Addressing the policy-implementation gaps in water services: the key role of meso-institutions
A special issue of the Water International Journal, with a focus on the OECD Principles on Water Governance, has been released. The OECD Principles were adopted in 2015 and have been endorsed by 42 countries and over 140 major stakeholder groups. Five different articles are included in the special issue presenting practical experiences in water governance reforms.
One of the articles Addressing the policy-implementation gaps in water services: the key role of meso-institutions has been co-authored by Dr Alejandro Jiménez, Co-Director at the UNDP-SIWI Water Governance Facility. The paper reviews sources of misalignment between institutional arrangements for service delivery, incentives and resources mobilized in water policies, resulting in a gap of what is stated in a law and related policies and their actual implementation. It is argued that the policy gaps develop mainly at the implementation phase and are deeply connected to flaws in the ‘meso-institutions’, i.e. those that make the link between the macro-level, at which general rules are established through laws, and the micro-level, at which actors operate.
The article is available (for purchase) here.
