These nine case studies of experiences in the provision of water and electricity services from across the Commonwealth present lessons arising from different ways of providing basic infrastructure services. These include privatization, public sector-community partnership and NGO-led service provision. An overview chapter sets these experiences in the broader context of current debates and issues in essential service provision. It highlights some of the issues that emerge from the case studies in the areas of utility reform, including pricing and subsidies, the importance of community awareness and decentralization, and examines some of the challenges to private provision. The case studies were commissioned by the Commonwealth Foundation to expand the debate on essential service delivery and inform policy and practice with examples from experience. Prepared by researchers and civil society activists from Bangladesh, Canada, Ghana, Guyana, India, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago and Uganda, a common thread of the case studies is concern about putting people's needs at the centre of decision-making about essential service delivery and factoring in the differential effects of policies on various groups in society.