a specific service level, self-supply relies on establishing mechanisms to let people decide themselves on the level, the location and the timing of the service provided. this needs special attention to market development, to strengthening the capacities of the private sector (as a service provider) and government agencies (e.g., as quality monitoring agency). thus, while not interacting directly with any households, self-supply does not imply that the poorest households and individuals are abandoned, but it optimizes the limited resources available at all levels. in cases where the government can not fulfil this role of a regulator and monitoring agencies, dynamic processes have led to overexploitation of groundwater resources (e.g., in the city of lagos) and of increased public health problems due to the consumption of groundwater that is naturally contaminated with arsenic. however, there are also examples where self-supply contributed to better access to water and sanitation services even by the poorest. for example, thailand, where millions of rural people upgraded their water service level by buying additional vessels for storing rainwater, is one of the countries with most equal rates of access to drinking water. additionally, in many cases the owners of a private well or other water source are not the only people who benefit from it. neighbors, who may be poorer than the owners, also benefit from the water source since frequently they are allowed to use it as well. role of government advocating for self-supply improvements means supporting the target population in a different way than many wash programs do. instead of focusing on government providing specific services directly it implies strengthening capacities of the private sector and aims to improve their quality of service. apart from capacity building, the role of government may also include quality assurance, monitoring, and regulation. human right to water and sanitation the criticism is based on the assumption that the human right to water and sanitation imply that the government directly has to deliver water and sanitation services to everyone. however, as the united nation's special rapporteur on the human rights to water and sanitation pointed out, the government can also opt for a strategy of strengthening capacities of the private sector under a supported self-supply approach, allowing its resources to be used efficiently and reaching people in sparsely populated rural areas. history the term "self-supply" was coined by members of the rural water supply network (rwsn) during the rwsn forum in uganda in 2004. it subsequently became one of the key topics of this network, which continues to update information regarding self-supply under their thematic website. around 2010 it became apparent that there is a need to distinguish between "self-supply" and "accelerated self-supply", which often also is mentioned as "supported self-supply". whereas in many non-industrialized countries self-supply is a naturally occurring process largely without government supervision, there are also exceptions to this rule. for example, self-supply has been formally endorsed by the national government of ethiopia as a service delivery model for water in rural areas. furthermore, the experience of thailand (see example on rainwater harvesting) shows how a country can start with a government-driven approach and substantial use of subsidies to a self-supply approach once the private sector is strong enough, and that the resources and emphasis of the government agencies then can shift to monitoring water quality.