| dc.description.abstract | Most donor funded organizations/projects are faced with challenges in addressing sustainability of projects. This has resulted in the increasing numbers of failed and abandoned projects, withdrawal by donors, dependency by communities and poor cohesion. It is for this reasons that the study sought to evaluate World Vision (WV) funded water projects. The objectives of this study were; to establish the influence of community involvement on sustainability of WV funded water projects; to examine the influence of efficiency of water management committee on sustainability of WV funded water projects; and to assess the influence of relevance/or appropriateness of technology on sustainability of WV funded water projects.
The descriptive survey research design was used to capture opinions and attitudes relating to the study qualitatively and quantitatively. It entailed the collection of primary data through questionnaires. Purposive sampling was used to identify the respondents for the study. A sample of 60 respondents was targeted and 48 responded to the research instruments. This was deemed favorable to the study as it represented 80% turnout and, further, the sample size was amenable to statistical analysis. Executive committees in the water projects doing daily management of the projects were the units of analysis. Data was analyzed using SPSS 11.0. The data was analyzed descriptively, presented in tables and then the results interpreted.
The findings of this study highlighted how the independent variables (efficiency, relevance and community involvement and participation) contribute to the overall sustainability of WV funded water projects in the study area. The findings also suggest that gender parity and equity were significant to the research and, hence, to the sustainability of the projects from the study, The greater majority 76% of the women had only primary school level of education as opposed to only 56% of the males having the same qualifications of the remainder, only 12% of them had attained level education as compared with 19% of the men who had the same .. The projects had made inroads in the community and had impacts in the areas, as such, they had gradually gained community support and involvement at all stages of their development.
They had also registered impressive efficiency reports although this was in most cases an attribute of inherent design characteristics. However, they still needed management strategies to ensure their sustainability. The environment had not been compromised by the projects which were a good sign that the technologies were indeed appropriate but they still faced challenges of maintenance and support which invariably called for improved capacity for their future handlers.
There was need to involve the female gender at every stage of the projects due to their evident propensity in managing the projects for sustainability. Policy makers should revise their strategies to better the approach and practice of SD initiatives in the light of current developments. There should also be more innovations by the practitioners to make the projects more adaptable, economical and sustainable in the future. | en_US |
