Why am I in East Timor?

In my last post I set out why WaterAid is working here. But why I am here, a foreigner with no experience of the country or region? Paradoxically, the reason is that WaterAid’s policy is to employ local staff as far as possible, to strengthen the capacity of the sector in the long term.

Policy and advocacy work demands certain skills which are hard to find here due to the history (more on that later). I've worked on policy and advocacy for WaterAid in the UK for three years, supporting many of our country programmes across Africa and Asia. So, I am here on a 6-month secondment to train up a promising Timorese graduate, pass on my knowledge and experience, and set them on the right path.

WaterAid’s programme work in East Timor (which I summarise as ‘taps and toilets’) has been moving from strength to strength over the last 5 years, but policy and advocacy work are increasingly been seen as a priority. This is both in terms of the national context and the overall direction of WaterAid’s new global strategy for 2009-15

So what is policy and advocacy work? I tend to characterise is as efforts to influence what others in the water and sanitation sector are doing, but also the government’s broader development strategies (e.g. in health or education). Put simply, it means (i) making sure that water and sanitation is given the priority it deserves, and (ii) all the money allocated to it is being spent well.

To put that in context, WaterAid spends about US$1m a year on ‘taps and toilets’ in East Timor, but in 2011 approximately $80m will be spent on water and sanitation here by the government and donors. That makes WaterAid’s a fairly small proportion of all the money being spent. It is therefore a good investment to spend time influencing the ‘sector’ to ensure that the other $79m is spent well.

There is a lot to be done. Recent surveys by Oxfam and Plan indicated that up to two-thirds of new water systems here may break down within a year, an atrociously high figure caused by a number of factors. Furthermore, rumour has it that the government is set to increase its budget for water and sanitation from $19m in 2010 to close to $60m in 2011. Let’s be clear, that is excellent. This government has truly prioritised water and sanitation, recognising the low levels of access as one of the biggest barriers to development. But it remains to be seen whether the sector has the capacity to scale up that quickly.

In summary, I’m here for the next 6 months to support José our budding Policy and Advocacy Officer. We’ll be working hard to ensure that WaterAid’s knowledge and experience, built up over nearly 30 years, can contribute to a vibrant water and sanitation sector here in East Timor.