<font size="3" color="#454545">'''Institutional sustainability''' in the WASH sector means that WASH systems, institutions, policies and procedures at the local level are functional and meet the demand of users of WASH services. Households and other WASH service users, authorities and service providers at the local and national level are clear on their own roles, tasks and responsibilities, are capable of fulfilling these roles effectively and are transparent to each other. WASH stakeholders work together in the WASH chain through a multi-stakeholder approach.</font>
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The IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre’s [http://www.waterservicesthatlast.org/ Triple-S] initiative has identified a set of three pillars for achieving sustainable rural water services at scale (which are also applicable to the wider sustainable WASH sector):
* Adoption of a [http://www.waterservicesthatlast.org/resources/concepts_tools/service_delivery_approach service delivery approach]
* Creation of capacity for [[Learning & Adaptive Management | learning and adaptive management]]
* Ensuring [[Policy & Advocacy (Harmonisaton & Coordination)|harmonisation and alignment]] at national level
Under these three pillars, a set of principles has been developed that needs to be in place for sustainable service delivery. This column of the Sustainability Portal includes the Triple-S principles/building blocks, covering five crucial institutional levels: consumer, water service provider, water service authority, national, international.
===Vision===
[[Image:unu water.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Photo: [http://archive.unu.edu/africa/activities/water.html UN University]]]
WASH systems, institutions, policies and procedures should meet the demand of all different users of WASH services effectively and ensure transparency. They should ensure the roles, tasks and responsibilities of all stakeholders in such a way that their collaboration and coordination leads to the delivery of WASH services with the required quantities and qualities. All of these systems, institutions, policies and procedures are should be constantly updated based on inputs of all stakeholders.
* The role of NGOs will shift from ''implementing to facilitating'': NGOs support communities to achieve their rights to WASH and facilitate improvement in multi-stakeholder coordination and synergy in the WASH sector.
===Trends===
* Increased recognition that only by collaboration between all WASH sector stakeholders will effective and sustainable WASH delivery be achieved.
* The [[Decentralisation|decentralisation of the government ]] offers a chance to bring WASH services closer to the communities to ensure proper implementation and influence of policies.
* It is broadly recognised that free services are not sustainable and that a more ‘business like’ approach is required.
* The private sector is interested to develop sound technical and cost-effective WASH services, adapted to more marginal groups.
* The civil society can now better concentrate on their key role of facilitation of the WASH chain, lobby and advocacy, especially towards ensuring the rights of marginalised groups to WASH services. This greater focus of NGOs is desired and will ensure the quality of their work and interventions.
* Communities are more aware of the need to contribute time and resources for the operation and maintenance of WASH services. Having rights also implies having duties.
===Challenges===
* NGOs fill existing gaps in WASH services to marginal and isolated communities with funds from (inter)national donors. By taking this implementing role, they are taking away the responsibility of other actors to ensure the provision of WASH services. They lack at times the required technical expertise.
* The institutional framework in terms of policies, procedures, standards, roles and responsibilities is relatively transparent for drinking water, but lacks for sanitation and hygiene. In those latter cases the distribution of tasks and responsibilities between different Ministries (Health, Water, and Environment) at different levels remains unclear. A related problem is that the process of [[Decentralisation|decentralization]], though an interesting opportunity for greater participation of communities, is taking place without transfer of the necessary financial means and technical capacities to local levels.
* The private sector is too limited to urban areas. The local market is not functioning in an optimal way to encourage business investment and operation to invest in and develop relevant WASH services, especially for marginal and isolated communities.
* Communities, especially women and marginalised groups, have long been regarded as vulnerable and weak, as victims of injustice. Too little attention has been paid to their capacities and strong points. The experiences with the provision of free services have not led to sustained services in the long run.
===Approaches===
'''The WASH Alliance promotes an integrated approach to the WASH sector, which includes:''' the mobilization and organisation of the community around their right to WASH; clarifying roles and responsibilities of all WASH actors and the facilitation of multi-stakeholder platforms; [[Capacity Building - Threshold Concept|building the capacity ]] of the sector(s) towards better delivery; lobby and advocacy towards better policies and mobilization of government budgets. Below these elements are further explained:
* Partnering with women and coalitions at local level
* Building strong organisations around specific interests
* [[Gender Mainstreaming | Inputs of women ]] will be pivotal, including their leadership to achieve results
* Coalitions of different local WASH user groups will scale up their interventions and influence
===Capacity building===
[[Image:woman tying.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Photo: [http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/fall12articles/fall12gifs/p15p1-lg.jpg ESRI]]]
To achieve a better performance in the WASH sector, [[Capacity Building - Threshold Concept|capacity building ]] is needed at different levels for the different actors in accordance with the specific roles and responsibilities, thus achieving both better performing WASH actors and improved coordination between all different players in the sector.
Three levels of capacity building:
# The interests of the different stakeholders in the WASH chain are structurally incorporated and met.
# Activities must be in accordance with local policies, laws and regulations. If not this must be solved through improved cooperation and coordination in line with sustainability criteria.
# [[Transparency & Accountability|Transparency and accountability ]] of planning and the use of budget and results must be met by all stakeholders involved (e.g. by the use of innovative ICT applications).
# Training/capacity building of a.o., the local private sector, must be structurally embedded in order to ensure sustainability of the service/product.
* IRC / Triple-S: [http://www.waterservicesthatlast.org/ Water services that last]
* Dutch Water Alliance – [http://www.washalliance.nl/fiets-strategy/i/ Institutional Sustainability]
* IRC – [http://www.ircircwash.nlorg/pagenews/37842 capacity-support-local-government Capacity Support to Local Governance]
* WaterAid – [http://www.wateraid.org/uk/what-we-do/the-crisis/governance Governance]
This Institutional Sustainability Introduction page was in part from the document: [http://www.washalliance.nl/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/sites/2/2013/06/fiets_sustainability_approach_color.pdf FIETS sustainability approach] by the Dutch WASH Alliance.
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