Public actors represent public institutions. They can come from within the water sector (i.e. municipal engineers) or from outside it (i.e. government officials who enact trans-sectoral laws that impact the water sector). Public actors can come from the national, provincial/local or community levels (see table below for details). Finally, international development partners can also play a public role (Stalgren, 2006).
Simone Bruno
Private sector actors can be corporations and businesses, business associations, professional bodies, individual business leaders or financial institutions (ODI, 2009). Businesses often compete with each other for the use of surface and ground water. Business representatives range from senior management dealing with procurement to technical staff and consultants engaged in the preparation and implementation of contracts (Stalgren, 2006).
UN Photo/ Igor Rugwiza
In the water sector, a consumer is a person or group of people, such as a household, industry or farmer, that makes use of the water provided by water utilities. Civil society institutions may also play the role of consumers, such as water use associations, the media, religious groups, research institutes and universities, social movements and advocacy groups, trade unions as well as national and international NGOs (ODI, 2009).
JJ Harrisonh
