From Mozambique, the Maputo case study focussed on sanitation improvement in two poor urban bairros where refugees from the civil war and natural disasters have settled.
In Urbanizao, the Belgian NGO Medicos sem Fronteiras (MSF) and now WaterAid have been working with and through a local CBO created to tackle local water and sanitation needs. This CBO provides a pit emptying service, but faces challenges in its relationship with the local Municipal Council. That Council, incidentally, shares responsibility for sanitation in Maputo with no less than six other branches or agents of government illustrating the extreme fragmentation that characterises sanitation oversight across the continent.
In Maxaquene A, CARE supported the emergence of a micro-enterprise, UGSM, focussing on solid waste removal which was subsequently contracted by the Maputo Municipal Council to collect household solid waste in the neighbourhood. There is potential for this business model to be extended to on-site sanitation; such a service is urgently needed, given problems related to poor drainage in these low-lying settlements.
The case is a good illustration of the intermediary role that NGOs can play in delivering sanitation services and the challenges in their relationships with municipal authorities. It also provides some interesting contrast between solid waste in poor neighbourhoods and sanitation delivery.
More details are in this five page note on the case study.
The full BPD case study that analyses the policy context, service delivery arrangements and prospects for partnership in Maputo can be provided on request by email.