Análise do sistema integrado de saneamento rural SISAR, em sua dimensão político-institucional, com ênfase no empoderamento das comunidades participantes

Abstract

In rural areas of Brazil, the water supply reality is largely characterized by the presence of solutions that do not meet quality requirements, amount and regularity. According to the Census of 2010 (IBGE, 2011), in the country about 29% of rural households do not have running water inside. Distribution networks have been extended towards the rural communities that adopt the community management systems. In this context emerged the SISAR - Integrated Rural Sanitation System - a program designed for water supply in rural communities of Ceará, which has, since its emergence in the mid-1990s, expanded the water network coverage in rural households. The program develops empowerment actions of rural communities to participate in the deployment and systems management. This research makes an analysis of the political, institutional and management dimensions of SISAR, seeking to assess its governance model and its impacts, using criteria such as effectiveness, sustainability and reduction of the vulnerability of participants. The research is based on 46 semi-structured interviews with residents, operators, community associations officers and employees of SISAR and CAGECE, and secondary data collected from four field visits in 2011 and 2012. It uses Elinor Ostroms Common Pool Resource Theory, seeking to understand the program governance and sustainability. Empowerment is analyzed from the perspective of the dimensions of access to information, social participation, local organization and transparency. Results as social participation in management, proactive attitudes of residents, exchanges of information on the operation of systems and their benefits, the transparent management of the program and improvement of the local organizations suggest that management practices with democratic and empowering features contribute to the perpetuation and sustainability of the policy.