When are Partnerships a Viable Tool for Development? Institutions and Partnerships for Water and Sanitation Service in Latin America

Patricia Phumpiu () and Jan Gustafsson ()

Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), 2009, vol. 23, issue 1, 19-38

Abstract: Partnerships are increasingly becoming unpopular in Latin America, they have narrowly been analysed in the context of the international political agenda and criticized for bringing benefits only to the private sector and not to the public sector and society at large. Nevertheless, there are successful experiences for providing water and sanitation at local level. The questions are: Are local level successful experiences the product of a partnership? Was it necessary to build partnerships to add value to the community presence and informal actors? What are the advantages of partnerships at local and national scale? The case studies presented demonstrate that actors need to have an incentive to work together and to build trust. The context in which they operate is also relevant, and in Latin America it is needed a strong national legal institutional framework if partnerships or any agreement should be an alternative to public delivery of water and sanitation. This paper analyses the context in which water and sanitation is delivered in peri-urban areas based on case studies, identified actions for effective provision and on discussion of the institutional framework options and partnership implementation at local and national level. This paper does not advocate partnerships per se; nor are these seen as the problem. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009

Keywords: Partnerships for water and sanitation; Water Institutions; Local and national water governance; Public–private partnerships (PPP); Public–public partnerships (PUP); Output-based approach (OBA) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11269-008-9262-8

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