Integrity Management Training and Strategy Workshop in San José, Costa Rica, April 14-17, 2015

In preparation of the workshops in Costa Rica the Integrity Management Toolbox was adapted to the context of the national water authority AyA. Several staff and directors of the authority were interviewed to develop a tailor-made approach to enhance integrity in this water sector institution.

From 14 to 15 April five sector professionals from Costa Rica and Peru received a training of facilitators and an introduction into the coaching concept of the integrity management toolbox. The training was complemented with presentations of cases and experiences from the region that were introduced by UNDP Water Governance Facility and the Water Integrity Network. Two of the participants of the training then continued with an on-the-job-training, co-facilitating the Integrity Management workshop for AyA together with Janek Hermann-Friede and Carmen Fernandez Fernandez from cewas.

During the two-days Integrity Management workshop 18 high-level staff from the department for delegated water systems of AyA developed a road map to enhance the department’s integrity. The participatory workshop comprised sessions to establish the department’s business model, to prioritize integrity risks and analyse available instruments to mitigate the key integrity challenges. Based on these exercises the participants established the envisaged impact of selected integrity instruments and planned tangible steps towards their implementation.

The step-wise approach of the IM workshop worked well to guide the participants in familiarizing themselves with the topic and establishing a plan to enhance the integrity of their department’s management and services. It was agreed that the results of the workshop should be integrated into AyA’s ‘improvement plan’ (plan de mejoras) to provide an institutional anchorage point for a successful implementation of the integrity instruments. Moreover, the description of the business model and the exchange around the integrity risks and potential instruments helped to coordinate the needs of participants from the central level and those from the department’s regional offices generating a shared understanding what is required to overcome some of the key challenges.

Further follow-up to the change processes will be carried out by Cedarena consultants (change coaches) with support from cewas and WGF.