The Overseas Development Institute
was commissioned to provide a rapid review of
recent literature on international practice
and experience in supporting pro-poor service
provision in fragile states, focusing on
multilateral and bilateral donors’ approaches.
It was requested that particular attention be
paid to literature published since the World
Bank 2004 World Development Report Making
Services Work for the Poor (World Bank, 2004),
a milestone in international thinking on
service delivery. The overall review consists of
three sectoral reports (health, water/sanitation
and education) together with a Synthesis.
This paper constitutes a literature review of the
water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)
sector.
The purpose of the literature review was to inform
the Office of Development Effectiveness’
evaluation of service delivery and also contribute
to a wider effort within AusAID to better
understand donor engagement in fragile
environments.
