The provision of water supplies for displaced communities is a vital activity carried out by many organisations worldwide. The importance of the initial provision in turn increases the need to ensure such projects are sustainable. Exit strategies need to be considered as carefully as the initial entry and to fill this perceived gap in knowledge and practise amongst agencies the UK Department for International Development (DFID) commissioned Gamos to carry out this study.

Key findings include:

• Agencies and donors that have been involved with water supplies during emergency or resettlement programmes should have planned exit strategies regardless of their entry strategies.
• Confidence in local technical competence is found to have the strongest relationship with the sustainability of the system
• Participation of the wider community and organisation both contribute to competence but are not the defining factors
• Good technical training is necessary to create sustainable systems.
• Another defining element to the process of repairing the pump is the availability of spares
• Social-mobilisation is valuable in itself as a prelude to community problem solving and future development activities

The Handover of maintenance from the external agency to local communities and local government is often difficult and it is at this point that much of the gains of the agency can be undone. Agencies use a variety of participatory approaches, village level maintenance structures, standardised pumps to fit government recommendations, organisation of spares supply and training of local government teams. By looking in detail at two projects in Mozambique and one in Malawi, this report compares and contrasts recent variations on these approaches.

The summary report is available to read here - Exit Strategies For The Resetlement Of Drought Prone Populations - Summary