Lessons learnt and Good Practices for the Completion Report of the Danida/Sida Support to the Water Sector

The Swedish and Danish governments pumped 3,820 million Kenyan Shillings into KWSP from 2005 to 2009. The programme had undergone numerous evaluations, but there are aspects that had not been documented. Especially in the context of the Millennium Development Goals and the Paris Declaration a summary of the lessons learnt in the process of implementing KWSP was of great importance internationally, in particular for other developing countries, but also in relation to donor policies and approaches.

The key issues identified and impacting upon the KWSP during its implementation were:
– the budgetary commitment in regard to the new Water Sector Institutions,
– the implementation of the transfer plan and the reform of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, and
– the delineation and decentralization of roles and responsibilities to the new institutions and the private sector.

Several reviews of the KWSP described the status of the reform process. There were, however, considerable information gaps in regard to the:
– determination of outcomes,
– the financial and budgetary analysis in the use of the funds provided and the achievements, and
– the analysis of lessons learnt and the documenting of best practices.

The purpose of assignment was, therefore, to create an opportunity to reflect on the contributions made by the KWSP in supporting the Water Sector Reform process and the lessons learnt in the course of the support provided. The assignment would also:
– augment and compliment the further preparation of the KWSP Completion Report, which is the responsibility of MWI/Programme Coordination Unit;
– provide consideration and analysis of sector issues;
– support analysis of the contributions made by the Development Partners, especially in regards to the SWAp; and
– support and inform the water sector reform process, and, where appropriate, provide recommendations on the way forward.

It was against the ambition levels set by the KWSP Programme Document and summarised in the previous section that the contributions to the attainment of outputs could be judged and lessons learnt. Underlying the study was the need to recognise the needs of providing adequate Completion Report material. This report provided, as far as possible, a quantitative, together with qualitative, assessment of attainment regarding each of the intended outputs by analysing the contribution made (to be found in Annex 0).

Documentation of the lessons learnt as a separate assignment was intended to allow for focus and determination of the contribution made to intended outcomes, as required by Development Partners. It also attempted to be of relevance on a global, national and local scale as regards to the development policy implications.