WASHCost country selection rationale: Mozambique

Mozambique has been selected as one of the countries in which the WASHCost project will be implemented. The choice has been based on a number of criteria.

Governmental support

The policy environment in Mozambique is conducive to implementing an impact-oriented project like WASHCost. Key actors in the sector (DNA, the National Water Department, UNICEF, Regulator’s Office, Netherlands’ Embassy) confirm that there is a strong need for improved cost information, both in general to improve budgeting for capital investments, but also in particular because the country is on the brink of a huge decentralization effort that will include decentralizing budgets towards the districts and provinces. There is also a clear commitment to community management, sector co-ordination and collaboration, Sector Wide Approaches, joint sector reviews, and to improved accountability and transparency.

Water sector developments

One of the most significant developments in the water sector of Mozambique during the last decades was the development of the National Water Policy (NWP) by the Government of Mozambique (GoM) in 1995, which signalled a radical change in both the provision and management of water supplies and also in how the country’s water resources are managed. After decades of top-down planning in both the provision and management of water supplies, the NWP called for the decentralization of water service provision, a greater role for the private sector especially in urban water supply management, and the adoption of the demand responsive approach in the rural water sub-sector.

The organisations involved

While there is research capacity, it is scattered across a range of agencies and organisations. It will take strong co-ordination and oversight to engage and manage a research team. It appears to be possible to create an embedded project setup in Direcção Nacional de Àguas (DNA) that will be able to deliver the expected project outputs. The lead partner for WASHCost in Mozambique is therefore DNA while the project is hosted by CoWater Consuldores Lda.

The institutional partnership with DNA is reflected in the Co-operative Agreement between DNA and IRC, signed at the project launch in November 2008, and the appointment of a focal point officer from the Rural Water Department (DAR) as part of the Core Country Team.