Find out about what IRC is doing and what is going on in the world of water, sanitation and hygiene. Use the filters to narrow down your search.
The Bangladesh government has reduced its allocation for water and sanitation by around 10 billion taka (US$ 121 million) in the proposed 2012-13 budget. Read more...
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Singapore government have agreed to set up a global centre to help developing countries strengthen their public services. Read more...
Ghana through the Community Water and Sanitation Agency is developing a District Operational Manual (DOM) to guide the delivery of water and sanitation services at the local government level. The document is aimed to strengthen the capacity of local government officials as well as address gaps... Read more...
Learning has over the past few years taken centre stage in the Ugandan WASH sector. Different actors are working in partnership to establish learning platforms or learning alliances to assess challenges, find solutions, share lessons and scale up good practices. Read more...
“Closing the gap: WASH sector devolution and decentralisation in Malawi” takes a close look at how donor financing and lack of awareness about access to funds for both infrastructure and capacity building can be better aligned; particularly in Malawi’s decentralised water sector. Read more...
Ministerial delegations from 40 countries have announced serious commitments to tackle the global water and sanitation crisis. Read more...
In 2011 the Uganda Ministry of Water and Environment started to promote the formation of Hand Pump Mechanics Associations (HPMAs) as a way of enhancing sustainability of rural water services. This briefing note highlights the key issues emerging from the process thus far. Read more...
Many African countries, including Uganda, are increasingly replacing the point source with the handpump. In order to support this change in infrastructure, water and sanitation actors in Uganda are applying the Water Supply and Sanitation Board (WSSB) model as an answer to the traditional community... Read more...
During the London Sustainable WASH learning event, which took place on 31 January 2012, representatives of 44 WASH organisations made commitments to support the service delivery approach. They acknowledged that making changes within their respective organisations is important for collectively... Read more...
The lack of clearly delineated roles can undermine sustainable services at scale. Read more...
In the search for more effective coordination mechanisms, WASH actors in Kabarole district (Uganda) ventured into sub-county level planning and review meetings. Although it is still in its infant stages, this approach is already showing signs that it could improve some aspects of sector... Read more...
Who says traditional African community mobilisation approaches have died out? The application of the Omuhiigo approach to the Community Based Management System (CBMS) of water sources in Kabarole district, is a good case of the revival of seemingly-forgotten traditional community mobilisation... Read more...
The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) has appealed to donor agencies to introduce anti-corruption policies and tools in all their water sector activities. Read more...
On 25 October 2011, IRC together with other SWA partners in Honduras conducted a meeting to inform the Honduran WASH sector on the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) global partnership and to seek the country’s interest to engage with this global partnership and to participate in the next biennial... Read more...
Various stakeholders implementing water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in Ghana currently use different approaches in implementing the project cycle to deliver their facilities. This has been identified as a challenge to the involvement of local government in enhancing the long-term... Read more...
“I love what I do as an area mechanic because in my own small way I ensure that community boreholes are constantly working, providing regular supply of water to the people to improve their standards of living and their health.” Read more...
Governance for equity requires stronger multi-sectoral partnerships, more collaboration between the Government, civil society and media and a recognition that Government cannot work by itself. Read more...
Around 30 percent of the national budget of Rwanda is made available to district authorities. Read more...
Residents of Elwany Village in Uganda enjoy a bountiful supply of water. They fetch from a shallow well, located in an area endowed with high water yields. The distance from their homes to the well is convenient as most live within one kilometre of the well. On the Friday we visited this well, in... Read more...
This paper summarises findings from a recent study of the status of rural water supply in some thirteen countries, which aimed to identify commonalities in both challenges and opportunities to rural water supply in countries as diverse as the USA, India, Honduras and Ghana. It spans a developmental... Read more...