The Guide for Managing Integrity in Water Stewardship Initiatives: A Framework for Improving Effectiveness and Transparency recommends good practices for developing water stewardship initiatives in an inclusive and transparent manner that ensures sustainable water management.
The tool was developed the CEO Water Mandate and the WIN, in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft fĂĽr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Water Witness International, Partnerships in Practice, and Pegasys, and includes an interactive online tool.
The guide provides a set of seven operational principles for ensuring integrity in water stewardship initiatives. They are divided into three categories:
- Outcomes that the initiative is trying to achieve
- Behaviour of the participants in the initiative
- Processes that govern the initiative
Implementing activities to achieve these principles can ensure the long-term, positive outcome of the collective action.
This guide gives anyone interested in developing a local water stewardship initiative a framework for how to approach integrity issues as well as a suite of practical tools to support implementation. We hope these guidelines help all sectors involved in multi-stakeholder collaborations—particularly those in the private sector and civil society—to implement joint projects in a way that serves the public interest and safeguards their credibility
“This guidance arrives at a pivotal moment to steer the development of local water collaborations that will help meet not only the dedicated UN goal on water, but also other cross-cutting goals as well.”said Gavin Power, Deputy Director of the UN Global Compact and Head of the CEO Water Mandate.
Jason Morrison, Technical Director of the CEO Water Mandate and Program Director of the Corporate Sustainability Program of the Pacific Institute, added: “There is increasing interest by the private and public sectors to work with one another to address water challenges. However, lessons from early collective action projects point to potential risks for all involved if they are not inclusive, do not address the issues of most importance for local stakeholders, and are not carried out in a way that contributes to sustainable water management.”