Abstract
Increasing coverage and maintaining infrastructure are two of the biggest challenges confronting the water supply sector in both industrialized and developing countries. The last two decades have witnessed reform in this sector that has resulted in increased private sector participation (PSP), and it is now time to investigate whether such reform has managed to increase access without creating additional burdens, especially on the poor. This paper demonstrates that regulation should be complemented by social policies when reforming the water sector. It looks at seven country studies, which all show shortcomings of PSP and how social policies are crucial in addressing the issues of access and affordability. Figures, References.