‘We want to improve the transparency and accountability of our water company’
– Jorge Aguilera, General Manager of Water in Puerto Cortes
A Consortium for Integrity
The Water Integrity Consortium, formed in 2016, is made up of three organizations committed to improving performance and integrity in the water and sanitation sector in Latin America: WIN, SIWI, and cewas. The consortium offers concrete tools and support for industry organizations – especially service providers and regulators – to improve their performance through integrity change processes.
The Integrity Management Toolbox
The Integrity Management (IM) Toolbox provides a participatory approach to improving the performance of service providers by raising staff awareness of workplace ethics, and implementing integrity management practices. The IM Toolbox supports organizations in basing their actions on integrity – particularly their strategic plans, business models, and most importantly, their day-to-day practices – in order to reduce risks, improve performance, and provide better water and sewerage services to citizens.
The IM Toolbox is a key element of business management, and its application in the change process works in two ways: it can be used to communicate an organization’s values to their staff, creating a positive work environment, and improving motivation; and it provides tools to detect and manage risks, and to prevent and sanction rule violations.
Application in Honduras
The IM Toolbox has been adapted by the Consortium for application in Honduras, beginning with the risks, instruments, and methodology proposed being validated to ensure they apply to the country’s water and sanitation providers. The next step, together with the Regulator for Honduras (ERSAPS), saw Regulator officials trained to replicate the application of the IM Toolbox with different types of providers. In April 2018, the Consortium supported ERSAPS in facilitating the integrity workshops that begin the process of adapting the IM Toolbox with organizations including Aguas de Puerto Cortes, Aguas de Siguatepeque, Juntas de Agua de Japoe, and Jabasco – Jesus de Otoro.
Participants in these workshops have been trained on the need to prioritize potential integrity risks, and supported to implement action plans to initiate change processes through the selection of effective and innovative integrity tools.
‘The Toolbox is a dynamic methodology, which can be used to provide more transparency to the users who are paying us to for an effective and good quality service’
– Maribel Marquez, Japan Administrator
According to ERSAPS officials, the application of the IM Toolbox could become a turning point in the efficiency of water provision, thus being integrated as a tool the Regulator can use to help utilities provide a better and more transparent service to citizens.
‘This experience gives us clear objectives to improve our integrity processes’
– Fernando Villalvir, Water Manager of Siguatepeque