Annual reports
What we've achieved, the lessons we've learned and our plans for the future...
And if you are interested in our Annual Reports from prior to 2000, contact us! For a look into our finances, check our annual accounts
What we've achieved, the lessons we've learned and our plans for the future...
And if you are interested in our Annual Reports from prior to 2000, contact us! For a look into our finances, check our annual accounts
The particular highlight of 2018 was the development and launch of master plans for universal water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) service provision by two of our partner districts in Burkina Faso and Ghana (with more to follow in 2019). Each plan represents the first time that local authorities have committed to the aim of achieving universal access by 2030. They are the result of a process of strong political leadership and collective action by a broad coalition in each district. The plans, processes and partnerships aligned behind this work represent the end of a critical first step in our Theory of Change. They are the end of the beginning. They also highlight the challenges to come, not least mobilising the necessary finance to meet their ambitious goals and scaling up this systems approach to other districts.
Our strategy and Theory of Change are ambitious: for ourselves and for the WASH sector in the districts and countries where we work. They revolve around us acting as a hub for WASH systems strengthening and change, triggering and supporting initiatives by others leading to effective, collective action. This work is hard to do and it's equally hard to make it clear and visible. In a world that seeks simple, clear and compelling narratives, the reality of WASH system strengthening in developing countries consistently confounds easy storytelling. To help with this, we're developing an innovative monitoring framework to make the outcomes of WASH systems strengthening more visible and measurable. A public-facing reporting system will go live in 2019.
Our financial situation was stable in 2018, with a turnover of slightly more than € 11 million. This was supported by an important new four-year grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation that directly supports our district-level change hub work. In total, we received funding from 32 donors and 49 clients this year, and we gratefully acknowledge their generous support.
During this year our staff number grew to 75 people, with 43 of these based in our focus countries. We also worked with more than 20 associates, in line with our vision of a flexible and decentralised workforce. The international makeup of our Supervisory Board remained unchanged with six members, two Netherlands-based and four external.
Read our Annual Report 2018, our Monitoring Report 2018 and our Annual Accounts 2018 for more highlights and details of our work.
2018 was the second year of our refreshed strategy, which focuses on the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal 6 – access to safe water and sanitation available for everyone, for good by 2030. It was also our 50th birthday, making it a fitting year to celebrate a transformed organisation and mission.
With the launch of our Strategy Framework, we set out how we intend to work with our partners to build resilient water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) systems to deliver Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6) by 2030.
During 2017 our country teams worked with our partner districts to identify the challenges to achieving this. The resulting master plans will be published in 2018 and will guide our work in those districts in the years ahead. Our work on policy and knowledge sharing will ensure that success is not limited to these districts – but acts as an inspiration, nationally and globally. Our theory of change underpins our new strategy. It tells us what we have to do and why, in order to achieve our goals at three levels: district, national and global. It focuses on our role in strengthening systems – networks of people, organisations, institutions and resources – because it's based on the evidence we've gathered showing that reliable and sustainable WASH services can only be delivered by strong and resilient systems.
Our role will be to strengthen WASH systems, and in order to gauge our progress, we have developed a monitoring framework to measure and report on developments. The results will go live on our website in 2018.
2017 also saw us achieve our highest ever turnover, thanks to the generous support of new and existing donors. As in previous years we would like to thank these donors for their continued belief in, and support to, our mission and vision.
This was also a year of transition for our Supervisory Board. In March, our dear friend and colleague Piers Cross passed away. In May, Hans van Dord stepped down as Chairman: we are grateful to him for the superb way in which he guided us when we were going through a particularly difficult time. Robert Bos took over as the new Chair. We also bade farewell to Regien van der Sijp and Ton de Wilde; Ton continues to support our work in Bangladesh. We welcomed two new members: Louis Boorstin (USA) and Clarissa Brocklehurst (Canada) who both bring a wealth of WASH experience. As a result, the Supervisory Board is now made up of two Netherlands-based and four externally based members. We are proud of the continued diversity of our organisation.
Strategies, publications, campaigns and initiatives mentioned include:
We will establish long-term partnerships in specific districts, dedicated to achieving universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene services
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.
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.
Our progress through 2014
2014 was a tumultuous year for IRC. We saw strong affirmation of our effectiveness while being forced to deal with unprecedented financial pressure. We have now entered 2015 a leaner, more resilient, more vigorous and more flexible organisation.
2014 marked the wrapping up of IRC's largest project Sustainable services at scale (Triple-S). IRC continued emphasising the service delivery approach, the life-cycle cost approach to financing for WASH services and the Everyone Forever initiative.
Two major external evaluations of our work both found that as a relatively small organisation we are punching above our weight and contributing to real change in how water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services are delivered to the poor.
Our efforts and impact
We reached 15.2 million people through our work and by our partners' work, compiled 73 research documents and trained 2,618 water professionals. Our events (co) organised with partners at different locations were attended by up to 1,000 participants and 80 papers were presented. Our new website launched in May shares all materials in one place so we can better serve and engage with our partners and the sector as a whole.
Elements of our service delivery approach were adopted in 25 policy and planning documents for regional, national and district level implementation in several countries across the world. The sector has continued to embrace the idea that WASH is about services and not just hardware and that costs and investments must be linked with service levels, while more and more stakeholders applying service delivery tools and concepts in many programmes/projects.
In 2015 IRC will redouble our efforts to lobby for more public finance for WASH, and to deepen our understanding of the financing mechanisms that can channel this money to effective service delivery.
For more detailed information about our progress and finances, please read our 2014 Monitoring Report and our 2014 Annual Accounts.
2013 was a year of transition for IRC, behind the scenes a lot of work has gone into rebranding IRC. Transforming the organisation from a knowledge centre into a think-and-do tank, which leads the way with innovative concepts and by setting sector trends. This annual report lists our efforts and shows our impact in 2013. We reached 34 million people by our and our partners’ work, compiled 238 research documents and trained 2000 water professionals. Our symposium on Monitoring Sustainable WASH Service Delivery held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was attended by 420 people and 85 papers were presented.
Elements of our service delivery approach were adopted in 16 policy and planning documents in several countries across the world and at global level. The sector began embracing the idea that costs must be linked with service levels, but whether that will lead to more sustainable services and different budget allocations remains to be seen. In 2014 IRC will redouble its efforts to lobby for more public finance for WASH and explore financing mechanisms.
The Annual report 2013 is intended to give a flavour of our achievements in 2013. For more detailed information about our progress and finances, please read our 2013 Monitoring Report and our 2013 Annual Accounts.
There are many "firsts" in the Annual Report 2012. It is the first to work with IRC's new Monitoring & Learning system; the first to report against IRC's four business goals; the first to address the reporting requirements of both DGIS and the INGO Accountability Charter; and the first to provide links to selected web features and articles.
Highlights
Year of publication: 2013
2011 was an important year for IRC as it marked the conclusion of IRC's Business Plan 2007-2011. Looking back, we made great strides in reinventing ourselves strategically and operationally, concluding 2011 with heightened international recognition of the contributions we can make in the WASH sector.
Our profile was boosted by the international Philanthropedia Review's listing of IRC as the 4th top international non-profit organisation for WASH in 2011 for our ability to achieve impact.
In an independent evaluation of our work commissioned by the Dutch Government, we gained further recognition. According to the evaluation, "there is little doubt that IRC's core competences (innovation, knowledge management, advocacy and capacity building) are highly relevant" and that "the IRC goes well beyond... simplistic water supply targets that only attempt to measure access to services while completely ignoring the quality and sustainability of the services".
The increased scope of our operations resulted in a significant increase in staff over the last five years. We concluded 2011 with a 61 member staff base, and some 40 local staff in our focus-country programmes and projects.
During the five years of the Business Plan 2007-2011, it became clear to us that delivering services through stand-alone projects was incapable of bringing innovation at scale, let alone achieving sustainability. We realised that a greater degree of collaboration, joint learning and fact-finding was necessary in order to achieve our goals of innovation and sustainability. As a result, we started working more intensively in a reduced number of focus countries to become a more effective actor in-country, and tackling these challenges directly with our partners. These shifts were driven by a desire to obtain greater understanding of the challenges ahead of us, and as such, to achieve more lasting impact.
Year of publication: 2012
In this 2010 Annual Report we share our analysis of the most important trends in the WASH sector and IRC's response to these trends. These trends include aid effectiveness and the sector wide approach, financing the sector, sustainability of rural water supply, decentralisation, governance and accountability, urbanisation challenges, information and communication technology (ICT) and social media challenges.
Table of contents
Year of publication: 2011
IRC and its staff facilitate a gamut of innovative research and learning support services with the aim of generating and sharing WASH related information. The Annual Report 2009 highlights the IRC's achievements and the significant steps the organisation has taken in the areas of resource generation; knowledge management and information sharing; monitoring and learning; as well as partnership building and capacity strengthening. It stands as testament to an engaged organisation that remains at the forefront of the water and sanitation sector, inspiring stakeholders in the WASH sector to meet the challenges of change and achieving sustainable delivery of and access to water and sanitation.
Year of publication: 2010
Read the IRC's Annual Report from 2008, our 40th anniversary and the theme of this report.
In between information, on our programmes, projects and IRC governance, find timelines that give you a perspective on IRC's contribution in the last 40 years: events, organisations, partnerships and projects, and publications.
There is also a timeline for 2008 and looking ahead to 2009.
2007 was a year in which a number of major changes were successfully concluded. The most important were the legal disengagement from the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, the adoption of a new governance structure with a new Supervisory Board and the start of a new business plan period 2007-2011, and various changes to the internal organisation.
In addition to these change drivers, IRC experienced growth in 2007. The trend of growing interest in IRC's main knowledge areas such as Finance, Transparency, Multiple Use Services, was strong. It was accompanied by new funding for further developing and mainstreaming these knowledge areas in the sector. All this has had a profound impact on IRC itself, the magnitude of which started to become clear in later in the year.
IRC's staff contingent grew in 2007 to 42.4 full time equivalents, up from 38.5 in the previous year.
Financially 2007 has been a good year in which we achieved our financial targets. Most significant was the increase of funding from partners other than DGIS by 84%, slightly above budget.
Year of publication: 2008
2006 was an important year for IRC. We successfully completed our Business Plan for 2002-2006 and embarked on a new plan for the coming five years. The main theme running through all our activities in 2006 was capacity strengthening. IRC believes that capacity constraints are a major hurdle in achieving the Millennium Development Goals in the water and sanitation sector. Our efforts to strengthen capacities reflect the many roles that IRC plays in the sector. This Annual Report shows how those efforts have paid off over the past year.
Our focus on strengthening capacity was expressed in a wide variety of ways. Together with UNESCO-IHE, Cap-Net, Streams and the Water & Climate Programme (CPWC), we played an important role at the 4th World Water Forum (WWF4) in Mexico. In September, we organised an international conference on 'Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation: Strengthening Capacity for Local Governance'.
In terms of information and knowledge management, IRC continued to provide a broad range of products and services, including the SOURCE family of newsletters in different languages. A comprehensive survey showed that these products and services are highly valued and are widely used by practitioners in the sector. And we welcomed new partners to our quarterly publication Source Bulletin, strengthening the dissemination of information to the WASH sector.
IRC's thematic work continued to attract much attention, impacting on policy discussions in the WASH sector at all levels. The theme of transparency and corruption moved forward with the launch, together with a number of partners, of the Water Integrity Network at the World Water Week in Stockholm. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation commissioned IRC to carry out an important landscaping study as part of its strategic exploration of the WASH sector.
In the coming five years, IRC's role in the WASH sector will change radically. In particular, we will need to devote extra attention to forging innovative and effective partnerships. But our core concerns will not change: we will continue to do what IRC does best: strengthening capacity, disseminating information and developing knowledge.
Year of publication: 2007
2005 was a year of different perspectives for IRC. We underwent an external evaluation, started preparing for our new Business Plan for 2007-2011, gave the concept of learning alliances a further boost and contributed to the sector through different platforms.
The external evaluation team talked to IRC staff, partners and stakeholders on progress and the opportunities and challenges in the sector. The outcomes of these discussions have been useful input into the new Business Plan.
In June, together with UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education we organised a symposium on 'Learning alliances for scaling up innovative approaches in the water and sanitation sector'. Learning alliances are a good example of the integration of the various areas of IRC expertise into one practical approach. In the MUS project, IRC and Cinara (Colombia) are part of a learning alliance to learn from communities how they manage water and wastewater in an integrated way. The EMPOWERS project in the Middle East is another good example of a learning alliance in action.
We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Dutch NGOs Simavi and Aqua4All to undertake innovative projects under the name of WaterLinks. Together with CREPA we organised a workshop on micro finance in Dakar, Senegal. Transparency, honesty and corruption have become (again) a focus of attention in the water sector. To help tackle these issues, we have, together with partners, set up a programme to promote greater transparency.
In financial terms 2005 was a challenging year for IRC; amongst others we had to accommodate significant project losses. Yet, we are looking confidently to the future: we have improved our operations and we are seeing a continued growth in demand for our services.
Year of publication: 2006
The year 2004 was a challenging one for IRC. We were asked to undertake innovative assignments on an international front. We hosted and organised a number of conferences and continued to strengthen our partnerships and to develop new ones.
Some of the highlights in 2004 were reviewing the Monitoring of Millennium Development Goals for Water and Sanitation, at the request of the German Development Co-operation (GTZ), as well as playing a major role in helping NGOs in Africa apply for grants from the ACP-EU water facility.
IRC hosted the international symposium on School Sanitation and Hygiene Education (SSHE) which was opened by the Dutch Minister for Development Co-operation, Mrs Agnes van Ardenne.
We also organised an e-conference on knowledge management which attracted 149 participants and on-line observers.
IRC strengthened its role with water sector organisations within the Netherlands and was able to give support to many resource centres and networks in the South.
When, right at the end of the year, the tsunami tragedy struck in Asia, IRC was in a position to join other organisations in the Netherlands to help those preparing to fly out to do relief work.
Year of publication: 2005
2003 was a year of major organisational and staff changes within IRC. It was also the year in which we celebrated our 35th anniversary with many partners and friends. This was linked to the Sixth Water Information Summit and Knowledge Management Workshop in September. Sharing the knowledge about knowledge management with our partners has been key in all our work.
Other highlights include:
The annual report is published in a new and more attractive format, giving a new insight into governance and finance.
Year of publication: 2004
In 2002 IRC took a new course of action based on the results of an external evaluation and with increased support from the Dutch Government. This enabled IRC to focus more on its core competences:
These two areas of work are mutually reinforcing as RCs are essential catalysts for sharing knowledge in their countries and facilitating its adaptation to the local setting.
Year of publication: 2003
For IRC, 2001 was a pivotal year. An indepth evaluation commissioned by the Dutch Government found substantial recognition and support for our key role as an international knowledge broker with strong partners in the developing world. The extensive and easily accessible information holding, the family of web sites, as well as SOURCE, the digest of sector news that we produce jointly with the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) are widely appreciated. The sector also looks to IRC as a leading low-cost publishing house and this is an area where the evaluation sees a need to reinforce the progress being achieved in electronic publishing and information communication technology. Another significant finding was the support for IRC's role in building the capacity of resource centres (RCs) in the South. These centres are very important for creating access to sector information and improving sector performance.
The Dutch Government has embraced the evaluation findings and the new Business Plan has a firm focus on knowledge sharing and capacity building. These core areas are now the basis of IRC's activities, both through the Dutch funding and in our work with other partners.
Year of publication: 2002
Triggered by the 2nd World Water Forum in The Hague water and sanitation received a lot of attention in 2000. The Vision shared in the meeting has raised hopes that everyone in the world will have access to better water and sanitation facilities in the next 25 years, provided we become more effective and more attention is given to the sector and particularly to sanitation promotion. The Forum gave IRC the opportunity to promote three important themes: Gender and Water, School Sanitation and Streams of Knowledge (SOK), the coalition of resource centres. As follow-up to the Forum an action plan was accepted for the water and sanitation sector in November at the 5th Global Forum of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) in Foz do IguaVu, Brazil. This plan places strong emphasis on advocacy, information sharing and networking, key issues IRC can build on and contribute to.
Year of publication: 2001