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Published on: 07/07/2016

2015 was a year of transition for IRC as it was for the wider Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector. With the agreement of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” – we finally have the concrete and globally agreed end point for which we have advocated.

In 2008 IRC set itself the bold goal of catalysing a shift in sector thinking: from delivering hardware to delivering services that last. And we think that by 2015 we’ve largely achieved that goal. Whether it’s in the explicit language around service delivery in the Sanitation and Water for All partnership, the commitments of government partners in-country, or the growing use of sustainability clauses in grant agreements – the language of WASH has changed, and practice is following.

Which is why we will be adapting and updating our goals in 2016 – building on the successes of the last years and embracing the challenge of the SDGs. Moving beyond service sustainability and unambiguously targeting universality. And it’s why we committed to three major new initiatives in 2015: Agenda for Change, Public Finance for WASH, and Watershed empowering citizens.

Achieving SDG 6 calls, above all, for three things: leadership, finance and strong national systems. Agenda for Change is our commitment to continue and strengthen our work supporting the development of strong national systems led by governments; Watershed will build the advocacy capacity of civil society – a crucial element of strong national systems; and Public Finance for WASH will stimulate the search for the financial mechanisms that can underpin those systems. 

So, as we enter the final year of our current business plan, we celebrate the achievement of its primary goal, whilst preparing ourselves for a new set of challenges. In doing so we thank all of our partners and funders without whom none of this would be possible.

This annual report is intended to give a flavour of our achievements in 2015. For more detailed information about our progress and finances, please read our 2015 Monitoring Report and our 2015 Annual Accounts

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