Independent/third-party oversight

Independent monitoring and investigation of operations and activities by a third party.

DESCRIPTION

Third-party oversight is an independent monitoring and investigation of operations and activities of an organisation by a third party such as a regulator, a parliamentary body, a water action group (WAG) or other public or civil bodies. ¹

PURPOSE & LINK TO INTEGRITY

The purpose of third-party oversight is to ensure accountability and efficient use of resources.¹

An independent third-party oversight in implementation and evaluation of organisations increases transparency and verifies information on the impact of projects. ² When implemented in the context of important agreements, contracts and projects, oversight by an accepted and reputable third party can:

• Increase transparency
• Increase accountability of decision makers
• Ensure independent supervision
• Ensure accurate financial information.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

n.a.

HOW TO

A utility can define a third-party oversight on important agreements, contracts and projects. In certain cases such an oversight is mandatory. For other cases, an oversight by parliamentary bodies, water action groups (WAGs) or other public or civil bodies may help to build trust and safeguard the integrity in the provision of water and sanitation services by WSPs.³

You might also consider getting ISO certification. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies. The following ISO standard is applicable for this tool:

ISO/IEC TS 17022:2012 Conformity assessment — Requirements and recommendations for content of a third-party audit report on management systems (http://www.iso.org/iso/home/store/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=29344): ISO/IEC TS 17022:2012 contains requirements and recommendations to be addressed in a third-party management system certification audit report based on the relevant requirements.

KEY GUIDING DOCUMENTS

Nordmann, D., Peters, P. & Werchota, R., 2013, Good Governance in the Kenyan Water Sector, Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Germany

Asís, M. G. De, Leary, D. O., Ljung, P. & Butterworth, J., 2009, Improving Transparency, Integrity, and Accountability in Water Supply and Sanitation, World Bank Institute & Transparency International

FURTHER  READINGS

OECD, 2009, Private Sector Participation in Water Infrastructure, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), France

TI, 2009, The Anti-Corruption Plain Language Guide, Transparency International (TI), Germany

FULL REFERENCES

1. TI, 2009, The Anti-Corruption Plain Language Guide, Transparency International (TI), Germany
2. Nordmann, D., Peters, P. & Werchota, R., 2013, Good Governance in the Kenyan Water Sector, Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Germany
3. OECD, 2009, Private Sector Participation in Water Infrastructure, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), France