A REVIEW OF GOVERNANCE CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES: TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE WATER SUPPLY IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Abstract

Informal settlements in most developing countries of the world form a bulk of the urban population, these settlements are however experiencing inadequate water supply, and tend to have the worst water access scenarios. The aim of this paper is to unveil the governance challenges associated with unsustainable water supply in informal settlements, as well as the strategies that would serve as a panacea to sustainable water supply. This paper is a review paper, hence secondary data was used for data collection. Using keywords related to the research topic, relevant journal articles from databases indexed in Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science among others were downloaded and reviewed. Some of the prominent governance challenges associated with inadequate water supply are; incoherent and unclear policy statements, legal issues, duplication of functions, and lack of stakeholder’s participation in the decision-making process. These points were supported with examples from various developing countries such as; Bangladesh, Melanesia, Kampala, Nigeria, Mongolia and Ghana. Major governance strategies such as; inclusive governance and institutional reforms are paramount in addressing these governance challenges. This paper therefore recommends that a wide range of key stakeholders should participate in the design and development of water policy at all levels.