About the Project
Background
In Dar es Salaam, the largest city of Tanzania, water access has been described as “unjust, inequitable and uneven,” with a combination of electricity outages and overall water shortage affecting supply (Smiley 2016, p.1320). The population of the city is expected to reach around 5 million by 2020 but around 30% of the population do not have access to safe and clean drinking water (NBS 2014). Social accountability interventions (SAIs) typically promote transparency in the interests of empowering citizens to challenge specific malpractices or injustices, support community initiatives and create opportunities for participatory governance involving various forms of consultation (Hickey and King 2014).
This proposal brings together a team of supervisors at University of Glasgow and University of Dar es Salaam, who have been engaged in research on social accountability and the water sector in DAC-list countries. In 2018, the team conducted a pilot project, the central element of which was a baseline survey on access to water and social accountability in Dar es Salaam and Morogoro, Tanzania (N 2069, fieldwork March 2018, funded by Scottish Funding Council grant SFC/AN/12/2017). The project built a partnership with two NGOs active in the water sector in Tanzania, Water Witness International (WWI), based in Edinburgh, and their local partner, Shahidi wa Maji (SwM). WWI and SwM have been funded by the Hewlett Foundation (HF) to advance social accountability and advocacy practice for a fair water future. As part of this work, they plan to conduct SAIs in Dar es Salaam in the period April 2020-March 2021. The SAIs involve holding community meetings and assisting residents to engage with water providers and regulatory authorities in defence of their statutory rights. This is done with the help of a “Water Witness” recruited from the community--typically a concerned or affected individual, or a representative of the local water committee.
Aims/Objectives
The aim of this project is to understand what role social accountability interventions (SAIs) can play in improving the responsiveness of local regulatory authorities to the need for clean and accessible water, specifically by stimulating engagement by citizens. The objectives are:
1) using the data from the baseline survey already conducted in Dar es Salaam, to identify the social, economic and political factors which facilitate engagement with regulatory authorities and providers in defence of rights to clean water.
2) to use evaluation methodologies (theory of change analysis) to conduct a post-hoc evaluation of the effectiveness of SAIs conducted by WWI and SwM.
3) to triangulate findings from the baseline survey and evaluation study to produce recommendations on how SAIs in the water sector can be made more effective.
Funding Notes
The Hydro Nation Scholars Programme is an open competition for PhD Scholars to undertake approved projects, hosted within Scottish Universities and Research Institutes.
Full funding is available from the Scottish Government (to host institutions via the Scottish Funding Council). The funding available will be in line with the UKRI doctoral stipend levels and indicative fees.
Applicants should have a first-class honours degree in a relevant subject or a 2.1 honours degree plus Masters (or equivalent). Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed in February 2019. A more detailed plan of the studentship is available to candidates upon application.
References
Hickey, S. and S. King (2016). "Understanding Social Accountability: Politics, Power and Building New Social Contracts." Journal of Development Studies 52(8): 1225-1240.
NBS (2014). Tanzania National Panel Survey Report (NPS) - Wave 3, 2012-2013. Dar es Salaam, National Bureau of Statistics.
Smiley, S. L. (2016). "Water Availability and Reliability in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania." Journal of Development Studies 52(9): 1320-1334