Non-state provision of WASH services in east Asia and the Pacific

1. Non-state provision of WASH services in east Asia and the Pacific Andy Robinson, UNICEF EAPRO Consultant

2. Content: WASH NSPs • WASH in the East Asia and Pacific region • Key features of NSP services • Key issues around NSP services • Challenges to improving NSP services • Success factors

3. Water Supply in the EAP region • Improved water supply coverage (JMP 2008 data) Regional averages: 50% Oceania 86% South-eastern Asia 89% Eastern Asia High range across region: 0%-60% unimproved WS 6%-100% piped WS High rural population

4. Sanitation in the EAP region • Improved sanitation coverage (JMP 2008 data) Regional averages: 56% Eastern Asia 69% South-eastern Asia High range across region: 0%-64% open defecation 29%-100% improved san. High rural population

5. Equity in WASH services Water supply • Lower access by poor • Much lower service quality (time to collect, contamination, reliability, consumption) Sanitation • Much lower access by poor • Higher disease and economic burdens from unsafe disposal Source: UNICEF (2009) Status and trends in drinking water and sanitation in East Asia and the Pacific

6. WASH: Non-State Providers

7. Water Supply NSPs • Piped network operators (utility supply, independent source) • Point source operators (kiosks, standposts, boreholes, handpumps, tanks, bottled water producers) • Mobile distributors (tankers, trucks, carts, carriers) • Support services (drillers, well diggers, pipelayers, plumbers, mechanics electricians) • Manufacturers (pipes, pipe fittings, water meters, pumps, generators, water tanks, precast concrete goods)

8. Sanitation NSPs • Builders (latrines, sewer connections, septic tanks, soakaways, drains, toilet blocks) • Mobile waste collectors (hand emptiers, mechanized systems, vacuum trucks, garbage trucks) • System operators (sewer networks, treatment works, dumps, sanitary landfills, incinerators) • Support services (marketing, hygiene promotion, community development) • Manufacturers (latrine pans, pedestal toilets, washbasins, plastic tanks, pipes, potties, diapers, soap, detergents, precast concrete goods)

9. Who are the Non-State Providers? URBAN Network water and sewerage operators Non-network water providers International Corporate Formal Private Informal Private International NGOs Local NGOs Community Groups Toilet providers Waste management services RURAL

10. WS: Volume of NSP services • Small-scale water providers (World Bank, 2005) > 10% in Cambodia & Philippines > 30% in Vietnam > 50% in Indonesia • Cambodia Small Towns Survey (BURGEAP, 2006) 17% paid for delivery by water vendors 3% connected to mini piped networks • Metro Manila water supply (ADB, 2004) 30% using small-scale water providers (for some or all water) 50% urban poor households using small-scale providers • Rural water supply in the Pacific (Willets et al, 2007) NGOs & FBOs providing primary water services in many areas (due to limited public and private capacity in remote island states)

11. SAN: Volume of NSP services Higher proportion of NSP services than water supply • Septic tank coverage in urban areas (AECOM, 2010) 40% in the Philippines 63% in Indonesia 77% in Vietnam • Private provision of new rural latrines (various, 2007-09) 65% in Timor-Leste (lower due to small market and large UN & NGO presence) 87% in Cambodia 88% in Lao PDR • Sanitation entrepreneurs (BPD, 2008) 10% sanitation treatment and disposal by private providers 70% sanitation transport by private providers 90% household facility provision by private providers 40%-80% septic tank coverage in SE Asia

12. Key NSP issues

13. Lack of recognition or inclusion NSPs often excluded from sector activities: • Little recognition of the volume of NSP services • Few alternatives to NSP services in many low-income communities (i.e. critical services; quality affects health) • Significant capacity and resources in NSPs • High household investment in NSP services (both non-poor and poor households) Failure to include NSPs in sector activities affects scale, cost-effectiveness and sustainability of interventions.

14. Affordability Low quality + high prices = high profit? Flexible and convenient services Studies suggest that informal provider prices are often similar to public service prices (despite subsidies) … where competition exists.

15. Service quality Assumption that NSP service quality is low? • Independent network WS comparable to utility • WS satisfaction surveys (e.g. Manila) find few differences between NSP and other services • Competition important to service quality? • Water quality issues among all providers? (evidenced by complementary use of bottled water) Sanitation: service quality problems • Badly designed septic tanks and latrines • Limited knowledge of key hygiene principles?

16. Public finance Bulk of WASH public finance to non-poor? • Utility water and sanitation subsidies (non-poor urban) • Household latrine subsidies (non-poor rural) • Septage management finance (non-poor urban, commercial) Ideology that expanding utility and CBO supply will (eventually) reach the poor … but a slow process in practice? • Inadequate targeting (reliance on processes influenced by local political economy) • Little public finance to support NSP services

17. Policy alignment NGOs, FBOs, CSOs, CBOs: • Independent objectives, policies and constituencies • Limited coordination and co-implementation (risk of undermining other provider interventions) • Little sharing of resources and capacity • Sustainability issues (linked to finance & objectives) Private sector (formal and informal): • Prohibition ineffective (enforcement limited) • Few incentives or support mechanisms

18. Challenges to improved NSP services • High uncertainty and risk(asset seizure, corruption, rent seeking, lack of protection) • Vested interests (public providers, politicians, profiteers) • Administrative, legal and financial barriers (tenure, paperwork, fees, registration) • Ineffective regulation(limited capacity, resources or authority for enforcement)

19. Success factors (1) • Information (service mapping, evidence of costs of inaction, identification of high-risk areas) • Pro-poor units and funds (explicit objectives, specialist skills, performance incentives) • Asset protection and investment guarantees (for competent providers) • Political support (high-level advocacy, evidence of investment benefits, outcome-based incentives) • Phased approach (recognize capacity & resource constraints; willingness to pay; scale requirements) And ….

20. Success factors (2) • Appropriate finance (demand-side, performance-based, objective targeting, and enabling environment) • Effective regulation (encourage registration and self-regulation through incentives & social accountability) • Professional support services (business development, capacity building, access to credit) • Partnerships (local government facilitation + NGO skills + private sector efficiency)

21. In Summary • Non-State Providers = diverse + complex group • Important services (with potential for more) • Enabling environments inadequate (for NSPs) • NSPs hard to monitor and regulate • Need a more incentive and performance-based framework (rather than regulations and penalties)

22. Thank You! Recent sanitation campaign in the Philippines: “Check your septic tank or swallow the consequences”