Water for Good (WFG) works exclusively in the Central African Republic (CAR), a country facing extreme economic fragility. The road blocks set up by the non-state armed groups, which control nearly 80% of the territory, have a significant impact on the country's economy. WFG has been operating in the CAR since 2004, initially as a borehole drilling organisation, and shortly thereafter, as a handpump maintenance service provider. It has created a circuit rider approach for preventative maintenance and uses an electronic reporting system.
After joining Agenda for Change in 2017, WFG opted to adopt IRC's systems approach to go beyond their preventative maintenance programme and work towards universal, sustainable access. WFG opted to pilot a district-wide approach in Mambéré-Kadéi, while maintaining periodic preventative maintenance in other prefectures. In the pilot area, WFG focused on the following system blocking blocks: infrastructure, monitoring, finance, planning and institutions. At the same time it is helping to build up regional capacity for systems strengthening.
In conclusion, WFG believes it is possible to strengthen systems in fragile states, thanks to their organisation's long-term presence in CAR, their ability to plug short-term projects into the larger roadmap, and their ability to work with systems champions. The intention is not to build parallel systems, but to champion a roadmap that is both supported by all WASH stakeholders and adequately funded.
Presentation by David De Armey, Director of International Partnerships, Water for Good at the WASH Debate "Sustainable WASH service delivery and local WRM in fragile states: how far can you get?", in The Hague, the Netherlands on 20 November 2019.
Session Building from WASH to IWRM - photo galleryIRC
On 15 October 2023, by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Bangladesh and IRC organised a panel session titled Building WASH into IWRM at the 9th International Conference on Water and Flood Management (ICWFM 2023).
The session drew examples from three NGO-led diverse WASH programmes intervening in different regions and different administrative settings of Bangladesh. The three NGOs that shared their programme experiences were BRAC, SNV and the Max Foundation.
Learn more
https://www.ircwash.org/blog/wash-crucial-component-iwrm
Climate Resilient Water Safety Plan ImplementationIRC
The Water Development Commission shared the experience with the Climate Resilient Water Safety Plan (CR WSP) implementation approach in Ethiopia during a learning workshop. This workshop was held in Adama, Ethiopia, on 23 September 2021.
Presentation by Gezahegn Lemecha from IRC WASH on the concept of Climate Resilient WASH. This presentation was given during the Climate Resilient WASH learning workshop in Adama, Ethiopia, on 23 September 2021.
Overview of enabling environment and implementation of climate resilient WASH IRC
Presentation given by the Ethiopian Water Development Commission during the Climate Resilient WASH workshop in Adama, Ethiopia. This workshop was held on 23 September 2021.
Session Building from WASH to IWRM - photo galleryIRC
On 15 October 2023, by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Bangladesh and IRC organised a panel session titled Building WASH into IWRM at the 9th International Conference on Water and Flood Management (ICWFM 2023).
The session drew examples from three NGO-led diverse WASH programmes intervening in different regions and different administrative settings of Bangladesh. The three NGOs that shared their programme experiences were BRAC, SNV and the Max Foundation.
Learn more
https://www.ircwash.org/blog/wash-crucial-component-iwrm
Climate Resilient Water Safety Plan ImplementationIRC
The Water Development Commission shared the experience with the Climate Resilient Water Safety Plan (CR WSP) implementation approach in Ethiopia during a learning workshop. This workshop was held in Adama, Ethiopia, on 23 September 2021.
Presentation by Gezahegn Lemecha from IRC WASH on the concept of Climate Resilient WASH. This presentation was given during the Climate Resilient WASH learning workshop in Adama, Ethiopia, on 23 September 2021.
Overview of enabling environment and implementation of climate resilient WASH IRC
Presentation given by the Ethiopian Water Development Commission during the Climate Resilient WASH workshop in Adama, Ethiopia. This workshop was held on 23 September 2021.
Webinar : Adapting your advocacy to COVID-19 health crisisIRC
The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing development programmes to rapidly readjust their advocacy strategy to support local or national governments in their emergency planning. The Watershed empowering citizens programme organised a webinar attended by over 60 participants on 15 April 2020, to discuss and learn about: ways to adapt advocacy approaches in time of COVID-19; practical examples of shifting activities at national and local levels; ways to reach your target audience while social distancing; ways to adapt your messaging, keeping Watershed priorities through the lens of COVID-19.
This report includes the webinar Powerpoint presentations and some recommendations based on the Q&A session. The titles and authors of the presentations are: "Why is strong advocacy essential during a crisis?" by Evita Rosenberg (IRC); "Watershed Bangladesh : adapting advocacy approaches during COVID 19 outbreak" by Ranjan Kumar Ghose (WaterAid Bangladesh); and "Adapting advocacy approaches in Kenya "by Patrick Mwanzia (Simavi Kenya).
Novel partnership between NWSC and Kabarole District to provide safe water to...IRC
Pius Mugabi of the Kabarole District Local Government, Martin Watsisi and Angela Huston of IRC and Denis Maramuzi, Area Manager of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), Fort Portal, Kabarole worked together on preparing a presentation for the 20th AfWA International Congress and Exhibition in Uganda.
Their presentation focused on a new partnership between NWSC and Kabarole District to extend NWSC’s piped network to provide safe water to communities in the hard-to-reach Kabende sub county. This novel public-public partnership is part of the increasing trend of rural utilisation. NWSC is extending into more small towns and rural growth centres with a broadened mandate and through the SCAP100 Programme will reach 12,000 new villages during 2017-2020.
Interested in more information on the case of Kabende sub county in Kabarole district and the progress so far? Check the presentation slides.
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS) Conflict sensitivity support and tools. Referenced in the IRC WASH debate "Sustainable WASH service delivery and local WRM in fragile states: how far can you get?" which took place 20 November 2019 in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Watershed Mali : strengthening civil society for sustainable WASH-IWRM in MaliIRC
The political crisis and insecurity existing in Mali since 2012 has had a negative impact on the country’s water and sanitation sector. Normative frameworks are non-existent or unknown, polices and laws are not enforced, water quality is hardly monitored and budget commitments are unclear. The lack of knowledge about the human rights to water and sanitation has led to poor accountability, and civil society organisations (CSOs) lack capacity to advocate and lobby for better services.
Within the above context, the Watershed empowering citizens Mali country programme focuses on two main issues: (1) water quality and waste management and (2) universal access to sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. So far the programme has been able to enhance the capacities, credibility and audience of water and sanitation CSOs, including the Alliance Citoyenne Pour l’Eau et l’Assainissement (ACEA-Mali). A multi-stakeholder forum has been established and coalitions of CSOs, local government and media have been strengthened, which can mobilise stakeholders, including Parliament.
Because there enough water and faecal sludge disposal is not seen as a problem in rural areas, there is little incentive to integrate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and water resources management (WRM). Watershed is trying to stimulate integration by developing a handbook and guideline in combination with collaboration with CSO networks and donor-funded programmes.
Issues emerging from the Watershed Mali programme include how CSOs can influence decision makers to increase national WASH budget allocations infragile states, how to harmonise the institutional and legal frameworks of the WASH and WRM sectors, how to encourage innovation.
A joint presentation by Afou Chantal Bengaly (Wetlands International) and Ele Jan Saaf (SaafConsult) at the WASH Debate "Sustainable WASH service delivery and local WRM in fragile states: how far can you get?", in The Hague, the Netherlands on 20 November 2019.
Finding the flow in fragile contexts : IWRM in MaliIRC
What has World Waternet learned by implementing an integrated water resources management (IWRM) approach in Mali? In the Blue Deal Dji Don project, World Waternet supports the Agence Nationale de Gestion des Stations d’Épuration du Mali (ANGESEM) to improve wastewater management. Presentation by Annette Rozendaal-Morón, World Waternet at the WASH Debate "Sustainable WASH service delivery and local WRM in fragile states: how far can you get?", in The Hague, the Netherlands on 20 November 2019.
This presentation by Ambrose Kibuuka is a part of IRC’s in-house “What’s for Lunch series”, It reviews progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for sanitation and hygiene, sector trends focusing on Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) and sanitation marketing, and how rich nations achieved universal access to sanitation. It also briefly looks at WASH linkages with climate change, stunting, nutrition, and gender and social inclusion. The presentation concludes that unsafely managed sanitation, especially in rural areas, remains a challenge in developing countries as a result of population growth, climate change and the lack of funding for on-site sanitation and faecal sludge removal. Systems strengthening (in particular access to financing) and strong public commitment are required to achieve universal access to sanitation by 2030. The presentation includes a list of 21 references.
Social accountability : civil society and the human rights to water and sanit...IRC
The Watershed programme supports civil society organisations (CSOs) both on normative content (and claiming their rights if not yet met) as well as supporting CSOs to engage in the procedural part/principles of human rights to water and sanitation. The social accountability approach used by Watershed is based on the principles of access to information, non-discrimination, accountability and participation. The role of CSOs includes holding government to account for their obligation to ensure that everyone’s human rights are fulfilled, protected and respected. For this Watershed uses the Social Accountability Model developed by Water Witness International. Conclusions and reflection are provided on how this model has been used in Kenya and Bangladesh. Presentation by Esther de Vreede, Simavi, at the WASH Debate “Dialogue and dissent: Looking at the role of civil society in achieving SDG 6 by 2030”, in The Hague, the Netherlands on 26 June 2019.
Wash Debates: Looking at the role of civil society in achieving SDG 6 by 2030IRC
What can civil society organisations do to advance progress towards SDG 6? What are the major obstacles that impede their efforts and more importantly, how can they be overcome?
Images from the IRC WASH Debates series, which took place 26 June 2019 in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The end of the poldermodel? : the role of dissent in Dutch international wate...IRC
The Dutch NGO Both Ends is involved in two Strategic Partnerships for Dialogue & Dissent funded by the Netherlands government. One of them, the Fair Green & Global (FGG) Alliance, support capacity building of civil society organisations (CSOs) to effectively voice their views and hold policymakers and companies to account. The role of dissent is seen to contribute towards equality, equity and justice. The lessons learned by the FGG Alliance to address the concerns of Indonesian CSOs regarding land reclamations in Jakarta Bay Masterplan will be taken up to support CSO involvement in the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Masterplan in the Philippines. The challenges and opportunities for CSO involvement in Dutch-funded interventions in developing countries are briefly outlined. Presentation by Giacomo Galli at the WASH Debate “Dialogue and dissent: Looking at the role of civil society in achieving SDG 6 by 2030”, in The Hague, the Netherlands on 26 June 2019.
Voice for Change Partnership : roles of CSOs in achieving SDG6IRC
The Voice for Change Partnership (V4CP) programme is a capacity development programme for civil society organizations (CSOs) in six countries across four areas including water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). VCP is a partnership between DGIS, SNV, IFPRI (International Food Policy and Research Institute) and CSOs. The capacity development activities focus on evidence creation and dissemination, and evidence-based advocacy. In Kenya, the V4CP WASH component supports CSO advocacy for improved stakeholder participation and coordination, increased budget allocation, and influencing policy review and development. CSOs used evidence from GIS mapping and the water testing to convince county governments to take action to improve sanitation. The data collected was also used to advocate for increased sanitation investment participatory budgeting. The presentation concludes with challenges and lessons learnt from the Kenya the V4CP WASH component. Presented at the WASH Debate “Dialogue and dissent: Looking at the role of civil society in achieving SDG 6 by 2030”, in The Hague, the Netherlands on 26 June 2019.
Keynote presentation by IRC CEO Patrick Moriarty for the 11th World Water Summit (WWS 11) of the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (WASRAG) on 31 May 2019 in Hamburg, Germany. It focuses on 3 points. One, that delivering water, sanitation and hygiene services requires a functioning water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) system (made up of multiple actors and factors) and that to intervene effectively requires actively engaging with this system; two, that government has a crucial role to play within the WASH system and must be involved; and, three, that the way to drive systems change is through collective action. The presentation introduces the actors involved in the implementation of the Kabarole District WASH Masterplan in Uganda.
Use of monitoring data for evidence-based decision making: A factor analysisIRC
Presentation given by Marieke Adank during the IRC Symposium All Systems Go! on 14 March 2019. This session was organised by Heather Skilling (DAI), in collaboration with Brain Banks (GETF), Nick Dickinson (WAHSNote) and Marieke Adank (IRC).
Peace Palace Event - The human right to water and sanitationIRC
On March 13, IRC hosted a reception on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation at the Peace Palace in The Hague with attendees from around the globe. These are photo highlights of the event.
Pechakucha presentation given by Martin Watsisi, IRC Uganda, during the Linking & Learning 2019 conference on 6 February 2019 in The Hague, the Netherlands. He outlined the efforts of CSOs, NGOs and communities to stop the pollution of the river Mpanga in Kabarole District, Uganda, and to restore it as a source for safe water.
IRC's podcast series WASH Talk shares ideas on changes the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector has to make in order to contribute to achieving universal access by 2030. To do so speakers from all over the world are given a voice in this podcast series. Find out more on www.ircwash.org/washtalk .
These are the shownotes of the podcast on hygiene and handwashing with speakers Carolyn Moore (Global Handwashing Partnership), Thinley Dem (SNV Bhutan) and Adam Biran (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine). They talk about the issues around hygiene and approaches to improving handwashing behaviour. Still a lot needs to be done to meet SDG 6.2 related to handwashing.
Mobilizing infrastructural investments through Water Operators' Partnerships ...IRC
This presentation by Steven van Rossum (World Waternet) and Prtha Hariram (FMO) describes how a blend of public and concessional financing is being used to attract larger investments for public water supply company SOMAGEP-SA in Mali. It was presented at the IRC WASH Debate "Blended finance: Is it all in a mix?" jointly organised with NWP on 4 December 2018 in The Hague, the Netherlands. Dutch development aid supports technical assistance through a Water Operator Partnership between Netherlands-based World Waternet and SOMAGEP-SA. Small investments from Dutch Development Bank FMO are used to improve energy efficiency and the reduction of non-revenue water, which will hopefully improve the performance and credit rating of SOMAGEP-SA.
Catalyzing WASH : from possible to profitable : an overviewIRC
This presentation by Fred Smiet of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, discusses the preliminary findings from a micro-finance project aimed to boost water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services for households and institutions in Ghana. It was presented at the IRC WASH Debate "Blended finance: Is it all in a mix?" jointly organised with NWP on 4 December 2018 in The Hague, the Netherlands. The five-year project, which started in 2015, is funded by the Netherlands Embassy in Ghana and implemented by SNV and the Fidelity Bank. The main financial instrument is subsidy on interest, lowering rates from 30% to 10-17%, reducing risks for lenders and borrowers. So far a 93% repayment rate has been achieved.
Blended finance for beginners : a simplified frameworkIRC
This presentation by IRC’s Catarina Fonseca provides a simplified definition and framework for blended finance, together with emerging themes and statistics for the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). sector. It was presented at the IRC WASH Debate "Blended finance: Is it all in a mix?" jointly organised with NWP on 4 December 2018 in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Webinar : Adapting your advocacy to COVID-19 health crisisIRC
The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing development programmes to rapidly readjust their advocacy strategy to support local or national governments in their emergency planning. The Watershed empowering citizens programme organised a webinar attended by over 60 participants on 15 April 2020, to discuss and learn about: ways to adapt advocacy approaches in time of COVID-19; practical examples of shifting activities at national and local levels; ways to reach your target audience while social distancing; ways to adapt your messaging, keeping Watershed priorities through the lens of COVID-19.
This report includes the webinar Powerpoint presentations and some recommendations based on the Q&A session. The titles and authors of the presentations are: "Why is strong advocacy essential during a crisis?" by Evita Rosenberg (IRC); "Watershed Bangladesh : adapting advocacy approaches during COVID 19 outbreak" by Ranjan Kumar Ghose (WaterAid Bangladesh); and "Adapting advocacy approaches in Kenya "by Patrick Mwanzia (Simavi Kenya).
Novel partnership between NWSC and Kabarole District to provide safe water to...IRC
Pius Mugabi of the Kabarole District Local Government, Martin Watsisi and Angela Huston of IRC and Denis Maramuzi, Area Manager of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), Fort Portal, Kabarole worked together on preparing a presentation for the 20th AfWA International Congress and Exhibition in Uganda.
Their presentation focused on a new partnership between NWSC and Kabarole District to extend NWSC’s piped network to provide safe water to communities in the hard-to-reach Kabende sub county. This novel public-public partnership is part of the increasing trend of rural utilisation. NWSC is extending into more small towns and rural growth centres with a broadened mandate and through the SCAP100 Programme will reach 12,000 new villages during 2017-2020.
Interested in more information on the case of Kabende sub county in Kabarole district and the progress so far? Check the presentation slides.
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS) Conflict sensitivity support and tools. Referenced in the IRC WASH debate "Sustainable WASH service delivery and local WRM in fragile states: how far can you get?" which took place 20 November 2019 in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Watershed Mali : strengthening civil society for sustainable WASH-IWRM in MaliIRC
The political crisis and insecurity existing in Mali since 2012 has had a negative impact on the country’s water and sanitation sector. Normative frameworks are non-existent or unknown, polices and laws are not enforced, water quality is hardly monitored and budget commitments are unclear. The lack of knowledge about the human rights to water and sanitation has led to poor accountability, and civil society organisations (CSOs) lack capacity to advocate and lobby for better services.
Within the above context, the Watershed empowering citizens Mali country programme focuses on two main issues: (1) water quality and waste management and (2) universal access to sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. So far the programme has been able to enhance the capacities, credibility and audience of water and sanitation CSOs, including the Alliance Citoyenne Pour l’Eau et l’Assainissement (ACEA-Mali). A multi-stakeholder forum has been established and coalitions of CSOs, local government and media have been strengthened, which can mobilise stakeholders, including Parliament.
Because there enough water and faecal sludge disposal is not seen as a problem in rural areas, there is little incentive to integrate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and water resources management (WRM). Watershed is trying to stimulate integration by developing a handbook and guideline in combination with collaboration with CSO networks and donor-funded programmes.
Issues emerging from the Watershed Mali programme include how CSOs can influence decision makers to increase national WASH budget allocations infragile states, how to harmonise the institutional and legal frameworks of the WASH and WRM sectors, how to encourage innovation.
A joint presentation by Afou Chantal Bengaly (Wetlands International) and Ele Jan Saaf (SaafConsult) at the WASH Debate "Sustainable WASH service delivery and local WRM in fragile states: how far can you get?", in The Hague, the Netherlands on 20 November 2019.
Finding the flow in fragile contexts : IWRM in MaliIRC
What has World Waternet learned by implementing an integrated water resources management (IWRM) approach in Mali? In the Blue Deal Dji Don project, World Waternet supports the Agence Nationale de Gestion des Stations d’Épuration du Mali (ANGESEM) to improve wastewater management. Presentation by Annette Rozendaal-Morón, World Waternet at the WASH Debate "Sustainable WASH service delivery and local WRM in fragile states: how far can you get?", in The Hague, the Netherlands on 20 November 2019.
This presentation by Ambrose Kibuuka is a part of IRC’s in-house “What’s for Lunch series”, It reviews progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for sanitation and hygiene, sector trends focusing on Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) and sanitation marketing, and how rich nations achieved universal access to sanitation. It also briefly looks at WASH linkages with climate change, stunting, nutrition, and gender and social inclusion. The presentation concludes that unsafely managed sanitation, especially in rural areas, remains a challenge in developing countries as a result of population growth, climate change and the lack of funding for on-site sanitation and faecal sludge removal. Systems strengthening (in particular access to financing) and strong public commitment are required to achieve universal access to sanitation by 2030. The presentation includes a list of 21 references.
Social accountability : civil society and the human rights to water and sanit...IRC
The Watershed programme supports civil society organisations (CSOs) both on normative content (and claiming their rights if not yet met) as well as supporting CSOs to engage in the procedural part/principles of human rights to water and sanitation. The social accountability approach used by Watershed is based on the principles of access to information, non-discrimination, accountability and participation. The role of CSOs includes holding government to account for their obligation to ensure that everyone’s human rights are fulfilled, protected and respected. For this Watershed uses the Social Accountability Model developed by Water Witness International. Conclusions and reflection are provided on how this model has been used in Kenya and Bangladesh. Presentation by Esther de Vreede, Simavi, at the WASH Debate “Dialogue and dissent: Looking at the role of civil society in achieving SDG 6 by 2030”, in The Hague, the Netherlands on 26 June 2019.
Wash Debates: Looking at the role of civil society in achieving SDG 6 by 2030IRC
What can civil society organisations do to advance progress towards SDG 6? What are the major obstacles that impede their efforts and more importantly, how can they be overcome?
Images from the IRC WASH Debates series, which took place 26 June 2019 in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The end of the poldermodel? : the role of dissent in Dutch international wate...IRC
The Dutch NGO Both Ends is involved in two Strategic Partnerships for Dialogue & Dissent funded by the Netherlands government. One of them, the Fair Green & Global (FGG) Alliance, support capacity building of civil society organisations (CSOs) to effectively voice their views and hold policymakers and companies to account. The role of dissent is seen to contribute towards equality, equity and justice. The lessons learned by the FGG Alliance to address the concerns of Indonesian CSOs regarding land reclamations in Jakarta Bay Masterplan will be taken up to support CSO involvement in the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Masterplan in the Philippines. The challenges and opportunities for CSO involvement in Dutch-funded interventions in developing countries are briefly outlined. Presentation by Giacomo Galli at the WASH Debate “Dialogue and dissent: Looking at the role of civil society in achieving SDG 6 by 2030”, in The Hague, the Netherlands on 26 June 2019.
Voice for Change Partnership : roles of CSOs in achieving SDG6IRC
The Voice for Change Partnership (V4CP) programme is a capacity development programme for civil society organizations (CSOs) in six countries across four areas including water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). VCP is a partnership between DGIS, SNV, IFPRI (International Food Policy and Research Institute) and CSOs. The capacity development activities focus on evidence creation and dissemination, and evidence-based advocacy. In Kenya, the V4CP WASH component supports CSO advocacy for improved stakeholder participation and coordination, increased budget allocation, and influencing policy review and development. CSOs used evidence from GIS mapping and the water testing to convince county governments to take action to improve sanitation. The data collected was also used to advocate for increased sanitation investment participatory budgeting. The presentation concludes with challenges and lessons learnt from the Kenya the V4CP WASH component. Presented at the WASH Debate “Dialogue and dissent: Looking at the role of civil society in achieving SDG 6 by 2030”, in The Hague, the Netherlands on 26 June 2019.
Keynote presentation by IRC CEO Patrick Moriarty for the 11th World Water Summit (WWS 11) of the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (WASRAG) on 31 May 2019 in Hamburg, Germany. It focuses on 3 points. One, that delivering water, sanitation and hygiene services requires a functioning water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) system (made up of multiple actors and factors) and that to intervene effectively requires actively engaging with this system; two, that government has a crucial role to play within the WASH system and must be involved; and, three, that the way to drive systems change is through collective action. The presentation introduces the actors involved in the implementation of the Kabarole District WASH Masterplan in Uganda.
Use of monitoring data for evidence-based decision making: A factor analysisIRC
Presentation given by Marieke Adank during the IRC Symposium All Systems Go! on 14 March 2019. This session was organised by Heather Skilling (DAI), in collaboration with Brain Banks (GETF), Nick Dickinson (WAHSNote) and Marieke Adank (IRC).
Peace Palace Event - The human right to water and sanitationIRC
On March 13, IRC hosted a reception on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation at the Peace Palace in The Hague with attendees from around the globe. These are photo highlights of the event.
Pechakucha presentation given by Martin Watsisi, IRC Uganda, during the Linking & Learning 2019 conference on 6 February 2019 in The Hague, the Netherlands. He outlined the efforts of CSOs, NGOs and communities to stop the pollution of the river Mpanga in Kabarole District, Uganda, and to restore it as a source for safe water.
IRC's podcast series WASH Talk shares ideas on changes the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector has to make in order to contribute to achieving universal access by 2030. To do so speakers from all over the world are given a voice in this podcast series. Find out more on www.ircwash.org/washtalk .
These are the shownotes of the podcast on hygiene and handwashing with speakers Carolyn Moore (Global Handwashing Partnership), Thinley Dem (SNV Bhutan) and Adam Biran (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine). They talk about the issues around hygiene and approaches to improving handwashing behaviour. Still a lot needs to be done to meet SDG 6.2 related to handwashing.
Mobilizing infrastructural investments through Water Operators' Partnerships ...IRC
This presentation by Steven van Rossum (World Waternet) and Prtha Hariram (FMO) describes how a blend of public and concessional financing is being used to attract larger investments for public water supply company SOMAGEP-SA in Mali. It was presented at the IRC WASH Debate "Blended finance: Is it all in a mix?" jointly organised with NWP on 4 December 2018 in The Hague, the Netherlands. Dutch development aid supports technical assistance through a Water Operator Partnership between Netherlands-based World Waternet and SOMAGEP-SA. Small investments from Dutch Development Bank FMO are used to improve energy efficiency and the reduction of non-revenue water, which will hopefully improve the performance and credit rating of SOMAGEP-SA.
Catalyzing WASH : from possible to profitable : an overviewIRC
This presentation by Fred Smiet of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, discusses the preliminary findings from a micro-finance project aimed to boost water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services for households and institutions in Ghana. It was presented at the IRC WASH Debate "Blended finance: Is it all in a mix?" jointly organised with NWP on 4 December 2018 in The Hague, the Netherlands. The five-year project, which started in 2015, is funded by the Netherlands Embassy in Ghana and implemented by SNV and the Fidelity Bank. The main financial instrument is subsidy on interest, lowering rates from 30% to 10-17%, reducing risks for lenders and borrowers. So far a 93% repayment rate has been achieved.
Blended finance for beginners : a simplified frameworkIRC
This presentation by IRC’s Catarina Fonseca provides a simplified definition and framework for blended finance, together with emerging themes and statistics for the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). sector. It was presented at the IRC WASH Debate "Blended finance: Is it all in a mix?" jointly organised with NWP on 4 December 2018 in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Donate to charity during this holiday seasonSERUDS INDIA
For people who have money and are philanthropic, there are infinite opportunities to gift a needy person or child a Merry Christmas. Even if you are living on a shoestring budget, you will be surprised at how much you can do.
Donate Us
https://serudsindia.org/how-to-donate-to-charity-during-this-holiday-season/
#charityforchildren, #donateforchildren, #donateclothesforchildren, #donatebooksforchildren, #donatetoysforchildren, #sponsorforchildren, #sponsorclothesforchildren, #sponsorbooksforchildren, #sponsortoysforchildren, #seruds, #kurnool
Jennifer Schaus and Associates hosts a complimentary webinar series on The FAR in 2024. Join the webinars on Wednesdays and Fridays at noon, eastern.
Recordings are on YouTube and the company website.
https://www.youtube.com/@jenniferschaus/videos
ZGB - The Role of Generative AI in Government transformation.pdfSaeed Al Dhaheri
This keynote was presented during the the 7th edition of the UAE Hackathon 2024. It highlights the role of AI and Generative AI in addressing government transformation to achieve zero government bureaucracy
Presentation by Jared Jageler, David Adler, Noelia Duchovny, and Evan Herrnstadt, analysts in CBO’s Microeconomic Studies and Health Analysis Divisions, at the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists Summer Conference.
Monitoring Health for the SDGs - Global Health Statistics 2024 - WHOChristina Parmionova
The 2024 World Health Statistics edition reviews more than 50 health-related indicators from the Sustainable Development Goals and WHO’s Thirteenth General Programme of Work. It also highlights the findings from the Global health estimates 2021, notably the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on life expectancy and healthy life expectancy.
This session provides a comprehensive overview of the latest updates to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (commonly known as the Uniform Guidance) outlined in the 2 CFR 200.
With a focus on the 2024 revisions issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), participants will gain insight into the key changes affecting federal grant recipients. The session will delve into critical regulatory updates, providing attendees with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate and comply with the evolving landscape of federal grant management.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the rationale behind the 2024 updates to the Uniform Guidance outlined in 2 CFR 200, and their implications for federal grant recipients.
- Identify the key changes and revisions introduced by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the 2024 edition of 2 CFR 200.
- Gain proficiency in applying the updated regulations to ensure compliance with federal grant requirements and avoid potential audit findings.
- Develop strategies for effectively implementing the new guidelines within the grant management processes of their respective organizations, fostering efficiency and accountability in federal grant administration.
Understanding the Challenges of Street ChildrenSERUDS INDIA
By raising awareness, providing support, advocating for change, and offering assistance to children in need, individuals can play a crucial role in improving the lives of street children and helping them realize their full potential
Donate Us
https://serudsindia.org/how-individuals-can-support-street-children-in-india/
#donatefororphan, #donateforhomelesschildren, #childeducation, #ngochildeducation, #donateforeducation, #donationforchildeducation, #sponsorforpoorchild, #sponsororphanage #sponsororphanchild, #donation, #education, #charity, #educationforchild, #seruds, #kurnool, #joyhome
12. Takeaways & Opportunities
● Systems exist, even in fragile states.
● Short-term projects vs. systems planning.
● Fast coordination is key.
● Avoiding parallel systems.
Editor's Notes
Water for Good works exclusively in the Central African Republic.
Central African Republic is an extremely fragile context in the OECD fragility framework. This framework nicely outlines the main dimensions that are impacted by fragility with a spectrum of fragility for each dimension.
While all fragility indicators would be worth spending time discussing, I will briefly focus on the most severe indicator in the framework. I want to look at the country’s economic situation. A lot of people think it’s about insecurity, it’s more about economics, even though we know economic fragility feeds into and feeds from other areas of fragility.
CAR is the second poorest country in the world.
It is a very-low income country located in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a GDP of 2.4 billion dollars and a GDP per capita of 510 dollars.
Other economic sub-indicators that affect the economy are the country’s remoteness, landlocked position, low levels of education, food insecurity.
In 2017, it received USD 530.7 million in ODA (USD 115.5 per person), and USD 6.9 million in net FDI inflows.
Nearly 80% of the territory is controlled by non-state armed groups.
Road blocks across the state has significant impact on the country’s economy. This map shows influence zones of armed groups, and the points on the roads show where roadblocks are set up, either by civilian actors, state agents or armed groups.
Water for Good has been operating in a volatile context since 2004. In 2013, a coup that has devastating repercussions to date has left ½ of the population in need of H. assistance.
¼ externally or internally displaced
Water for Good has been operating in the CAR since 2004, initially as a borehole drilling organization, and shortly thereafter, as a handpump maintenance service provider after recognizing that handpumps needed regular maintenance.
We also realized that training isolated, local artisan repairmen across such a large area was ineffective, due to their inability to commuicate with all the necessary actors along the supply chain of parts, their limited capacity to move and reach enough water points, and the impossibility to set up effective monitoring & reporting around pump maintenance & costs.
WFG therefore created a circuit rider approach, by sending teams of technicians on different routes to visit pumps along remote roads, with a set of tools, spare parts, etc. as the most cost effective way of ensuring high levels of pump functionality (which is around 90% across all pumps at any given time).
Because cell phone networks are available only in a few urban areas, communities’ are unable to call in, for instance, when issues arise. But along with that fact, the remoteness and scarcity of pumps wouldn’t make it economically viable for us to send out a team down hundreds of kms of poor roads just for one or two pumps, even within one prefecture. Thus also explaining the current network approach.
All six teams essentially serve as the final link of the long supply chain of parts, international manufacturers to local community handpumps.
We integrated electronic reporting into the maintenance program in 2012 to tighten internal controls, have better visibility on spare part inventory in order to begin the ordering of parts well in advance, so as to ideally not run out of parts.
Communities willingly and contractually pay for maintenance services.
Spread across in low density populated communities across the country. 60% of the population lives in rural areas.
Cell phone network is only available in the few larger towns. There is no service coverage throughout the country’s rural areas, where the vast majority of hand pumps are located.
We asked ourselves what it would take to go from our preventative maintenance program to universal, sustainable access for all some day beyond Water for Good. While we have a lot of experience in maintenance, joining Agenda for Change in 2017 has really enabled us to go beyond what we do, and think about the systems’ building blocks, and think about district-wide planning and be more intentional in strengthening the WASH system in the country.
In 2017, we began analysing the data we had collected for several years to determine what it would take to provide faster service, and increase community payments. Given the immense territory we cover, we opted for a district-wide approach and focused on one region, or prefecture, in yellow, called Mambéré-Kadéi, while maintaining our periodic preventative maintenance in other prefectures.
The greatest obstacle observed was the remoteness and very low density of handpumps in any given region. In 2018 we completed a full assessment of the current levels of access to water against SDG 6 universal access goals and have since been therefore focusing the vast majority of new water infrastructure investment in the region to achieve 1- universal basic access, 2- increase economies of scale to deliver efficient professional maintenance services at affordable rates.
We have been testing new maintenance approaches in the largest urban center of the prefecture, Berberati. Communities call in for service, since the level of pump density in a 50 km radius allows us to intervene quickly on those water points with our two technicians who are equipped with motorcycles.
We used the data we collected to build a prefecture-wide roadmap, in collaboration with regional authorities, as a model to demonstrate that it is possible to effectively address a complex problem in an extremely low-developed and fragile context by 2030.
We’ve identified a number of ways we have been strengthening some of the system’s building blocks.
In our focus region, we have been working on two fronts with regards to infrastructure – investments in new installations including more complex systems such as solar powered tank installations with communal tap stands for larger communities. Secondly we have been begun increasing the levels of service provision as economies of scale allow us to provide faster response beyond the two annual visits we have been providing.
As we focus on one region, and better understand everything that surrounds service delivery, the entire value network, we better understand the technical and economic requirements to enable a local private operator to take on the infrastructure side of the system over time.
Monitoring: Electronic Reporting, shareable data (leveraged that to build the roadmap)
Our ongoing monitoring, both within the focus region and at the scope of our general maintenance program, is often sollicited by the WASH sector, by emergency actors. We leveraged our capacity to collect water point information and the monitoring of them to build the prefecture wide roadmap. This data is shared with the relevant decentralized sector authorities, and it has already provided guidance for WASH actors who have intervened lately in the focus region. This has allowed to direct a short-term intervention toward the roadmap, and better integrate the new water points into the larger maintenance program that we have.
We are currently seeking ways to support the creation of a state-owned monitoring system for the region, which does not yet exist. Either by training them into ours, or creating a new one with the support of our experience and current data sets.
Finance: We are getting visibility on the life-cycle of infrastructure because we have been monitoring water points of time through our maintenance program.
As we work with regional and national level state institutions, we are confident we are collectively working on a comprehensive, fundable plan.
Our prefecture-wide plan, based on data, has a clearly identified planning timeframe, with regards to new installations as well as ongoing maintenance requirements. We are also identifying the missing capacities required to carry out the prefecture wide planning and necessary monitoring around the planning.
Institutions: Building regional capacity / experience / coordination
On a practical level, while we largely designed the prefecture wide plan for new infrastructure, the implementation itself is systematically done with the regional head of the ministry of hydraulics. Implementation means coordinating with local authorities, community reps and committees. He helps with troubleshooting and has been a voice for the prefecture roadmap at a national level.
Serges, who is in the middle of this picture, is a perfect example of how it is possible to collaborate. He has been on several dozen work sites to coordinate with communities, such as in Gamboula, a medium-size town where we have recently installed a solar-powered pump and water tower with multiple tap stands.
We are pleased to help build up regional capacity, which has opened up doors to discuss systems change at a national level around issues that touch on all the different building blocks, such as regulation, accountability, policy and legislation. The sector is currently wrestling with what kind of management structure needs to take on bigger water distribution systems.
Entry point: It is possible to do SS in FS. Where systems do not seem to exist, they are there and it takes time to understand the endogenous nature of the systems. Having long-standing operations, our periodic but consistent collection of data, accumulation of experience and relationships has been our entry point. Building blocks are there even if weak, and we need systems champions to tie the blocks back together.
Systems Strengthening in FS means swimming against the tide, because the sector is being pushed by short-term, and often scattered, interventions. But we know that this is going to be part of the environment in which we work for a while. Those short-term projects can be plugged into the larger roadmap if strong coordination exists
Speaking systems, even in Fragile contexts, helps identify system champions in the crowd, and finding ways to bring them together around the table is important. It can look informal at first, but it is still subtle, strategic coordination. That kind of coordination, that can lead into formal arrangements, needs to be strong, ongoing, and resourced. It needs funding, as much as formal, district-wide or national coordination needs funding.
A word on parallel systems: Water for Good is not interested in building a parallel system, but champion a roadmap that is validated by all WASH stakeholders, long-standing partners of the government such as UNICEF, or others who are in a good place to champion specific aspects of the system.
There is a very strong demand for coordination of actors around a roadmap, but we recognize that it needs funding.