Addressing the policy-implementation gaps in water services: the key role of meso-institutions

This paper reviews sources of misalignment between the institutional arrangements, incentives and resources mobilized in water policies. It is argued that the resulting policy gaps develop mainly at the implementation phase and are deeply connected to flaws in the ‘meso-institutions’ linking both the macro-level, at which general rules are established through laws and customs, and the micro-level, at which actors operate within the domain thus delineated. It is suggested that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Principles on Water Governance (2015) are primarily and rightly targeting these flaws. The discussion is substantiated with numerous examples, mainly from developing countries.