Doing Things Differently: Can Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene Services Support Peace- and State-Building Processes?

type="main" xml:id="dpr12120-abs-0001"> Interventions across all sectors in fragile states are called to contribute to tackling conflict and fragility despite the lack of evidence on how/if this is possible. This article reviews the existing literature to identify five entry points through which water supply and sanitation service delivery might interact, both positively and negatively, with state-building and/or peace-building processes. Evidence for the relevance of these entry points was assessed in the Republic of South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Our research suggests that the way in which water and sanitation services are delivered is more important than the delivery of these services per se. Moreover, we find that the effects are largely modest and likely to be localised, and that greater attention is still needed to avoid potential negative consequences.