The EMPOWERS Approach to Water Governance: Guidelines, Methods and Tools

The EMPOWERS guidelines provide a practical framework designed to improve local and intermediate-level water governance and enhance the poor’s access to water services. Built upon twin pillars—stakeholder dialogue and concerted action (SDCA), and a structured six-phase water management cycle (Visioning, Assessing, Strategising, Planning, Implementing, and Reflecting)—the approach emphasizes participation, transparency, and poverty reduction. It equips facilitation teams and stakeholders with a toolbox of 31 qualitative and quantitative methods to navigate uncertainty, build shared information bases via frameworks like RIDA (Resources, Infrastructure, Demand, and Access), and manage trade-offs. Ultimately, the approach fosters adaptive management, continuous learning, and sustainable, locally appropriate water development solutions.