Constituting water sector reform in Niger. Implementing the Programme Approach

Other conference contribution, 2009

Based on newly collected material from Niger, this paper discusses the process of implementing the Millennium Development Goal, MDG, Target 10, to halve by 2015 the proportion of the population who lacks access to safe water. The implementation of the PRSP, together with the HIPC, has resulted in increased multilateral and bilateral assistance to Niger in general and to the water sector in particular. The Water Sector Project has been recognized as one of the most successful operations in the World Bank’s portfolio in Niger. Today it is one of three sectors in Niger in the forefront of the development of the programme approach, in line with the Paris declaration. As such, a process of negotiating state responsibility is under way through the transformation of development cooperation from projects to programmes. Whereas the project approach is perceived as having had the effect of making the state less responsible, the programme approach is expected to make the state more responsible. This upcoming paper, which will be part of my dissertation, is based on interviews with state officials in the water sector, focusing on their understanding of the new structures and how they provide possibilities and influence state responsibility for water services provision. It is based on studies in the water sector in Niger between 2001 and 2008.