WAMMA : empowerment in practice : how an evolutionary government/NGO partnership has helped Tanzanian villagers to attain sustainable water and sanitation services.

This case study aims to highlight the factors which give the WAMMA programme (Tanzania) its present dynamism. The acronym WAMMA stands for the four organizations involved in the district teams which support villagers in planning and implementing water and sanitation projects, namely: WA for WaterAid; M for Maji (The Water Department); M for Maendeleo ya Jamil (the Community Development Department); and A for Afya (the Health Department). Lessons learned included: governments and NGOs can be effective partners in community water supply and sanitation programmes; empowerment of field workers makes them dynamic agents for change; participatory approaches need to work within existing systems and structures; changing attitudes and working practices takes time; adding the health dimension to water programmes calls for flexible and innovative approaches; and the approach used is not a blueprint, but is replicable given certain preconditions.