Rudo Grace Gwata-Charamba Correspondent

Sustainability, an element that almost always guarantees the success of initiatives, relates to the continued long-term benefits from a development intervention after the associated project or programme has been completed.

In the case of the water crisis in Zimbabwe, for example, sustainability would relate to ending the crisis as well as ensuring long-term improvements in the lives of the target communities, borne out of continued use of clean safe water, long after the rehabilitation and drilling of boreholes, construction of dams or procurement of water purification chemicals.

A project is defined as a set of coordinated activities that are carried out towards meeting specific objectives within a defined period of time, cost and performance boundaries.

Several projects aimed at achieving a common goal constitute a programme. However, the terms are often used interchangeably, mainly because the basic principles for good management are usually the same for both.

As discussed in the previous instalment, use of the Results-based management (RBM) approach to plan and implement projects can help to drive sustainability, mainly through its emphasis on maximum stakeholder participation throughout the life of the project and beyond.

According to literature, meaningful participation of key stakeholders, notably the people that the project or programme seeks to help, is vital for the success of interventions as it helps to improve quality, effectiveness and sustainability.

This is primarily because such participation promotes ownership, learning and capacity development among key stakeholders, notably the direct beneficiaries; elements that almost always guarantee the continued functionality as well as interest in the use of the ensuing project deliverables. Similarly, all process takes into consideration, as far as possible, all the needs, interests, resources, mandates and capacities of key stakeholders.

Besides, participation can provide basis for a possible collaboration, saving effort and resources as overlaps are avoided as well as ensuring greater coherence among different groups of stakeholders.

The Kigali Water project in Rwanda, implemented in the context of a Public, Private Partnership arrangement, is a typical success story.

The interactive project/programme cycle model, is commonly used to put the RBM approach into practice in most development and humanitarian initiatives. The model depicts the management of an initiative through a sequence of interrelated phases that are broadly progressive, interrelated and at times overlapping.

Such phases encompass planning, execution or implementation and learning. Planning involves jointly identifying a problem and defining expected results; developing appropriate strategies and determining the related resource requirements.

Execution encompasses results based performance measurement, efficiency plus effectiveness and reporting with emphasis on progress towards the desired change(s).

The learning and adjustment phase integrates performance information from best practices and lessons into the future programming for current or future projects.

The cycle helps stakeholders to define and think through the design and management of the associated project.

The planning process entails determining solutions to an unsatisfactory situation through identifying the results that will best address identified problems, including actions and resources required to achieve those results. It is also the foundation of good performance management and accountability thus crucial as it significantly determines the sustainability and success of the associated project.

It starts with an initial assessment that is aimed at understanding the undesirable situation, identifying key factors influencing the same, including problems and their causes, as well as the needs, interests, capacities and constraints of the different stakeholders.

Desired results as well as necessary deliverables, the activities and resources required for such achievement are identified. In the context of the Zimbabwe water crisis, a typical undesirable current situation is where people are compelled to walk for three or more kilometres to access clean water or to resort to the use of unhygienic water from ponds and ditches for household purposes.

The desired change may be to initially reduce the above-mentioned walking distance to a maximum of one kilometre.

Potential strategies depending on the data gathered from literature, the community itself or some other credible source are considered and the best is selected. This may include drilling boreholes, sinking wells or securing chemicals for water treatment, all towards achieving and sustaining the change signified by improvement in the lives of the beneficiaries or their conditions.

Indicators to measure the levels of progress towards reducing the distance and utilisation of clean water are also identified during planning.

These are then used for monitoring and reporting purpose during implementation and beyond the life of the project thus reasonably guaranteeing the notion of sustainability .

In addition, key assumptions plus potential risks associated with the project are identified. These issues, often the most overlooked in planning, have a significant effect on both the success and sustainability of projects.

Accordingly, the utility of plans for their mitigation plus monitoring cannot be overemphasized. Such practices provide an indication of the viability of the proposed project and planning for the necessary measures, as appropriate before implementation starts.

In the same context, key stakeholders assess the sustainability of the project starting with determining whether or not the associated benefits to the population will be long-lasting, even after the project has been completed.

Furthermore, they fully analyse several socio-economic factors that influence such sustainability and plan for managing them, if within their control, or continuously monitor those of external in nature, both during and after the life of a project. For example, socio-cultural factors have a significant impact on the motivation and participation of stakeholders. They, therefore, have to be monitored and influenced as much as possible both during and after the life of the project.

Economic and financial issues, notably responsibilities for funding the running, maintenance and depreciation costs of infrastructure, for example, also needs to be planned for and managed. For instance, ensuring sustainability in this case may entail considering partnerships or taking some cost recovery measures albeit without stifling or even defeating the goal of the project.

Management capacities and institutional arrangements likewise significantly determine the sustainability of projects and thus need careful analysis followed by appropriate action.

Relatedly, the assessments include determining if a sustainability strategy encompassing capacity development plus empowerment of key stakeholders has been developed or implemented.

Gender and demographic issues are ordinarily major determinants of both the success of implementation as well as sustainability most projects, particularly water and sanitation. It is thus essential to consider the same in both the design and implementation phases of water projects. Such process involves fully understanding the different problems that women and girls, men and boys, at different ages and with different capacities face, from their own perspective.

Likewise, the available technology and its cultural appropriateness should be considered during planning. In particular, this relates to gauging how far it would meet the different needs of men and women as well as build on existing technology, knowledge and expertise should be assessed.

Environmental impact of a project is another equally important factor that ought to be taken into account, verifying if there is any need for protection measures. If affirmative, then the same should be planned for.

Most projects require initial external assistance in terms of resourcing, implementation or management. Such an arrangement calls for clearly spelt out exit strategies that describe how complete control and management of the project will be progressively transferred to the appropriate group(s) of stakeholders, a factor that also reasonably underwrites their sustainability.

Consequently, a project plan is only formulated after taking into account both viability and sustainability issues, thus paving the way for potentially successful implementation and long term access, for the target group, to the ensuing benefits from the project. Success and sustainability can be further guaranteed through a focus on long-term plans for continued improvement in water supply, after the crisis is averted.

Dr Rudo Grace Gwata-Charamba is an author, development project/ programme management consultant and researcher with a special interest in Results Based Management (RBM), governance and leadership. She can be contacted via email: [email protected]