda. With participation of the Ministry of Water and Environment, a group of local government representatives have consulted in a series of workshops and meetings over the past five years. This ‘Learning Alliance’ has been hosted by a Ugandan social enterprise, Whave Solutions. The alliance undertook a systems analysis that identified key barriers to effective WASH delivery, such as financial disincentive for preventive maintenance. A regulatory structure and service delivery public–private partnership (PPP) approach was developed and implemented through practical maintenance contracts in more than 200 communities. The PPP key elements were performance payment for preventive maintenance, reliability assurance contracts between a service utility and rural communities, proposed new by-laws, standard constitutions, bank...