• A new study analyzing 65 water-related policies in India, Bangladesh, Kenya, and Tanzania found that promised “transformations” are failing to materialize.
• Researchers used the SPIRIT framework to measure Scalability, Power sensitive Inclusivity, Reflexivity, Institutional flexibility and Temporality and found that South Asian policies remain trapped in a “techno-managerial” approach.
• In East Africa, policies are more inclusive but lack the long-term “temporality” needed to survive political cycles.
• The authors argue that true transformation in the water sector requires the “politicization” to include marginalized voices like fisherfolk and small traders.

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