Update on GWOPA and Capacity building for WSP through peer-support By Dr. Anne Bousquet Training and Capacity Building Officer The Global WOPs Alliance Water Safety Conference November 2-4, Kuching, Malaysia WHO, IWA, MWA

Presentation Outline 1) Presentation of GWOPA 2) Overview of activity areas 3) Highlights of activity areas 4) Capacity building approach 5) Initiative on WSP

The Global WOPs Alliance A network of partners committed to helping water operators help one another: to improve their collective capacity, and to provide access to water and sanitation services for all. Main Premise: Practical knowledge and expertise are existing in water utilities – but they are unevenly distributed Sharing this living library of knowledge helps bridging capacity gaps

What are WOPs? Water Operators’ Partnerships training twinning sharing Premise Water Operators have a tremendous role to play in meeting MDGs There are capacity gaps, but utilities are also source of great expertise There is much to be gained by more systematic sharing between them

Capacity remains with Utility What are WOPs? Tailor Made Cost Effective Inspires Change Focus on Public Capacity remains with Utility Service to the Poor

Guiding principles for WOPs Water Operators’ Partnerships Code of Conduct sustainability coordination Accountability Transparency Not for profit Mutual benefit integrity inclusiveness Learning from others

Overview of Activity Areas Support to Regional WOPs Capacity Building and Training Knowledge Management Financial Guidance and Linking Advocacy and Communications

Highlight of Activity Areas : support to regional WOPs Establishing sub-regional platform and first workshop with PWWA and pacific actors First twinnings, support to EU-ACP partnership window Bringing Japanese utilities on board for WOPs Asia-Pacific South Asia Creating national platform in Pakistan Establishing partnerships with WSP-South Asia and GTZ-India

Highlight of Activity Areas : knowledge management Impact-Oriented Case Studies Process Results Impacts Multi-media publication Best practices, lessons learned, M& E

Highlight of Activity Areas : Benchmarking Launched at AfWA congress in Kampala in March Allows operators to better visualise performance data and facilitates matchmaking and communication between operators Collecting new round of 3-year pan-Africa benchmarking data Populating system with data from IB-NET and others Improving user experience

Significance of Capacity Building to GWOPA Training/Capacity Building is a key activity area for GWOPA: to help “champion operators” transfer their expertise to others GWOPA promotes capacity building through training and peer- support: Training: complementary to WOPs Peer-support: making use of water operators’ knowledge and expertise

Training Approach Regional Training Events: Same region, no language barriers, common interests and challenges… Training based on the WHO/IWA WSP manual Trainers: Experts from utilities Homework before training Teams of 3/utility: Potential WSP implementation team Draft of WSP presented at the end of the training

Training Approach – cont’d Follow-up activities: peer support Using e-forums and meetings to report on Progress Promoting WSP-focused WOPs Exchange visits: between champion and recipient utilities staff to assist in WSPs development and implementation Specialized follow-up workshop for financial decision makers

Progress so far: training events Training/Capacity Building program initiated in cooperation with Cap-Net in late 2008: Nairobi 2008: African and Asian utilities on CB needs: WSP emerged as top priority Cape Town 2009 : design of training program Anglophone African utilities, Sept.2009 Training in Johannesburg, SA, hosted by Randwater, co-organized with CapNet and IWA 9 utilities trained, from 7 countries Main achievements: WSP teams established within utilities, funds budgeted for 2010 FY in some utilities, follow up (peer-support) activities led to development of WSPs, awareness campaign for external stakeholders, use of the self-assessment tool, etc. Way forward: collaboration with IWA on East African Initiative

Progress so far: training events Francophone African utilities, June 2010 Training in Rabat, Morocco, hosted by ONEP-IEA, co-organized with Cap-Net, IWA, and WHO. launching of the French version of the WHO/IWA WSP Manual 12 utilities trained from 11 countries Way forward: CA with ONEP in the making Expert tour to the 11 utilities Preparation of field missions based on progress reports E-forum Workshop after 8 months : follow-up on expert missions, involvement of top management

Scaling UP to Other Regions WSPs in Latin America In partnership with ACCD, ACA, CapNet, IWA and LAC-WSP/Net Propagation of WSPs through WOPs platforms in LAC, training, and integration of WSPs in PIPs developed through WOPs WSPs in Asia In partnership with WHO, IWA, WaterLinks, etc. GWOPA is a founding member of Asia/Pacific WSP Network training program will be planned and implemented through the network

Scaling UP to Other Regions WSPs in Lusophone African countries Training in Mozambique WSPs in Arab countries Training in Lebanon, hosted by UN-ESCWA, co-organized by GWOPA, CapNet, BGR, WHO, and ACWUA

First GWOPA bi-annual Congress & GWOPA General Assembly Announcement First GWOPA bi-annual Congress & GWOPA General Assembly Cape Town, March 2010 (just before World Water Day!)

Thank you for your attention ! Contacts: faraj.el-awar@unhabitat.org anne.bousquet@unhabitat.org www.gwopa.org