Improved access to urban water services in Uganda

According to a 2004 Unicef/World Health Organization assessment, developing countries are more likely to achieve the millennium development goal (MDG) drinking water target in urban than in rural areas. However, this achievement is threatened by a high urbanisation rate in developing countries, where the urban population is projected to increase by about two billion between 2000 and 2030. For instance, although the global urban population with adequate water service levels increased in real terms by 36% between 1990 and 2004, overall coverage has remained practically unchanged at 95%. Given these high urbanisation rates, water utilities in developing countries need to be innovative in order to improve or maintain service coverage in their service areas. This paper presents the case of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) of Uganda, which has improved service coverage tremendously over the past decade through innovative management. Between 1998 and 2007, NWSC registered the following key performance improvements: number of service connections from 54 000 to over 180 000; service coverage from 51% to 71% of the population; towns served from 12 to 22; billing efficiency from 51% to 67·5%. The paper describes the specific measures that have contributed to this high performance improvement.