Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique : more than water

Drinking water supply and basic sanitation has been a priority for the Netherlands’ development co-operation and for UNICEF for many years. Current attention is guided by the international consensus on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MDG 7 includes the target to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people in 1990 without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Since 2006 the Netherlands supports UNICEF programmes through the UNICEFNetherlands Partnership Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation. The biggest programme is the UNICEF/Government of the Netherlands/ Government of Mozambique water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion programme “One Million Initiative” in rural areas in the provinces Manica, Sofala and Tete. Mozambique is both for the Netherlands and for UNICEF a partner country to which for many years substantial support to water supply and sanitary facilities has been provided. There is a worldwide consensus on the impacts of programmes for water supply and sanitary facilities; conventional evaluation studies do not, however, normally quantify these. The
impact evaluation has used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods and techniques. Through such an evaluation both Evaluation Departments wish to explore how the effects of these programs can be measured. [authors abstract]