Ned Breslin & John Sauer, Dick van Ginhoven and Sam Parker give comment on IRC's role and value in the face of the challenges in the WASH sector.
Published on: 25/04/2014
IRC’s new website provides greater access to IRC research, tools and blogs from experts. It aims to encourage and nourish debate on global WASH issues and to underpin IRC’s role to provide active support to governments and their partners to develop sustainable WASH services.
To coincide with the launch of IRCs new website, three experts give comment on IRC’s role and value in the face of the challenges in the WASH sector: key sector players Ned Breslin & John Sauer (Water for People) and Sam Parker (Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor) and Dick van Ginhoven, Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS).
Ned Breslin and John Sauer:
“ The sector quite simply needs to break the cycle of failed water projects and ensure the permanence of service delivery forever. This requires the support to district and national governments to play their central roles in water service provision and regulations, the unleashing of the local private sector in ways that can ensure ongoing service delivery is properly managed and incentivized, and the further strengthening of civil society to demand effective and lasting services. Old paradigms of project delivery must change, and IRC is leading the charge in reshaping the WASH landscape for better results.
One of the most important impacts of IRC’s work is the influence they have had on issues of sustainability and proper life-cycle costing. They have tested, applied and modeled new approaches and tools such as the WASHCost Calculator that are changing the WASH landscape profoundly.”
Ned Breslin is CEO of Water For People and John Sauer is Head of External Relations, International Programs at Water For People
Water For People collaborates with IRC and Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor to target districts in defined geographic regions for ‘Everyone, Forever’.
Dick van Ginhoven:
"Sustainability of service delivery is the key challenge for water and sanitation for years to come. The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS) has put in place sustainability clauses in their contracts and financing agreements and annual technical audits (checks) to oblige implementing partners and recipient governments to sustain infrastructure built with Dutch tax payer's money for a period of a minimum of ten years and subscribe to measures making that possible. IRC is a global frontrunner in innovative approaches and tools for increasing sustainability and implementing those in policies and practices of governments and implementing agencies across the world. DGIS has and will continue to support IRC in this very needed and laudable role. Without IRC and in particular the results of its WASHCost and Triple-S projects sustainability wouldn’t have become the top priority of the global WASH agenda it is today and under the new WASH development agenda aiming for sustained ‘universal access’ post-2015."
Dick van Ginhoven is Sr. Water and Sanitation Advisor at The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS)
DGIS has a long standing relationship with IRC.
Sam Parker:
“IRC is a key partner for us: they have powerful research expertise, they are central to knowledge dissemination in the sector, and are a lead voice on sustainability.
WSUP shares IRC’s commitment to re-focus donor funding away from short-term projects, and towards government-led programmes which have a realistic prospect of achieving universal and lasting water and sanitation services. We are proud to work alongside IRC in this endeavour.”
Sam Parker is Chief Executive of Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) and winner of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship 2014.
Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) collaborates with IRC and Water For People to target districts in defined geographic regions for Everyone, Forever.
