“Policy is a mixture of politics, practice and pragmatism”The following documents are based on extensive work at Ministerial and senior official level in seven African countries, in assisting in the preparation of national water policies over several years. Whilst each country is unique in terms of political, hydrological, economic and social circumstances, there are a number of features of the process of policy development and sector reform which are common. Most important are vision, political endorsement, technical expertise, stakeholder engagement and realism. Good policy which cannot be implemented is a contradiction in terms.The development of policy is a critical element of the public governance cycle (Figure 1.) which is the same for all sectors. The documents provide practical insight into the development of policy and the reform of public functions in the water sector. This is “work in progress” as increasing understanding is gained of the processes being undertaken by a variety of governments. For obvious reasons working documents from actual projects is not published on this site.Â
