Mid -Term Evaluation of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project in Western Nepal, Phase II (RWSSP-WN II) Final Report April 30th, 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................... i Preface ........................................................................................................................................... iii ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ............................................................................................ iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................... vi TIIVISTELMÄ ................................................................................................................................. xii 1. PURPOSE OF MID-TERM EVALUATION ................................................................................ 1 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTEXT AND RWSSP-WN PHASE II ............................................ 1 2.1 Development Context of RWSSP-WN II ................................................................................. 1 2.1.1. Country Context ............................................................................................................ 1 2.1.2. Coverage of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation ........................................................... 3 2.1.3. Sector Institutions ......................................................................................................... 6 2.1.4. Relevant Legislation, Policies, Strategies and Plans ..................................................... 9 2.1.5. Government of Finland Policies .................................................................................. 14 2.2 Introduction of RWSSP-WN II .............................................................................................. 15 3. KEY FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................... 18 3.1 Overall Achievement at Mid-term Stage ............................................................................... 18 3.1.1 Component 1 Sanitation and Hygiene ........................................................................... 18 3.1.2 Component 2 Water Supply ........................................................................................... 19 3.1.3 Component 3 Capacity Building ..................................................................................... 21 3.1.4 Project purpose ............................................................................................................. 22 3.1.5 Overall Objective ........................................................................................................... 23 3.2 Relevance ............................................................................................................................ 24 3.3 Efficiency ............................................................................................................................. 24 3.4 Effectiveness ....................................................................................................................... 27 3.4.1 Sanitation and Hygiene .................................................................................................. 27 3.4.2 Water Supply ................................................................................................................. 28 3.4.3 Capacity Building ........................................................................................................... 29 3.5 Impact .................................................................................................................................. 30 3.6 Sustainability........................................................................................................................ 33 3.6.1 Factors and indicators ................................................................................................... 33 3.6.2 Institutional sustainability ............................................................................................ 36 3.6.3 Exit strategy ................................................................................................................ 37 3.7 Human Rights Based Approach and Cross-cutting Objectives ............................................. 38 3.7.1 Human Rights Based Approach ..................................................................................... 38 3.7.2 Gender and Social Inclusion .......................................................................................... 40 3.7.3 Climate Sustainability and Disaster Risk Reduction ....................................................... 42 3.8 Specific Issues ..................................................................................................................... 46 4. KEY LESSONS LEARNED ..................................................................................................... 48 5. RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................... 49 5.1 Sanitation ............................................................................................................................. 49 5.2 Water supply ........................................................................................................................ 49 5.3 Institutional aspects ............................................................................................................. 50 5.4 Proposal for WASH sector enhancement ............................................................................. 51 Annexes Annex 1 Terms of Reference Annex 2 Documentation Consulted Annex 3 Persons Consulted Annex 4 Mission Itinerary Annex 5 Wrap-up Meeting Note Annex 6 Evaluation Process and Main Methodologies Figures Figure 1 Project working area Figure 2 Unprotected source of Bankatta lift scheme in Syangja Figure 3 Unused OHT scheme in Silautiya, Bhairahawa Figure 4 Deep tube well in Rangapur, Kapilvastu Figure 5 Well-kept ledger and receipt books in Thulopokhara, Arghakhanchi Figure 6 Sanitation ID card Figure 7 Water supply scheme beneficiaries by ethnicity / caste in ten core districts, January 2016 Figure 8 Proposal for WASH reorganisation Tables Table 1 Water supply and sanitation coverage in project districts in 2012 Table 2 Percentage of “whole-year” schemes out of piped schemes in project districts in 2012 Table 3 Use of improved water sources and sanitation facilities in Nepal, 2014 Table 4 SDP period and targets Table 5 Service level indicators and definitions on rural water supply Table 6 Service level for total sanitation in rural areas Table 7 RWSSP-WN Phase II Budget (Euro) (Source: RWSSP-WN Project Document) Table 8 RWSSP-WN II mid-term progress under Component 1 Table 9 RWSSP-WN II mid-term progress under Component 2 Table 10 RWSSP-WN II mid-term progress under Component 3 Table 11RWSSP-WN II mid-term progress against project purpose Table 12 Follow-up of Finnish TA budget contribution Table 13 Average per capita costs of water supply scheme Table 14 Reduction in the prevalence of water borne diseases in Rangapur VDC of Kapilvastu Table 15 SWOT matrix for sustainability Table 16 Gender tracking matrix Table 17 Social inclusion tracking matrix Cover photo: Rangola water supply and sanitation plan, Nawalparasi (Photo: Hannu Vikman) Preface The Mid-term Review is part of the project cycle of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (MFA). The Mid-Term Evaluation (MTE) of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project in Western Nepal, Phase II (RWSSP-WN II) was conducted during January – April 2016. The purpose of the Mid-Term Evaluation was to provide the Governments of Finland and Nepal as well as the project implementer an external, independent and objective analysis and assessment of the value, worth and merit of the project achievements (intended and unintended) based on the OECD/DAC evaluation criteria (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact). As ap- propriate, the three EU criteria of cooperation, complementarity and coherence were also to be con- sidered. MTE was expected to provide recommendations on ways to improve the performance of the project in the remaining years. MTE was also expected to give recommendations on continuation of the Finnish support in the water sector beyond RWSSP-WN II in terms of the possible modality, scope and size. The Terms of Reference (TOR) of MTE is attached as Annex 1. The Consultant’s team initially comprised Ms Kristiina Mikkola, International Team Leader, Mr Hannu Vikman, International Water Supply and Sanitation Expert, Dr Dhruba Raj Gautam, National Social Inclusion Expert, Mr Ram Chandra Shrestha, National WASH Expert, and Ms Jyoti Tiwari, Junior Ex- pert on Climate Sustainability and Disaster Risk Reduction. Due to health reasons, Ms Mikkola was forced to cancel her participation in the field mission on a last minute. The field mission was thus led by Mr Vikman. Subsequently, also one Nepalese expert, Ms Homa Thakali was introduced to the team as the additional National Social Inclusion Expert. After the mission all six team members have contributed to the data analysis and writing of the MTE report. Quality assurance inputs have been provided by Mr Tashi Tenzing, Quality Assurance Expert. The mission in Nepal was carried out between the 21st of February and 11th of March, 2016. The Team reviewed