Advising the EU on evaluation

The EU spends an average of 1.4 billion Euro a year on water related development aid. In 2003, IRC provided guidance on an evaluation methodology for key aspects of the water and sanitation programmes. PARTICIP GmbH, consultants for development and environment, commissioned IRC to assist EC staff and local counterparts to implement the EU water policy. IRC recommended that an overall shift in thinking was necessary to:

• recognise that all water users have a responsibility;
• apply an integrated approach in which all actors cooperate, for example, in integrating land and water management and preventing water pollution;
• move towards a sustainable water behaviour, dominated by demand rather than supply;
• increase understanding of the value of water;
• price water services to ensure sustainability, with cross subsidies to safeguard the needs of poor and vulnerable groups.