Open AccessRethinking Hydrophilanthropy: Smart Money for Transformative Impact
Author(s) -
Breslin Edward D.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of contemporary water research and education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1936-704X
pISSN - 1936-7031
DOI - 10.1111/j.1936-704x.2010.00084.x
Subject(s) - transformative learning , water sector , converse , rhetoric , business , sociology , water supply , environmental science , environmental engineering , pedagogy , linguistics , philosophy , geometry , mathematics
The water sector is dominated by a handful of images – poor people collecting water from unprotected sources, or the converse of a happy child lapping fresh water from a newly provided water source. While compelling, this imagery is not entirely accurate. Sadly, the water sector does not have a particularly good track record of transformative success, despite the rhetoric and imagery to the contrary. A better picture might be one of a woman walking past a broken water point, on her way back to the polluted water source she had hoped was abandoned forever. The water sector needs to be held accountable for previous investments in new ways. Two ideas are offered – shifting from 100 percent grants that can absolve communities and local governments of their responsibilities for financing water supplies over time, and rethinking beneficiaries as the only real impact indicator in the sector.