WATER INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS AND THE MDGs: TOWARDS AN EVALUATION FRAMEWORK y,z RATHINASAMY MARIA SALETH 1 * , ANATOLY KADUSHKIN 2 AND TAIMUR ALI 2 1 International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo, Sri Lanka 2 UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand ABSTRACT Considering the pathways of impacts of the water sector on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and mapping the water-related and other institutions underlying each of these pathways, this paper aims to develop the conceptual basis and an analytical framework for evaluating the existence and effectiveness of the necessary institutional conditions for achieving the MDGs in the specific context of the water sector. Although the framework aims to evaluate the structure and change in water institutions in the context of the MDGs, it also incorporates other institutional aspects partly for their indirect effects on the performance of both water institutions and the water sector and partly for their direct effects on the MDGs themselves. Despite its theoretical and analytical orientation, the paper also discusses the challenges involved in the empirical applicability of the framework and indicates options for overcoming these challenges through a judicious choice of evaluation context, level of analysis, and institutional aspects. Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. key words: general institutions; institutional ecology; institutional evaluation; millennium development goals; water institutions Received 28 November 2006; Accepted 5 January 2007 RE ´ SUME ´ En conside ´rant les voies emprunte ´es par les effets qu’a le secteur de l’eau sur les Objectifs de De ´veloppement du Mille ´naire (ODMs), et en mettant en e ´vidence les institutions traitant de l’eau et celles qui sous-tendent chacune de ces voies, cet article vise a ` de ´velopper une base conceptuelle et un cadre analytique pour e ´valuer l’existence et l’efficacite ´ des conditions institutionnelles ne ´cessaires a ` l’atteinte des ODMs dans le contexte spe ´cifique du secteur de l’eau. Bien que le cadre vise a `e ´valuer la structure et les e ´volutions des institutions de l’eau dans le contexte des ODMs, il incorpore e ´galement d’autres aspects institutionnels, en partie pour leurs effets indirects sur les performances des institutions et du secteur de l’eau en ge ´ne ´ral, et en partie pour leurs effets directs sur les ODMs eux-me ˆmes. En de ´pit de son orientation the ´orique et analytique, l’article pre ´sente e ´galement les de ´fis implique ´s dans l’applicabilite ´ empirique du nouveau cadre propose ´ et indique des options pour surmonter ces de ´fis par un choix judicieux de contexte d’e ´valuation, de niveau d’analyse, et d’aspects institutionnels. Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE Irrig. and Drain. 56: 227–236 (2007) Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/ird.294 *Correspondence to: Dr Rathinasamy Maria Saleth, Senior Institutional Economist, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo, Sri Lanka. E-mail: r.saleth@cgiar.org y Re ´formes institutionnelles de l’eau et Objectifs de De ´veloppement du Mille ´naire: vers un cadre d’e ´valuation. z The preparation of this paper was supported, in part, by the UNESCAP, Bangkok with an individual consultancy contract under the UNDP/ UNESCAP Project: ‘‘Supporting the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Asia and the Pacific (Phase II)’’. An earlier version of the paper was presented at the Sixth Annual Global Development Conference: Developing and Developed Worlds Mutual Impact Dakar, Senegal, January 24–26, 2005. Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.