Opinions and voices for change
Navigate the blogs from our experts, water, sanitation and hygiene sector colleagues and guests. Narrow down your search by using the filters.
Last week, we had our first Triple-S research seminar, discussing the first findings from the assessments of service provision around point sources in Ghana and Uganda. Read more...
I mentioned some cool new outputs from IRC’s Ghana programme in my previous post. These factsheets present a rich picture of water services and their governance based on a total survey in our three Triple-S focus districts in Ghana. The fact sheets aren’t cool due to their content – which is... Read more...
On the 11th of September 2012, IRC debated the pros and cons of sanitation subsidies. These are a common tool used to motivate households to construct toilets. This seems an obvious response: many who lack access to sanitation are extremely poor and the potential public health benefits of universal... Read more...
What started off as a commonplace lecture-like meeting in the Lira District Council Hall, ended up in a spirited discussion about a variety of issues around the delivery of water services in a decentralisation framework. Conditional grants for water and sanitation; mobile phones for water; as well... Read more...
As argued several times, post-construction support is one of the keys to sustainability of rural water supplies. Read more...
Yesterday I read an excellent report on how the water sector in Uganda has managed to build a truly national monitoring system. The report is written by the Rural Water Supply Network Read more...
It’s always difficult call these things, but I think (and hope) that the last couple of weeks may, in retrospect, come to be seen as a watershed on the long and painful road to achieving universal access to water and sanitation services worthy of the name. Read more...
We all know how successful team GB was at the London Olympics with 29 golds and 65 medals overall. This was a fantastic achievement and the result of years of preparation and putting into practice a comprehensive sports policy for the UK. It wasn’t just investment in the athlete or their equipment... Read more...
On the 20th of August the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre organised an in-house debate on the pros and cons of adding a sustainability clause in contracts between donors and implementers in Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programmes. Despite challenges in terms of creating a chain... Read more...
The poor in small towns in Africa can and do benefit from commercialised water services, says SNV in a new practice brief. As long as water companies are socially responsible and they are backed up by pro-poor policies. SNV say they have achieved positive results through their support of small town... Read more...
Aid must be used to help local institutions not just develop infrastructure but also operate and maintain water and sanitation services well into the future. Read more...
Grâce au projet de transformation d’une ferme avicole en une ferme écologique initié par le fondateur de la Coopérative des aveugles de Bouaké, les non-voyants ont décidé de s’impliquer dans la préservation de l’environnement par la valorisation des déchets. Une initiative qui désormais école et... Read more...
Réputée très polluée, les boutiques, les habitations et les hangars environnant la lagune de Cotonou ont été rasés en mai 2012 par le gouvernement. Une opération courageuse, une sorte d’année zéro de l’hygiène et l’assainissement à la berge lagunaire.Par le passé, la berge était très polluée par... Read more...
Avec l'IRC, soutenez le développement d'une presse indépendante et au service de l'eau et de l'assainissement pour tous en Afrique de l'Ouest. Read more...
Our talk about 'sector learning' sometimes obscures the fact that it is people, individually or collectively, who learn and catalyse change. So, it's been inspiring to check in with four young professionals from Bangladesh, Ghana, Guatemala, and Uganda who are visiting IRC for their final de-... Read more...
Huge access gains but a limited impact on health and sustainability are the mixed results of Dutch aid in a two-decade aid programme. Read more...
I have written before about our work on life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) in Honduras. The idea is to look into the real costs of investment programmes and projects in Honduras, so see which intervention model is the most cost-effective. Read more...
Hay razones para estar enojado y no aceptar que las infraestructuras se desmoronen. El sistema debería funcionar continuamente, si no es así es necesario saber lo que está pasando y hacer algo al respecto. Read more...
Sustainability is on top of the list of countries, of development partners and of IRC. Now that we know about the high break down rates of pumps and pipes, we are alarmed. And we should be! Not only because breakdowns are a waste of investment and a waste of tax payers’ money, but because people... Read more...
The costing sustainable services training that took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, between the 8 th -10 th of May 2012 examined ways to improve the financing of water service delivery in Ethiopia and specifically to increase the sustainability of service delivery. The main gaps that were... Read more...
