Critically assess the risks where grant interventions rely on weak or unresponsive sector institutions for critical functions during implementation, and sustainability of results over the long term. Even as the IGP sought to introduce innovations from the private sector into the water and sanitation sectors, months were lost during implementation due to reliance on existing sector institutions, such as the Lusaka City Council, for critical steps such as the securing of land, permits, or other agreements and approvals. In addition, several stakeholders observed that assumptions about innovations from the private sector as a means for achieving impact may have overlooked the need to address more systemic challenges within the water and sanitation sectors, which largely emerge from inadequate planning and low capacity. Generally, the IGP sought to harness community-based organizations in order to improve service delivery to populations that otherwise would not have been reached by larger infrastructure investments under the Zambia compact. However, by compact closeout, several grantees highlighted tenuous levels of support from key implementing entities as a significant risk to the sustainability of their interventions.
Lesson Learned