The Niger Delta Support Programme (NDSP) was designed to provide support for the peace process, conflict prevention and local governance in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria under the 10th EDF. The Water and Sanitation component of the NDSP (there are three other components covering public finance management, youth employment and microprojects) started in February 2013. It is focused on improving water governance (water policies, laws and institutional framework), and on the weak sector institutions that are unable to fulfill their mandate adequately. It aims at addressing the issue of poor access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services in the five participating States (Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, and Rivers States of Nigeria), caused by the absence of (i) guiding sector policy and legal framework and (ii) weak sector institutions that are not able to deliver sustainable services. The Project has been designed to achieve three main but complementary project objectives:
- To improve policy, institutional, legal and financial framework in the water and sanitation sector. Under this project objective, activities and are directed at supporting the States to develop and implement water and sanitation sector policies, strategies and legislation to facilitate the re-organisation and institutional capacity strengthening of sector agencies to deliver improved and sustainable water supply and sanitation services.
- To support urban and small towns' sectorinstitutions to deliver sustainable watersupply services. To achieve this objective, the water and sanitation component of the NDSP targets State water supply and sanitation institutions responsible for urban areas and small towns to improve their management and financial viability; increase access to safe drinking water in urban and in small towns as well as develop and implement strategy for community-management of water supply facilities in small towns.
- To support rural water sector institutions to deliver sustainable water supply and sanitation services. This objective is implemented by UNICEF in the rural communities under a joint management. UNICEF implements activities targeted at the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agencies (RUWASSA) and WASH Departments/Units to enable them provide sustainable support for the implementation of rural water supply, sanitation and hygiene services in the States.
The overall objective of this assignment is to provide decision makers in the Ministry of Budget and National Planning (MBNP) and the five participating States Ministries of Water Resources in the Water Supply and Sanitation Component of the NDSP and the European Union with sufficient information to make an informed judgment:
- about the performance of the NDSP (Component 3) as it concerns its relevance, efficiency and effectiveness, and eventual sustainability;
- about the decisions to make any required changes to programme design and scope (objectives, expected results, financing, implementing and management arrangements, duration) for an enhanced and successful implementation for the remaining period of the programme.