Report – The risk of vanishing effects: Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation programmes in rural Benin

Support to water supply and sanitary facilities has been a priority for international development co-operation for many years. Current attention is guided by the international consensus on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MDG 7 includes the target to reduce by half, in 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.

Benin is for both the German and Dutch government a partner country to which major support to rural water supply and sanitary facilities has been provided. The Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Evaluation Department of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), in close cooperation with the Evaluation Department of the KfW Entwicklungsbank, conducted a rigorous impact evaluation of rural water supply and sanitation programmes in Benin. The impact evaluation covers several interventions to which a number of donors have contributed. In addition to Germany and the Netherlands, other main donors were multilateral banks, France and Denmark. Support provided has been aligned to national sector policies and harmonized between donors.