Community management in rural water supply and sanitation systems : proceedings of the national workshop on RWSS systems : Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, March 28 - 30, 1995

This booklet records the proceedings of a National Workshop on Community Management of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) held in March, 1995, in Mirpur, Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). The participants constituted the "first line" managers of the RWSS schemes throughout the country and covered issues related to the financial, sociological, political and administrative aspects of community management. For exposure to the AJK experience, a field trip was organized to four different villages where local communities were managing their own water supply schemes. Case studies of these trips are included in this report. The workshop objectives were to disseminate the community-based approach to RWSS schemes developed and tested in AJK and to identify the institutional framework in AJK that ensures sustainability in operation and maintenance of RWSS systems, and provide recommendations for replicating in other parts of the country. The workshop themes were village water committees, cost-sharing, service level, and scheme identification. The booklet outlines the critical issues raised which relate to each of these themes, and states the specific recommendations proposed by the participants to tackle each issue. It was felt that the workshop provided a valuable networking and information-sharing exercise.