About Corruption and Transparency in the Water and Sanitation Sector

Updated - Tuesday 20 March 2007

Kathleen Shordt, Laurent Stravato, Cor Dietvorst (2006)

Corruption undermines water and sanitation services. It is those without a voice, the poor, who are systematically deprived by corrupt systems. Using resources honestly and effectively, rather than using more resources is arguably an answer to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for sustained water and sanitation services that reach the poor. However, there has been relatively little work to enhance honesty and transparency and reduce corruption specifically in the WASH sector. While there have been effective initiatives, these seem to remain isolated examples of good practice. A long-term perspective with sector-specific work on parallel fronts seems most realistic.

This paper is a brief overview of issues, approaches and information resources. The second half of the paper provides entry to the rapidly growing literature on corruption, transparency and honesty in the WASH sector. It is hoped that you, the reader, will find this a useful resource which will lead to further reading, learning about experience and research and, finally, to action promoting transparency, honesty and preventing corruption in the sector.

You can download the whole document as a PDF or first browse through the web summaries of the document below (written by Bill McCann).