ABSTRACT
Decentralization is the new watchword addressed to developing countries in the latest attempt to bring them on track for meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for water and sanitation services (WSS) by 2015. The previous slogan was privatization. The two concepts are aimed at redesigning different aspects of water service management: decentralization targets the political authority responsible for WSS delivery, whereas privatization indicates which management option the public authority should follow to fulfil its mission. With decentralization, local authorities are entrusted with the responsibility of providing WSS under national regulation and policies that often limit the scope of their choices to just two possibilities: public or private management.
