A tale of two cities: restoring water services in Kabul and Monrovia

The analytical framework of water and armed conflict: a focus on the 2006 Summer War between Israel and Lebanon

“…Water engineers have documented the impact of war on water infrastructure from Afghanistan to Angola (Nembrini, 2001(Nembrini, , 2002, and highlighted the difficulties of partnering in external reconstruction efforts (Pinera and Reed, 2009). The Water and Habitat Department of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is arguably the leading organisation in this field (see ICRC, 1994ICRC, , 2000ICRC, , 2009.…”

Humanitarian presence and urban development: new opportunities and contrasts in Goma, DRC

“…By analysing recent dynamics of urban transformation in Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu in eastern DRC, this paper takes a closer look at the indirect effects of the 'humanitarian sector' on local urban realities and processes. Rather than evaluating the direct effects of humanitarian interventions and strategies on the urban scale in terms of accountability, impartiality, neutrality or sustainability (Pinera and Reed, 2009), this paper focuses on the indirect but profound impact of the protracted presence of humanitarian organisations. Goma is a clear example of a regional 'NGOpole'; the city is housing the logistic headquarters of vast numbers of international humanitarian organisations that operate in waraffected zones in North and South Kivu.…”

Factors influencing the uptake of household water connections in peri-urban Maputo, Mozambique

“…Such collaborative approaches can be achieved by developing mechanisms which promote social organisational capacity. In this context, the capacity of the utility in to elicit, understand, and incorporate social needs into its service plans is crucial (Pinera et al 2009). An appropriate leadership function able to coordinate multiple contributions is also seen as crucial for achieving practical action and NGOs have been suggested as appropriate providers of this function due to their legitimised relationships with stakeholders (Pinera et al 2009).…”

“…In this context, the capacity of the utility in to elicit, understand, and incorporate social needs into its service plans is crucial (Pinera et al 2009). An appropriate leadership function able to coordinate multiple contributions is also seen as crucial for achieving practical action and NGOs have been suggested as appropriate providers of this function due to their legitimised relationships with stakeholders (Pinera et al 2009). Finally, slum dwellers' own organisations (formal or informal) constitute a representational and often highly democratic body whose engagement has been found to be important in delivering effective water provision schemes (Burra 2005).…”

“…Many of the reported studies in this field are based strongly on scheme implementation experiences and they suggest that users´ priorities (Gulyani et al 2007) and a better understanding of the services they are willing to contribute towards (Raje et al 2002) need to play a significant role. It is something of a truism that the challenges faced by residents in deprived areas vary considerably from suburb to suburb and that there is no single response appropriate to all cases (Pinera et al 2009), but calls for interventions to be adapted to particular local conditions (Gulyani et al 2010) are genuinely challenging to implement. The level of heterogeneity even within a single neighbourhood can be extensive (Gessler et al 2008) with significant variation in income, housing condition, culture, and capacity to take advantage of service provision (Gulyani et al 2010).…”