Media organisations come to IRC for globally-significant expertise on water, sanitation and hygiene and systems change
Devex | By By Sophie Edwards At World Water Week, there was a growing sense that unlocking private finance and working more collaboratively across sectors will be critical to meeting the ambitious goals. The World Bank estimates an additional $114 billion per year is needed in order to achieve universal access to WASH; in 2014, development finance for water stood at just $18 billion.
Dutch Water Sector | The Netherlands Financial experts at the session debated the need for the global water sector to attract additional private money – next to fundings from governments and donors, to be able to scale up the projects for more taps and toilets.
Devex | By Sophie Edwards Water advocates are calling for governments to prioritize water, for donors to offer innovative financing solutions, and for practitioners to step outside their technical bubbles ahead of the biggest annual conference in the water sector's calendar.
Ghana News Agency | Ghana A Learning and Practice Convening workshop has opened in Accra for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) who have pre-qualified for the final stage of the Sanitation Challenge for Ghana (SC4Gh) contest, dubbed the "Dignified City" award. [...] The two-day workshop, would be facilitated by the SC4Gh team comprising of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Office of Head of Local Government Service, IMC Worldwide, IRC Ghana, and Maple Consult.
Medium.com | By Jenda Terpstra Social entrepreneurs can save lives in Nepal by selling affordable water treatment solutions (such as filters or chlorine flasks) that clean contaminated water, says water expert Fanny Boulloud. But creating supply and demand in the land of 6,000 rivers proves difficult. In interview with Fanny Boulloud of Antenna Foundation. [May 2018]
IWA | By Carolina Latorre & Mohamed Tawfik an articke about the "hidden part of the Iceberg" image of major maintenance and indirect costs, taken from a presentation by IRC's Catarina Fonseca.
Ghana News Agency (GNA) | Ghana 2nd press release related to the launch of Asutifi North Ahonidie Mpontuo (ANAM) or District WASH Full Coverage Start-up Initiative in Asutifi North, which was republished on 19 March 2018 by News Ghana and on 22 March 2018 by Modern Ghana. The release quoted IRC Ghana Country Director Vida Duti who "expressed discomfort that the country was making slow progress in achieving target for the goal six of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – ensuring water and sanitation for all by 2030. She called on stakeholders from government, civil society and non-governmental organisations, private sector, service providers and users as well as traditional authorities and the media to support the initiative to achieve useful outcomes". An excerpt from the same GNA press release, mentioning Vida, was picked by the Turkish media on 20 March 2018 in Anadolu Ajansı, and on 21 March 2018 in both Marmara Gazetesi and TRT Español.
Ghana News Agency (GNA) | Ghana press release on the launch of Asutifi North Ahonidie Mpontuo (ANAM) or District WASH Full Coverage Start-up Initiative in Asutifi North was republished on 20 March 2018 in MyJoyOnline.com and GhanaWeb.com. The press release included several quotes from IRC Ghana County Director Vida Duti who said "the country was making slow progress in achieving set targets for goal six of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)". Speaking about ANAM, "Ms Duti said it required collective efforts and cooperation to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all". "Ms Duti noted that water and sanitation coverage in the Asutifi North were worsened as only three percent of the District population had access to safely managed drinking water and 23 percent access to basic sanitation, hence the implementation of the initiative". Vida "appealed to stakeholders from government, civil society and non-governmental organizations, private sector, service providers and users as well as traditional authorities and the media to support the initiative to achieve useful outcomes".
Devex | By Catherine Cheney article about the importance of applying a systems approach in order to reach SDG 6: "When you go to the toilet in the morning, you probably don't think that is a system," said Patrick Moriarty, chief executive officer of IRC, a WASH organization based in the Netherlands that is also an Agenda for Change founding partner, during a TED talk. "When you turn on the tap, water comes out. When you flush the toilet, everything goes away and is made safe. And that's because there is a system." "Supporting systems change is necessary to achieve sustainable development outcomes, but it requires more patience and tolerance for ambiguity and risk than conventional philanthropy," said Louis Boorstin, managing director of the Osprey Foundation, which funds IRC, WaterAid, and Water for People as part of its Systems Change portfolio for WASH, and is also part of the Agenda for Change. "In short, it's about teaching someone to fish instead of giving them a fish ... while also recognizing that the fishing line could snap, the lake could dry up, or the local government could interfere in the fish market. But it's still better than handing out fish." Read the full article and watch Devex's video here.
Citi FM Online published a report on the launch of Asutifi North Ahonidie Mpontuo (ANAM) or District WASH Full Coverage Start-up Initiative in Asutifi North. The article quoted IRC Ghana Country Director Vida Duti, who said "the development of ANAM WASH Initiative is to accelerate the rate of progress and demonstrate how to attain full WASH coverage in a district, considering the slow progress made with the implementation of the Ghana Water Sector Strategic Development Plan (2014), according to the Joint Monitoring Programme 2017 report". She explained that "the Asutifi North District was selected through rigorous and diligent process, and therefore appealed to stakeholders to support the initiative aimed at improving access to basic water services by 2030"