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Second Regional Meeting of National Water Sector Apex Bodies:
Leadership in Water Governance
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Asian national water sector apex bodies met for the second time to discuss how to cooperate to improve their performance. Download the full meeting report. |
EVENT DETAILS
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The first regional meeting of national water sector apex bodies (NWSABs) in 2004 was designed to share information on the work of Asian NWSABs and identify their priority needs and opportunities for networking, capacity building, and research among apex bodies.
Apex bodies refer to national organizations that guide the water sector, e.g national water councils, committees, commissions, boards, or authorities, together with their supporting offices or secretariats.
The meeting requested ADB to provide assistance for regional networking among apex bodies, particularly in the areas of performance benchmarking, capacity building, and information exchange and awareness building.
The second regional meeting of NWSABs took off from the agreements reached in the first meeting regarding regional cooperation among NWSABs. Its objective was to review the progress on the following activities undertaken by ADB in response to the recommendations from the first meeting:
At the end of the meeting, the participants agreed on the following:
Move ahead with benchmarking and peer review starting with pilot implementation in Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia.
ADB to continue to lead the support for regional cooperation among NWSABs, in collaboration with knowledge partner organizations, i.e. IWMI, IUCN, UN-ESCAP, GWP South Asia and Southeast Asia, WaterAid and others.
Pursue the other regional cooperation activities agreed upon at the first meeting in 2004, i.e. establishment of e-group, development of sourcebook and guidelines, and launch of coordinated media campaign.
Hold the next regional meeting in the first quarter of 2006 with Malaysia as host country.
Fifty participants attended the meeting, representing Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam and knowledge partner organizations.
These include the following:
| Countries with established NWSABs | Countries without NWSABs | Knowledge Partners | Resource Persons |
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View the directory of participants.
The meeting comprised of a two-day plenary presentations and discussions and one-day field visit. The meeting also included a half-a-day discussion on the comprehensive review of ADB's water policy implementation as part of the country consultations to inform the review process.
View the detailed agenda.
Indicators for Benchmarking Apex Bodies Performance
The main objectives of NWSABs include guiding water sector reforms, introducing integrated water resources management, improving and expanding the delivery of water services, enhancing sustainable water use in society, promoting equitable use of shared water resources, fostering consultative and participatory approaches, and building capacity to respond to changing needs.
In benchmarking performance of NWSABs, indicators should measure both the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization.
The participants agreed on a framework for the development of indicators for the pilot countries. Given the various stages of development of the apex bodies, the indicators will be finalized in consultation with each country. View the detailed framework.
Read the background paper.
Civil Society Involvement in Apex Bodies
Case Studies of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand
The study seeks to assess the nature of civil society involvement in water sector apex bodies, and explore ways through which that involvement can better contribute to the formulation and implementation of government's water policy.
The study covers three "spaces for participation", as follows:
| Closed or Provided Spaces | Decisions are made by a set of actors behind closed doors, without any pretence of broadening the boundaries for inclusion. Within the state, this could mean the elites (be they bureaucrats, experts or elected representatives) making decisions and providing services to 'the people' without the need for broader consultation or involvement. |
| Invited Spaces | As efforts are made to widen participation, new spaces are opened which may be referred to as 'invited' spaces, i.e. 'those into which people are invited to participate by various kinds of authorities (Cornwall 2002). Invited spaces may be regularized or one-off forms of consultation. |
| Created/Claimed spaces | Spaces that are created or claimed by government or citizens or both. These can include spaces that emerge 'out of sets of common concerns or identifications' and 'may come into being as a result of popular mobilization, or may consist of spaces in which like-minded people join together in common pursuits' (Cornwall, 2002). |
In all three country case studies, the extent of civil society participation has been limited, the space for participation confined. This could be due to (i) the relative novelty of the concept of participation of civil society, (ii) an unfavourable culture of government, (iii) the predominantly oppositional mode of some NGOs.
Read the background paper.
Process and Arrangement for the Peer Review Process
The peer review of NWSABs will involve the following actors:
| Focal Point | A member of the NWSAB who will ensure that his/her organization, its management, relevant staff and member-agencies are well informed about the peer review process. He/She will also assist in the scheduling of meetings and channelling of relevant information between the NWSAB and the Review Team |
| Peer Reviewers | Two (2) members from two (2) countries with apex bodies |
| Secretariat | An ADB appointed facilitator will assist the Review Team in terms of documentation and stimulating discussion |
Peer reviewers will be invited from knowledge partner organizations, i.e. GWP Southeast Asia and South Asia to form part of the Review Team.
The Peer Review process will involve the following activities:
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