Author : unhabitat
Year : 2009
Technical Assistance to development of Strategic Business Plan
Harar Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, Ethiopia
Page | 5
Change Agents Training Report
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Back ground
UN-HABITAT in association with the African Development Bank (ADB) under the Water
for African Cities (WAC) programme is currently implementing a major initiative to
address the water and sanitation needs people living in several African Cities. The WAC
programme aims to reduce the urban water crisis in African cities through efficient and
effective water demand management, minimize the environmental impact of
urbanization on fresh water resources and boost awareness and information exchange
on water management and conservation. This progamme is part of the wider effort of
UN HABITAT and ADB to meet the Millennium Development Goal targets. It also seeks
to create an enabling environment for pro-poor investment.
UN HABITAT in association with the African Development Bank (ADB) identified the
National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) through its External Services Unit
as a suitable partner with potential, experience within the region and competence to
provide technical assistance in development of Strategic Business Plans for selected
cities. In 2008, the NWSC ES team was called upon to provide support to Zanzibar
Water Authority (ZAWA) in Tanzania in development of a SBP. A team from ZAWA also
visited NWSC for a benchmarking study tour that exposed them to some best practices
in utility management. The team was also able to share experiences and gain
knowledge in various aspects
Under a second Cooperation Agreement between UN HABITAT and NWSC, the NWSC
ES has called upon to provide technical assistance to the Harar Water Supply and
Sewerage Authority (HWSA), Ethiopia in developing a Strategic Business Plan (SBP)
and carrying out capacity building in the areas of Billing, Customer Care, Operations
and Maintenance (with a focus on Planned Preventive Maintenance), Performance
Planning and Management (with a focus on Monitoring and Evaluation) and Financial
Management amongst others.
In November 2008, a team from ADB, UN HABITAT and NWSC carried out a
preliminary assessment which was followed by a Gap Analysis/Inception visit in May
2009. Baseline information was collected that forms a basis for the design of the SBP
process and capacity building/training programme to follow there after. Following this, a
team of nine (09) Change Agents were selected who would champion the change
process.