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Join IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre and the Institute of Development Studies for a day of learning and reflection on improving service delivery in the rural water and sanitation sector. The aim of this one-day event is to introduce the key concepts of service delivery including the... Read more...
WASHCost research tells that current water systems in four countries are failing to meet more than half of the populations’ needs. Current practice in the WASH sector is expensive and provides low value for money. Key findings from the WASHCost project are presented in Working Paper 8: Applying a... Read more...
On 3 May 2012, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC), National Water and Sanitation Council (CONASA), and the Honduran Social Investment Fund (FHIS) hosted a seminar of standardising intervention models in Honduras’ water and sanitation sector. Read more...
Cost of water and sanitation services in Nkwanta in the Bosomtwe District of Ashanti Region, Ghana Read more...
Find out how different organisations around the world are using the life-cycle costs approach. Read more...
On 25 January 2013, Kwabena Nyarko, on behalf of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC), presented concepts of the life-cycle costs approach and findings from the scoping mission for WASHCost to expand into Sierra Leone. Read more...
Cost of water and sanitation services in Jankpariba in the East Gonja District, Ghana Read more...
Cost of water and sanitation services in Edwenase in the Bosomtwe District of Ashanti Region, Ghana Read more...
This publication summarises in bullet points some of the main messages that have emerged from this innovative project. One of the insights has been the need to link expenditure to the (low) service levels that exist today in rural and peri-urban areas. This evidence base can guide those who bring... Read more...
Information scan on WASH unit costs and financial planning and budgeting This study: "Information scan on WASH unit costs and financial planning and budgeting of the Water and Sanitation Sector in Uganda" presents an overview of the income and expenditure flows in the Ugandan rural water and... Read more...
Catarina Fonseca’s PowerPoint about LCCA has been a big hit with country programs. She has effectively and creatively simplified a very important message about sustainability. Because of this presentation, water professionals in the region are eager to learn how they can use LCCA in their programs. Read more...
Professor Tanvi Nagpal teaches the Graduate Seminar: Delivering services in developing countries at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She uses WASHCost to help her students understand the long-term costs associated with sustainable service delivery. Read more...
Guy Hutton of the World Health Organization (WHO) stated in a discussion with IRC that "WASHcost has helped the sector realise the fundamental importance of life-cycle cost analysis in WASH planning. The methodologies and data sets generated by WASHcost and its partners will be vital to achieve... Read more...
Boreholes with handpumps continue to play a significant role as a main source and even in communities with piped networks are used as alternatives when piped networks fail. However, they failed to supply a basic level of service to more than 36% of users in any of the research countries. In the... Read more...
A basic level of service is assumed to be achieved when all the following criteria have been realised by a majority of the population in the service area: Quantity: people access a minimum of 20 litres per person per day, Quality: acceptable quality (judged by user perception and country standards... Read more...
WASHCost research strongly suggests that the rural poor are missing out due to failure to finance water services properly, especially recurrent expenditure subsequent to initial hardware provision. Even the relatively small amount of additional money that is required is 6-12 times bigger than the... Read more...
What you do not measure, you do not cost. What you do not cost, you cannot do: reporting systems must change to reflect the real costs of providing services that last. Read more...
Two decades of investment in water supply infrastructure has substantially increased the number of people with access to an improved water service. However, high breakdown levels and lack of support for monitoring, maintenance and repairs renders services unreliable. People, systems and finances... Read more...
Monitoring often ceases three to five years after a contract has been signed. Finding cost data older than three years is a problem even when projects are implemented by governments, donors or the private sector. Where it does exist, data is rarely sufficiently disaggregated to show the difference... Read more...
To achieve and sustain basic service levels, a relatively small amount of additional money channeled to cover recurrent expenditure in absolute terms could be enough. For boreholes and handpumps 3-6 per person per year and 3-15 per person per year for piped system. Read more...