Fighting Corruption in the Water Sector: Methods, Tools and Good Practices

"Good practices in anti-corruption are defined as those with lasting and significant reduction of corruption, which address specific risks, and which (where possible) are enacted in partnership and create a sense of ownership with stakeholders. Anti-corruption measures increase accountability, transparency and integrity. Three types of such measures are identified in this study: increased government oversight, pro-market reforms and increased voice of citizens and consumers."

Commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), this study presents methods, tools, and good practices to map corruption risks, develop strategies, and sustain partnerships to address challenges and tackle corruption in the water sector. The study complements UNDP's MDG Acceleration Framework (MAF), which enables governments and development partners, within established national processes, to identify and systematically prioritise the bottlenecks to progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and then devise ways to overcome them. Asserting that "[c]orruption in the water sector is a major problem and reduces the effectiveness of efforts to attain" MDG #7 (ensure environmental sustainability), this study maps corruption risks in the water sector (including irrigation and hydropower) and presents methods and tools to measure corruption in the sector.

It also presents good practices in improving oversight and promoting better water resource management, including case studies in Annex 3 that explore efforts being undertaken in Uganda, Kenya, and Zambia. Several of these good practice examples explore the strategy of increasing "voice" by:

• Increasing democracy and "rule of law" (includes accountability of political authorities towards water users)
• Facilitating citizen oversight / social audits
• Creating awareness about corruption in the water sector in the general public
• Fostering active participation of users (or their representatives) in boards of water provider utilities and water works construction and rehabilitation projects (including training for representatives)
• Strengthening and mobilising organisations of water users (and workers) in the water sector (including training for organisers)
• Mobilising coalitions of organisations for advocacy, investigation, and networking in anti-corruption in the water sector
• Guaranteeing free press and training reporters on corruption issues.

An excerpt from the report follows:

"Analysis of conditions and drivers of anti-corruption measures...:

• ...drivers for anti-corruption measures include: political will, related to political prestige, ideology and peer pressure; political will, related to downward accountability (pressure from constituency); pressure to comply with transparency and integrity rules of international donors; mobilization of citizens (especially when they are affected directly by corruption); and commitment of private companies.
• ...conditions for anti-corruption measures to have positive impact include: good and fair judicial system (rule of law); democratic political environment (at least to some extent); free and independent press; sufficient staffing at national anti-corruption agencies; civil society organizations that serve as corruption watchdogs, and have adequate funding and trained staff; whistleblower protection policies and enforcement; and sound consultation mechanisms for representatives of water users on the boards of water utilities.

Main conclusions...:

• Corruption has been reported in the drinking water, irrigation and hydropower subsectors and also in water resources management activities. Corruption in the water sector is often strongly intertwined with political processes, and thus is a difficult problem without easy solutions.
• Corruption can be systematic and institutionalized, and often has its own informal rules that reinforce the illegal activities...
• It proved difficult to measure the impact of anti-corruption measures. This is partly due to the grey areas between mismanagement and corruption, and partly because corruption levels are hard to measure...
• Most reported cases of anti-corruption measures in the water sector are in regard to drinking water and sanitation. Far fewer cases have been documented in the irrigation, water resources management and hydropower subsectors.
• Although only a few cases of the impact of anti-corruption measures have been thoroughly documented, one notable characteristic of most cases is that success in combating corruption is related to a combination of upward and downward accountability. That finding indicates that both stricter control from above (in the form of political will and government oversight) and mobilization of users' voices (social audits, representation on boards, participatory budgeting) are required to effectively fight corruption.
• Social oversight on procurement procedures resulted in lower-priced bids in Mexico and Pakistan.
• Social protests and grassroots anti-corruption movements are important in the fight against corruption. However, if political will is limited or lacking, the protests will only achieve partial success in responding to the problem...
• The participation of users' representatives on the boards of drinking water utilities and irrigation projects seems to constitute an effective means to help curb corruption. However, it is indispensable to guarantee real representation of all users by regular elections of the representatives and frequent reporting to constituencies. In cases where the management of complete irrigation systems has been transferred to water users' associations, as in northern Peru, ensuring accountability towards the water users is equally crucial to maintaining transparency and preventing corruption.
• New technologies like SMS (with mobile phones), and posting and sharing information on Google Earth and specific mobile phone applications offer promising tools to empower water users seeking to identify and publicize corrupt practices."

Policy considerations...:

• Effective anti-corruption initiatives work from different 'fronts': from below, from above and horizontally. There is a need for a mix of measures that strengthen accountability in all these directions. Increased government control becomes more effective with citizen participation (social auditing), and grassroots movements achieve more change when accountable governments and juridical systems respond to their claims.
• Grassroots organizations and civil society organizations need training and financial assistance to adequately investigate corruption.
• There is a need for training of water users' groups so they are able to audit and monitor government organizations and utilities. Examples of the success of such efforts can be found in regards to participatory budgeting and auditing in Bolivia and Uganda; social audits in Ecuador; and citizen report cards in India and elsewhere.
• The effects of sector reforms (especially privatization) should be evaluated for the impact they might have on the poor and marginalized.
• Press freedom should be encouraged and respected, and national and local journalist[s] should be trained about different aspects of corruption and anti-corruption measures.
• Laws and policies should be developed to protect whistleblowers and encourage them to come forward.
• There is a need to strengthen capacities and ensure financial support for (inter)national and parliamentary investigations of public officials and private companies accused of corruption...
• There is a need to encourage the anti-corruption efforts of political leaders...
• There is a need to build networks and alliances of private, public and civil society anti-corruption actors at local, national, regional and international levels.
• There is a need for further research in mapping successful anti-corruption measures and analyzing their drivers, costs, effects, sustainability and conditions."