What long serving village maintenance workers have in common: findings from Nepal's Karnali zone

This paper presents the findings of a small qualitative investigation conducted in 2013 interviewing Village Maintenance Workers (VMWs) in three Karnali districts of Mid West Region of Nepal. The predominant water supply technology is Gravity Fed Water Systems (GFWS) often bringing water from spring sources many kilometres from the village and therefore requiring formal management for sustained operation and maintenance. The SNV Nepal Functionality of Rural Water Supply (FRWS) programme has identified that of the GFWS in these districts, only around 23% are functioning fully with between 10 and 70% having a designated VMW, depending on the district, despite the presumption that the presence of a trained and motivated VMW is a pre-requisite to ensuring functionality. The investigation aimed to identify common factors amongst long and short-serving VMWs in order to develop strategies to encourage their continued service on rural water supplies (RWS).