Meeting on Irrigation and Drainage Project, Kazakhstan
At a time when water – and its impact on livelihoods and economic progress – is an ever pressing issue on the world stage, the ability of governments, cities, municipalities, rural communities, private enterprise and civil society to mobilise their collective skill and financial resources for progressive policy and governance is fundamental: effective, efficient and sustainable interventions coupled with clear ownership are vital.

How have we helped our clients to make progress?

We have a long history of strengthening institutions, through Project Implementation Units, training programmes, and a wide range of capacity development programmes.

But institutions need a solid framework within which to work effectively and this must be underpinned by sound legislation. We have helped to make valuable progress: we advised the Chinese government on the design of a new water law, which was passed in 2002. This has provided the basis for the major work that we are now doing to support stronger water policy development and governance in China. And we have successfully designed and implemented programmes to strengthen the institutions responsible for water resources management in both Uganda and Malawi.

Drainage, Irrigation and Wetlands Improvement, UzbekistanWe are strong believers in promoting management systems that foster and facilitate ownership and responsibility where it belongs. Thus our recent work on transboundary water management in seven countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States had a strong theme of building on existing capabilities and strengths, promoting cross-border dialogue and constructive exchange of views, and engagement with a wide variety of stakeholders.

This engagement with key stakeholders at all levels - from individual water users to opinion formers and policy makers - helped us to influencing the Nepalese government to improve their irrigation policy. Building on years of involvement in irrigation infrastructure development and management in Nepal we designed and secured funding for three years of action-oriented research on water governance and strengthening the accountability of water managers to irrigation water users. Now complete, with proven results on the ground, this work has been widely disseminated in the country and beyond.