Economic resilience in water supply service in rural Tajikistan: A case study from Oxfam

The water utilities established by the Tajikistan Water Supply and Sanitation (TajWSS) project, which is funded by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and led by Oxfam in Tajikistan in collaboration with Government of Tajikistan focussed mainly on decentralization of drinking water services and ownership of the water supply assets by local governance bodies. However, owing to the increasing demand for water and pressures on water resources as a result of climatic variability, water utilities in rural areas are facing financial, operational and environmental challenges which prevent them from responding adequately. These challenges require highly resilient considerations in the design, construction and management of water supply and sanitation facilities and access to financial resources to overcome unforeseen risks. Oxfam's experience in Tajikistan shows that a community's socio-economic status and water utilities’ business operations were key factors for building the resilience of water and sanitation (WS) systems in rural areas. In this paper, the approach in building WS systems that are highly resilient to disasters or risks in rural areas is investigated along with how different factors such as demand and supply, institutional capacity, access to finance and community ownership affect the sustainability of WS services.