50. In Thailand, an innovative approach to cost recovery in rural areas has been the use of revolving funds for the promotion of water supply and sanitation development. These funds ace handled at the village level with subsidies and guidance from the Government and a national non-governmental organisation (NGO). The approach to cost recovery of the Office national de l’eau et de l’assainissement in Burkina Faso has been related to a programme of extending urban water through standposts and developing the necessary infrastructure for collecting tariffs at the communal outlets. The standpost tariff is fixed at that for a private connection utilizing less than 10m3 per montht a reduced tariff also exists for systems utilizing boreholes, pumps and independent reservoirs. It is /. . .A/45/327 English Page 15 often possible to set tariffs for the provision of water to the peri-urban and rural poor at rates that are significantly below to those paid by the population to private vendors, 51. Inadequate operation and maintenance procedures have traditionally been a major stumbling block in the improvement of water supply and sanitation services. 52, A major difficulty facing many countries in operating and maintaining installed systems has been their lack of financial and institutional capacity. This has too often manifested itself in a lack of fuel to run equipment (gen8ratOrS and vehicles), a lack of materials (chemicals and spare parts) and a lack of trained personnel. As a result of the “tie&-aid’U nature of support from lome donors, inappropriate equipment has often been provided causing operational and maintenance problems with the procurement of spare parts. 53, During the course of the Decade significant efforts have been made to rectify this constraint. In Guatemala, area health personnel of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance continues to give technical support to the communities
**Analysis**
The text discusses various approaches to improving water supply and sanitation services in rural areas, including cost recovery methods and operation and maintenance procedures. It highlights the challenges faced by countries in operating and maintaining installed systems, including lack of financial and institutional capacity. The text also mentions efforts made to rectify these constraints.

**Category**
Health, Economic development