VILLARREAL and CAI paper for CIRD Conference October 2010

18.600 (72 per cent) villages of Gujarat. Partnerships have been formed with 75 NGOs. 50 per cent (160 million people) of the population now has household tap water connectivity, compared to 12 per cent at the country level. The initiative has led to a partnership between the state and the people, the resources and responsibilities having been transferred to the community leading to a paradigm shift in the role of governance from provider to facilitator.

Local leadership has been trained for taking on the responsibility of their own water supply.

2. Climate Mitigation - Ensuring Water and Food Security through Improved Service Delivery (Multi Disciplinary Programme Unit, India, 2010). Link: http://unpan3.un.org/unps/Public_NominationProfile.aspx?id=780 Abstract: Tamil Nadu is one of the driest states in India, with only 925 millimetres of rainfall a year and droughts occuring in 3 out of 10 years, severely limiting food production. Lack of ownership by the community, absence of grassroots level institutions and dying communal practices have resulted in dilapidated irrigation infrastructure. The previous rehabilitation attempts were infrastructure centric and hardware driven, neglecting the voice, choice and wisdom of the community. Community collective action was lost in a culture of recipient behaviour. Limited interactions between farmers and public agencies resulted in small portion of the population capturing benefits. This left geographies, regions and communities without service. To change the situation, and to give choice and voice to citizens in water decision making, 3695 Water Users associations (WUAs) have been established, benefiting 1.54 million acres. This provides for direct participation of 2.2 million water users. The WUAs have been legally empowered for leading water and agriculture management in 24.000 villages. The water service delivery has been improved by establishing common meeting places “Single Window Centers” in the villages. The programme reached 3695 Water Users Associations; benefiting 20 million farmers, 60 per cent of whom are small and marginalized.

An ICT based model of technology transfer (e-Agri Extension) delivers instant technical advice on crop production, plant protection, and weather and market information to farmers.

3. Collaboration Testing (Saga Prefectural Government, Japan, 2010). Link: http://unpan3.un.org/unps/Public_NominationProfile.aspx?id=818 Abstract: “Collaboration Testing” is an annual process to enhance citizens’ satisfaction level on public services through engaging the emerging new types of public service providers, i.e. civil society organizations (CSOs) and the private sector, in public service delivery. The initiative has three modules for the Government to: i) disclose what the whole Government does and call for proposals on how and to what extent CSOs and the private sector can outperform the Government-provided services, ii) discuss with the proponents whether the proposing entities outperform the Government in reality, and iii) let the private or civil society entities take over the Government through outsourcing or collaboration agreements unless it is clear that the Government outperforms the applied CSOs or private sector institutions.

4. Power of Participatory Public Policy to Save Your Life (Taphraya hospital, Thailand, 2010). Link: http://unpan3.un.org/unps/Public_NominationProfile.aspx?id=800 Abstract: Taphraya is a district on the Thai-Cambodian border, with 55.000 residents and only one 30-bed hospital and thirteen small local health centers. In addition to insufficient health infrastructure, lack of public transportation, financial difficulties, and lack of communication channels to seek help can delay patients with serious health conditions from 53