1. Citizen Report Card on Water and Sanitation Services in Kenya Process, Impact and Lessons learnt Lilian Otiego, Water and Sanitation Program 23 rd March 2011

2. Outline  Background of Citizen Report Card in Kenya  Process of CRC and Methodology adopted  Key Findings and priorities for improvement  Results and Impact of CRC  Lessons Learnt and Recomendations

3. The Challenge of Voice in the Kenya WSS sector  Lack of predictable provision for citizen engagement during reforms. Citizen role in reform weakest pillar  Low consumer education, information, empowerment.  Weak citizen representation / lack of legitimacy – e.g. assessment search for non political lead agency or consumer association, with understanding of issues

4. CRC Goals  Improve relationships between stakeholders by creating large scale and more direct interaction.  Improve stakeholders understanding of reforms, their rights and the delivery issues  Use the CRC to strengthen citizen voice and put in place mechanisms for informed dialogue on urban water and sanitation reforms

5. Citizen Report Card in Kenya “To improve the quality of urban water reforms and their impact on the poor by strengthening the voice of consumers, and developing and putting in place mechanisms by which these can be heard by decision-makers and politicians”

6. Outline  Background of Citizen Report Card in Kenya  Process of CRC and Methodology adopted  Key Findings and priorities for improvement  Results and Impact of CRC  Lessons Learnt and Recommendations

7. Principles of Process  CRC Implemented through consortia comprising government, service providers and CSO  Civil society led; KARA, Ilishe, SANA  Consortiums, (loose association of 15 to 20 citizen representatives, service providers and decision makers) anchored the process in the spirit of good faith  Parallel instruments in Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa for comparison and exchange  Both qualitative and quantitative

8. Kenyan Public Participation in CRC  Consortiums NAIROBI: Network for Water and Sanitation International (NETWAS), Kenya Water for Health Organization (KWAHO), CIN, KARA, rep. Athi Water Services Board, rep. Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company, rep. City Council of Nairobi  MOMBASA: Ujamaa Centre, Women Network Centre, Coast Development Lobby Group, Coast Rights Forum, Ilishe Trust, Coast Water Services Board, Mombasa Water and Sewerage Company, Mombasa Municipal Council, Coast Development Authority  KISUMU: CARE Kenya, World Vision, Gwako Ministries, Kenya Female Advisory Organisation and SANA, Lake Victoria Water Services Board, Kisumu Water and Sewerage Company, Kisumu Municipal Council, Ministry of Health  NATIONAL CONSORTIUM: Regulator, Director of Water, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Local Government and Lead Agency representatives

9. Steps in the Citizen Report Card in Kenya  Step 1: Assessments (06/05)  Step 2: Formation of stakeholder consortia and ID of Lead agency (8-9 /05)  Step 3: Defining the issues Focus Groups (02/06)  Step 4: Survey (10–11 /06)  Step 5: Report Card preparation (02- 04/ 2007)  Step 6: Dissemination, dialogue on mechanisms, advocacy (05 - 07 / 2007)  Step 7: Documentation of lessons 04 - 06 - 2007

10. Methodology  What was the sample size? In total 2,905 households interviewed in late 06 Geographic scope used Municipality boundaries provided  What was the sample method? A random sample of households in each city, drawn from the CBS census clusters. One individual who was most knowledgeable on issues of water and sanitation interviewed at the household  How was the analysis done? Results analysed by poor and non-poor in each City Poor and non-poor were selected from geographic locations defined as such by CBS

11. Scope of Survey  Access and usage of water and sanitation services  Perception of quality and reliability of water services  Costs  Transparency of services  Satisfaction with services and priority improvements  Demographic information of household  Priorities for improvement

12. Outline  Background of Citizen Report Card in Kenya  Process of CRC and Methodology adopted  Key Findings and priorities for improvement  Results and Impact of CRC  Lessons Learnt and Recommendations

13. Key Findings  Danger of company focusing on current customers.  Satisfaction with solid waste management services is extremely low, particularly among the poor  The non poor predominantly access private services, with few options for the poor  Public health officers are not visible in the communities, and are perceived to have little impact  Citizens want a more direct relationship with the provider  There are distinct inequities in access to mains connection, especially in secondary towns and among the poor and non- poor  The poor depend more on lower services levels as their primary source of water and are more prone to cost inequities and service unreliability.  Water companies are relying heavily on kiosks to achieve benchmarks  Cases of corruption and bribery were also captured

14. Priorities for Improvement  People want cleaner water and more reliable supply.  Kiosk users want their sources to be closer. Proximity of the water source is more important to poor people than to the non- poor.  Improving quality of water services is more important than reducing their cost.  People want more public toilets and greater access to sewers.  People want increased presence of solid waste disposal points

15. Outline  Background of Citizen Report Card in Kenya  Process of CRC and Methodology adopted  Key Findings and priorities for improvement  Results and Impact of CRC  Lessons Learnt and Recommendations

16. Results & Impacts  Citizens were able to monitor service improvements and interact with the service providers-(3 yrs later utility launched the comm. Strategy with a range of customer care mechanisms)  Citizens voice was amplified and their capacity built and were able to engage with the providers. ( highlighting governance challenges in Mombasa Water and Coast Water Board)  The CSOs engagement was strengthened through the formation of the WSS CSO network (KEWASNET) ( Strategic plan)  The 3 broad pillars to accountability were established i.e. (i)Access to Information, (ii) participation & strengthening of dialogue btw. Citizens and WSPs (iii) Citizen feedback was institutionalized

17. Outline  Background of Citizen Report Card in Kenya  Process of CRC and Methodology adopted  Key Findings from Survey  Results and Impact of CRC  Lessons Learnt and Recommendations

18. Key Lessons  Assessment of indicators to establish whether local conditions were suitable for implementing a CRC.  Consortium formation & capacity building : Partnership benefits of a consortium  Qualitative research : FGD stage offered an opportunity for citizens to share their experiences first hand  Survey and data entry : Stakeholders were keen to include a wide array of questions in the questionnaire**.  Because of time and budget issues, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) sampling clusters are not regularly updated.

19. Key Lessons Cont’d  Important to establish that the analytical skills exist within the survey firm to accurately reflect respondent categories  Report card drafting & action planning : An action matrix developed with service providers is an important tool for citizens to monitor compliance to commitments on service improvements  Launch of Citizen Report Card: important lesson in its success was the decision on ‘no surprises’  Advocacy and accountability: A media strategy enabled the CRC to draw public attention to the performance of the sector  Promoting sector accountability benefits from a partnership paradigm and strategy, and policy makers and decision makers can be persuaded to act on behalf of citizens interests.

20. Recommendations  Involve policy makers, providers & citizen representatives from the beginning.  Ensure that a senior sector agency endorses the initiative.  Adopt formal progress implementation reviews to sustain commitment to action.  Ensure that the process seeks to strengthen the position of citizens towards the center of service provision

21. Thank you for listening