Going public: Southern solutions to the global water crisis

There is almost certainly consensus on the importance of tackling the global water crisis in order to achieve the MDGs. There is almost certainly consensus that the public sector has not succeeded in improving water and sanitation in many parts of the world. There is almost certainly consensus on the need for major investments in water and sanitation if the situation is to be changed. And there is almost certainly consensus on the need for donor govern- ments to give water and sanitation a high priority.

However, over the past decade, a debate has raged over how to tackle the global water crisis, and in particular, what the role is for the public sector and what the role is for the private sector. During this time, large expect- ations have been placed on the ability of the private sector to deliver clean water to the poor, and significant aid has been used to support the private sector in this endeavour - with little to show for it.

The evidence is clear that the MDGs cannot be met without major public investment, alongside the improvement and expansion of existing public providers, cooperating with any other existing domestic providers. The key questions now are: how can we improve and expand public providers? Who has the experience to help with this? And how can we tap into this experience? This publication demonstrates that there are successful public water and sanitation providers in developing countries, and that there are practical ways in which their experiences can be tapped into, disseminated and scaled-up.