EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Private sector provision depends on adequate returns (or expected returns) on investment. This is easier to achieve where demand is strong and tariffs are easily collected, or where public budgets pay for private provision. However, there is great diversity on both the demand side (many service users have limited capacity to pay) and the supply side (there are sometimes large deficits in infrastructure and very limited city budgets).
survey focused on the adequacy of the local infrastructure to meet a municipality’s current population needs and received responses from 232 municipalities. Draft chapters were presented at regional workshops in early 2013 to gather and integrate the experiences of more than three hundred practitioners, academics, and representatives of local and regional authorities and their national associations from 80 countries.
The methodology of GOLD III
This report offers a synthesis of the evolution of the governance of basic services across the world over the last decade. In some regions, authors were faced with shortages or inadequacies in data and information which have not always been possible to overcome, particularly in relation to the financing of basic services. In regions where information and analysis are more plentiful, the challenge has been to sacrifice detail and diversity and to draw out the main, cross-cutting commonalities and trends. All chapters present conclusions on the main challenges to service provision in the region, as well as recommendations for the improvement of basic services now and in the future.
GOLD III is unique in its global scope, having drawn on the expertise of both regional and local practitioners, politicians and academics over the three years of its preparation. The report is organized into seven regional chapters in line with the regional structure of United Cities and Local Governments. Each of the regional chapters was prepared by one or more authors, all of whom have worked extensively on basic service issues. Each chapter draws on questionnaires sent to national associations of local authorities and on interviews with elected local government representatives. In Latin America, there were 238 questionnaire responses from 19 countries, including 29 from metropolitan governments. In Eurasia, questionnaires went to cities in all countries; 41 completed questionnaires were returned, 25 of them by mayors. For Asia and the Pacific, a survey covered 98 city and municipal mayors and 39 heads of basic public service departments in 15 countries. In Europe, local government associations and cities from 28 countries answered the questionnaire or contributed to the country sheets. In North America, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) used a former survey of its municipal members to determine the state of their roads and water and wastewater systems. Of 346 municipalities surveyed, 123 responded, and these represented approximately half of the Canadian population. For the USA, a National League of Cities (NLC)
On the basis of the conclusions and recommendations of the regional chapters, the global conclusions chapter summarizes the trends and challenges that emerge across the world regions, and attempts to draw out lessons on governance, management, financing and partnership models. The conclusion then reaffirms the importance of basic services and the active participation of local governments to the achievement of the MDGs and the formulation of the post 2015 global development agenda. Finally, a set of policy recommendations are addressed to relevant stakeholders (local, national, and international governments and institutions, the private sector, and civil society) with the aim of improving access to quality basic services for all.