East Meets West a program of Thrive Networks
In 2007, East Meets West (EMW) implemented a project that supported private sector operators, cooperatives, and local government operators of rural water-supply schemes. A customer survey conducted following this project indicated that private operators not only provided better service than the other management models studied, but that their operations might also be more sustainable.
To further investigate this result, EMW conducted two additional surveys. An operator survey examined how well each scheme performed with respect to technical and financial criteria. A customer satisfaction survey aimed at finding out how well the owners/operators met the needs of their customers.
The operator survey showed that the private sector managed its finances more prudently than either the cooperatives or the Commune People’s Committees, and its technical operations were also conducted with greater care. Moreover, the customer satisfaction survey indicated that the private owners/operators did not achieve better profitability at the expense of the quality of service or sustainability. In fact, users felt that the private operators provided higher quality service and were more responsive than the cooperatives or local governments, and provided higher water quality.
| The private operators managed their finances more prudently and provided higher quality service and higher water quality than either the cooperatives or local governments. |
Authors:
Emilio Batzella – M&E Officer for East Meets West
Per Ljung – Senior Advisor for East Meets West
Presented at a national workshop on Rural Water Supply and Sanitation for the Government of Vietnam, 2015.
Research financed by the GPOBA Program of the World Bank.
Paper:
The Role of Private Entrepreneurs in Enhancing Impact and Ensuring Sustainability of Rural Water Supply in Vietnam, Batzella and Ljung
Download Paper: http://thrivenetworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/KL_20140601_VN_Role_of_Private_Entrepreneurs_in_RWS_Batzella_Ljung.pdf
At the heart of our programs are strong partnerships with government, private sector, civil society groups, and local communities. We also implement learning and feedback strategies to strengthen our approaches to promoting gender and socially inclusive WASH practices in our partner communities.
