What is OBA in Water?

Output-Based Aid (OBA) is a performance-based payment to service providers that subsidizes the cost of providing basic services to users. The aim of OBA in the case of Rukingiri is to improve the access to safe water, since users' tariffs do not cover the full cost of providing you water. However this subsidy is only paid to the provider after it delivers the agreed outputs: yard tap connections and water service delivered for a specified time. OBA has been desiggned as an incentive mechanisms to improve water provider's performance and effectiveness.

In Rukungiri, if the water provider, whose name is Water Supply Services Limited, does not deliver specific outputs, it won’t get paid. This new type of contract is known as OBA

What changes is OBA trying to implement in Rukungiri?
Explicit subsidies: Subsidy support to users is clearly defined: who gets the support for exactly what service.
Payment on output delivery: The service provider is held accountable to deliver on concrete outputs.
Monitoring based on results: Specific results should be the indicators for monitoring.
Sustainability: Subsidies should be set to help demand for water meet supply.
But OBA is just a part of the puzzle. The private operator has a 5-year contract which requires certain performance standards, and these are monitored by the Local Authority and the Ministry of Water and Emvironment -- and of course, the user!

Replicating previous experience in Wobulenzi. Now in Busia and Rukungiri

As you might know, the Ugandan government is committed to improving access and quality of water and sanitation service delivery. In this regard, the ongoing and the new stage of the program financed by the World Bank Institute are a response to a request for country–based capacity development initiatives to promote transparency and accountability within the water sector. The replication of the program in Busia and in Rukungiri is a second stage of the capacity building program ”Improving Governance in the Water Sector through Social Accountability, Communication and Transparency, which has been ongoing in the town of Wobulenzi since May 2008. This second in Busia and Rukungiri that will take place from 2009 to 2010.

The main goal of this second stage is continuing promoting better governance in the water sector in Uganda by fostering access to information, citizen participation, transparency, and efficient communication activities while monitoring the implementation of water programs in other two towns: Busia and Rukungiri. In the case of Rukungiri, the Ministry is piloting a new type of contract with the private operator, where the operator only gets paid after delivering certain defined results. Therefore, this program not only will monitor water provision, but also will compare performance of the water service provision under different sets of incentives . This will be done through the application of baseline surveys or citizen report card, a baseline water quality test, a follow-up quality test one year later, and a follow-up survey one year later.

During the implementation, we shall be sharing information with you on the progress, challenges and lessons leant. Feel free to also visit our blog from this program and post your comments, or send us questions about the program to our email (netwasuganda@gmail.com)

Outputs of the Programme
* Using the citizen report card, will develop a baseline (June 2009) in the two peri-urban growth centers on water service provision to establish the benchmarks upon which improvements in access, quality, and governance, redress grievances, attention to customers, willingness to pay and access to information, etc. will be evaluated by the follow-up survey one year later (June 2010).
* Disseminate information about the new OBA approach introduced into the water sector. This will help increase the incentives for providers to perform better and more efficiently. The OBA approach is now being used in Wobulenzi and in Rukungiri, but not in Busia.
* Help to create an environment of information sharing and transparency on the water sector for policymakers and providers to be able to inform their decisions to improve the water service delivery and performance.
* Increase awareness among citizens about their rights and the provision of water whether using an OBA scheme or non-OBA scheme.