Communication for Difficult Stakeholders in Urban Water Projects

Slum dwellers, rural poor, and migrant populations are seen as difficult stakeholders in water and electricity projects. Governments see providing utility services for informal settlers as legitimizing the settlements. The Dhaka Water Supply Sector Development Program used behavior change communication to break the myths about difficult stakeholders and bring clean water to the city. The publication, The Dhaka Water Services Turnaround, chronicles the transformation of water services delivery to communities.

Communication for Difficult Stakeholders in Urban Water Projects

Slum dwellers, rural poor, and migrant populations are seen as difficult stakeholders in water and electricity projects. Governments see providing utility services for informal settlers as legitimizing the settlements. The Dhaka Water Supply Sector Development Program used behavior change communication to break the myths about difficult stakeholders and bring clean water to the city.

Role of Communication in Governance and Reform

ADB’s Enhancing Tax Administration Capacity project in Maldives shows how communication was integrated to address the crucial “people side” of the tax reform process to change perceptions and accelerate reform adoption and acceptance. Communications also helped foster dialogue about sensitive issues around taxation among public and private sector stakeholders dispersed in an archipelagic country with high cost of public service delivery and affected by climate change.

Communication, Power, and Reform

Given the sensitivity of power reforms in the Kyrgyz Republic, the objective of ADB's Power Sector Rehabilitation Project in the Kyrgyz Republic would not have been achieved without communication. Read this report to learn about the project’s communication context, how the project communication component was set and communication strategy was developed, and other pertinent communication lessons.

Kyrgyz Republic: Power Sector Rehabilitation Project Public Information Campaign

Communication plays a major role in energy sector reform and this was recognized in ADB’s Power Sector Rehabilitation Project in the Kyrgyz Republic. One of the project’s four components is to conduct a public information program on sector reforms with the aim to increase public awareness and address negative perspectives about the power sector reform of the government, and educate the public about the benefits of an effective tariff policy and efficient energy usage.

Communication, Power, and Reform

In the late 2000s, the Kyrgyz Republic faced periods of blackouts and electricity rationing during winters. In 2010, power and heat tariffs were sharply increased triggering wide public unrest and contributed to the downfall of the government. Asian Development Bank’s Power Sector Rehabilitation Project used project communication approaches to help rebuild trust in the country’s energy sector. The project also educated consumers about energy efficiency and the benefits of an effective tariff policy.