Botswana water sector capacity building programme

The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and the Botswana Department of Water Affairs (DWA) are jointly implementing a two-year capacity building programme to support the restructuring of Botswana’s water sector.

Recognising that its existing policies and organisational structures for the water sector were no longer meeting the needs of its citizens, the Government of Botswana undertook a review of its National Water Master Plan in 2006. Under the guidance of the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources (MMEWR) and based on the recommendations of the review, a reform of the water sector was initiated in 2008.

Under the reform, the DWA would relinquish its service delivery responsibilities in order to focus on water resources management as its primary function and the Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) would take on the role of providing water and wastewater services for the entire country. A modern regulatory regime will also be developed, and an independent Water Resources Council established to oversee and allocate the nation’s scarce water resources. These reforms have required redeployment of staff from DWA and local municipalities to WUC, as well as capacity building in the new institutional mandates.

In July 2011, MMEWR signed a Memorandum of Understanding with SIWI to support the capacity building of DWA, WUC and other water sector stakeholders. The capacity building programme is made up of eight courses on: corporate transformation and change management; integrated water resources management; research and benchmarking methodologies; water resources policy; integrated data management; climate change and variability in water resources management; water allocation and management; and wastewater management and reuse . Each course consists of three one-week modules, spaced about two months apart. This modular structure enables participants to more effectively integrate their learning into their day-to-day work, and avoids long absences of essential staff from their duties. SIWI will also support the DWA in establishing a Knowledge Services Hub, which will be a national centre of excellence, conducting applied research, monitoring local and global trends in water management, and providing policy advice to the Department. The Hub will also facilitate cross-learning among sector institutions. It is envisaged that the Hub would continue the capacity building process initiated though this partnership.