Sustainability check: a monitoring tool for the sustainability of rural water supplies

The UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) notes that 42% of the population of Mozambique has access to safe water (UNICEF/WHO 2008). To accelerate access to water supply in the rural areas, UNICEF is currently implementing a programme termed the One Million Initiative with allocated funds from the Government of the Netherlands. To assess the sustainability of this programme, UNICEF, in collaboration with government and non government partners, developed a programme management tool termed a Sustainability Check. The check involves a selected number of control and treatment communities which were selected based on a random statistical basis. A total of 52 water supplies were assessed and then the sustainability in each community was tested using a multivariate composite model tool. The results indicate low levels of sustainability of 50-75%. Based on the assessment, it is recommended to focus on spare parts provision and increased community capacity to manage financial contributions for operation and maintenance of the water points.