Institutional and human resource development for water quality‐control programs in developing countries

In 1984, the World Health Organization (WHO) published the report “Guidelines for Drinking‐Water Quality”. This report broke from the past tradition of water quality policy in that it did not set standards for all countries to follow. Instead, it set guidelines for quality, and procedures for countries to follow to set standards that are realistic for their resources and circumstances. This development raised a new challenge for water supply and sanitation programs in developing countries, and asked the following questions: How can we set standards for quality? What will be the indicators of this quality? How can we strengthen the institution so the quality level is maintained? In this article, the authors explore the roles institutional and Human Resource Development (HRD) can play in the development of standards, the preparation of presonnel to perform the tasks necessary to maintain those standards (training and education), and the interventions possible to develop and maintain the strength of the institution.