People, businesses and ecosystems across Tanzania need a good quality and reliable supply of water in order to thrive. This depends on water resources being well managed, balancing the needs of all users and preventing degradation and depletion of lakes, streams, rivers and groundwater. Existing efforts to implement the Environmental Management Act 2004, the Water Resource Management Act of 2009 and the Water Sector Development Programme are starting to make progress towards this. The Fair Water Futures initiative aims to build on these foundations over the next 3 years to support a fair and prosperous water future for all Tanzanians. Between 2013 and 2016, with financial support from the UK government’s Global Poverty Action Fund, this initiative will: Secure water resources for poverty reduction, gender equity and a resilient economy. - Directly help over quarter of a million of the poorest water users in Tanzania to obtain legal entitlement to the water resources they need to escape poverty and build a resilient, green economy. This work will prioritize water entitlements for women. - Develop popularized versions of water laws and policies which together with media and public outreach will improve understanding of rights, responsibilities and duties relating to water. Activate efficient, responsive and transparent sector governance. - Lead a public expenditure tracking survey (PETS) in the water resource management (WRM) sector to guide improvement in service delivery, accountability, value for money and effective governance. - Improve public understanding of and access to responsible authorities within National Environment Management Council, local government and the Basin Water Offices. Drive investment and sector support through demonstrating a powerful business case - Demonstrate the value of investing in WRM and climate resilience through participatory social audit and situation analysis in three river basins. - Sensitize communities, SMEs and wider private and public sector water users on the need for legal entitlement and protection of water resources, and the value of use permits, pollution control, EIA, and user fees. Share lessons internationally through evaluating Tanzania’s pioneering use of social accountability and citizen agency to activate improved water management and resilience to climate change. This work is aligned with national strategies and is based on a 5-year programme of diagnostic research by the University of East Anglia and its Tanzanian partners. This collaborative project will be led by Water Witness International in partnership with the Ministry of Water, National Environment Management Council, Tanzania Network on Water and Sanitation (Tawasanet) and the Freshwater Action Network.

Project Results

Direct - 270 000 poor water users Indirect - all water users in the basin through improved sector performance and responsive governance