Reform of the Urban Water & Sanitation Sector Programme (RUWASS)

Background:

The Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) is implementing reforms in the urban water and sanitation sub-sector to address the challenge of delivering of efficient, equitable and affordable water and sanitation services to the urban population, especially to the urban poor, in a sustainable manner.

Granted formal Cabinet approval in 2003, the reform initiatives are expected to contribute towards the Government’s efforts in the fulfilment of the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) objectives and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

RUWAS was established in 2002 to support the urban water and sanitation reforms, as a joint project of the Ministry of Water and Environment and the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ).
It was commissioned by the German government (BMZ).

The reform programme has completed two phases;

Phase I: June 2002 – May 2005.

Phase II: June 2005 – May 2008 with the project team comprised of international and national experts from GTZ and counterpart officers from the Ugandan line ministry responsible for Urban water and Sanitation.

Phase III: June 2008 – May 2011 phase is aimed at consolidating the achievements of the reform programme together with increasing focus to addressing regulation, benchmarking and the challenges of sector investment planning and sanitation and hygiene improvement. Starting with the 3rd phase, the programme has been renamed Reform of the Urban Water and Sanitation Sector Programme (RUWASS) with the modification in staffing on GTZ side incorporating services of a nominated German consulting firm RODECO responsible for activities of Component 1 and 2 of the project.

In the BMZ / Government of Uganda negotiations in 2007 the German government committed to support the Urban Water and Sanitation Sub-sector up to 2014.