Partnership changes in rural water supply

If the estimated one billion people in developing countries who lack access to a safe and reliable water supply are to be provided with systems that they themselves have the capacity to manage by the year 2000 then the issue of partnership will be a crucial one in the years to come. Partnerships in rural water supply are not new as providers of improved water supplies have tried to form some sort of partnership with beneficiaries since colonial times. But the nature of these partnership arrangements have changed and evolved over the years and as communities are not static but are in a continuing process of change, partnerships will also be subject to evolution as the new millennium approaches. This paper will examine the ways in which partnerships have changed over the last 20 years or so with particular reference to rural water supply schemes undertaken by governments using external support.