Countries: Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda | Partners: LINC, TetraTech, WaterSHED Asia, UNICEF Kenya/Oxford | Client: University of Colorado Boulder Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities in collaboration with Environmental Incentives | Donor: USAID | Duration: 2016-2021
Published on: 20/07/2017
The Sustainable WASH Systems (SWS) learning partnership is a collaborative activity funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop, test, and document high-potential "systems approaches" for local water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) service delivery. The five year project (2016-2021) in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda aims to provide concrete improvements to service delivery while placing a significant emphasis on building knowledge and providing evidence to USAID and the global WASH sector on how systems approaches can be applied, adapted, and scaled in different contexts.
WASH systems building
Sustainable service delivery remains a huge challenge in the WASH sector. Sustainable WASH service delivery can be achieved when service providers, authorities, and local management committees take ownership of the service and have the resources and capacity to maintain and adapt it. As a sector we have learned some key system components that must be in place, and we have also developed tools for supporting and strengthening these components. What is less clear is how to systematise and scale processes for building local systems. IRC did a lot of work on this during the Triple-S (Sustainable Services at Scale) project from 2009-2014 and is excited to be a part of the SWS Initiative that aims to answer key questions about WASH systems building.
Consortium partners
The SWS learning partnership is a consortium led by the University of Colorado Boulder Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities (MCEDC) in collaboration with learning partner Environmental Incentives. It is comprised of four separate streams of work (see below), each led by a different partner to provide room for different insights and WASH systems experience from different contexts. IRC is leading on Concept 1: Improving decentralised WASH service delivery by understanding and influencing local systems. In two woredas in Ethiopia (South Ari and Afar) and one district in Uganda, IRC will work with researchers from MCEDC and with consortium partner TetraTech to address both rural water and small town sanitation. Through the establishment and support of Learning Alliances. IRC will mobilise and engage stakeholders to conduct action-research initiatives, or experiments to address the needs identified in each district/woreda.
SWS Concept Teams
Concept 1: IRC, LINC, TetraTech
Improve decentralized WASH service delivery by understanding and influencing local systems
Concept 2: WaterSHED Asia, LINC
Develop a locally-led infrastructure to coordinate WASH sector (particularly donor-financed) activities in the implementation of national strategies and action plans; and
Concept 3 & 4: Whave, UNICEF/Kenya & Oxford
Test, revise, and scale up public-private partnership models that improve WASH service delivery.
Read "Driving change : strengthening local systems in the water and sanitation sectors" Read more...
Systems change is about addressing root causes of problems Read more...
This legacy page gives a brief overview of the project approach and flagship publications. Read more...
Kabarole District and IRC Uganda wrap up a successful Sustainable WASH Systems (SWS) learning partnership , a collaborative project that has harnessed decentralised systems and structures to strengthen rural water supply and small-town sanitation services. Read more...
During a close out event for USAID's Sustainable WASH Systems Learning Partnership three Ethiopian woredas promised to continue facilitating the learning alliance platforms. Read more...
IRC's role as learning alliance facilitator, providing funding and expert advice, has proven to be effective in fostering solutions, development and collective action among district stakeholders in Uganda. Read more...
USAID Sustainable WASH Systems learning partnership project (SWS) conducted a document dissemination event in Afar region Read more...
IRC WASH Ethiopia gave a nine-day Training of Trainers (ToT) to the Ethiopian Water Technology Institute (EWTI) on WASH systems strengthening. Read more...
Supporting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) planning in three pilot woredas in Ethiopia. Read more...
Understanding local systems to find solutions to poor sustainability in Ethiopia Read more...
Four reports produced by the USAID Sustainable WASH Systems (SWS) Learning Partnership published. Read more...
The government's flagship Climate Resilient Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (CR-WASH) initiative focuses on lowland investments in 'resilient' technologies such as deep boreholes and more resilient piped water infrastructure. These seek to displace emergency humanitarian interventions in drought-... Read more...
Amplify will provide a monthly update on IRC's WASH systems agenda: stories, analysis and resources, successes and failures. Read more...
University of Colorado Boulder launches Sustainable WASH Systems Initiative. Read more...
The South Ari Woreda learning alliance pushed for the establishment of the Gazer Town Water Supply Service Office as a utility to improve water services in the area. Read more...
Asset inventory is essential in Ethiopia to develop more realistic planning to increase functionality as well as coverage. Read more...
In Ethiopia's South Ari Woreda, community members have piloted a new approach to improve access to safe water in their communities. Read more...
Lessons from the USAID Sustainable WASH Systems Learning Partnership (SWS) in Ethiopia and Uganda (2016-2021) Read more...
Different stakeholder groups from four districts gave inputs to the District WASH master plan to attain SDG 6 by 2030. Read more...
Sharing, learning and collaborating at the University of Colorado annual WASH Symposium. Read more...
"Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success," Henry Ford famously said. Read more...
In Uganda we follow and support where local government leads Read more...
Analysing partnerships and how they strengthen WASH systems. Read more...
USAID programmes collaborate to improve rural water supplies for pastoralist communities in drought-prone regions. Read more...
Case studies of the pay-as-you-fetch (PAYF) model in Kabarole District. Read more...
IRC Uganda is using GIS to map water point functionality. Read more...
A new guideline seeks to professionalise the management of multi-village water supplies in Ethiopia Read more...
Water is central to the lives of pastoralists in Mille woreda, and water development projects have huge impacts. How these play out for the local community is a complex story. Read more...
Climate resilient WASH is about new ways of working across the traditional humanitarian and development sectors. We went to one of the harshest spots in Ethiopia, and surely in the world, to find out more. Read more...
As Ethiopia manages to develop more and more new rural water schemes – springs, wells or boreholes with hand-pumps or engines, piped water – keeping the existing infrastructure running well and safely is a challenge that gets bigger every day. And, despite some encouraging efforts, it's a challenge... Read more...
Increasing repair and maintenance funds leads to higher borehole functionality and water access rates in the drought-prone regions of Turkana, Kenya... Read more...
Insights, tips, and advice to improve public services like water and sanitation through multi-stakeholder collective action and action research. Read more...
This article demonstrates the effectiveness of facilitation of a learning alliance by a non-governmental organization providing funding and expert... Read more...
Successful pathways secured uptake by government and had flexible programming. Read more...
In this video from Sustainable WASH Systems partner IRC WASH, we learn about Learning Alliances and how they are building strong local systems in... Read more...
The two utility models present in Kabarole outperformed the community management model, with the existing national utility demonstrating greater... Read more...
Why is rural water is different for communities, schools, and healthcare facilities across characteristics of scale, institutions, demand, and... Read more...
While alignment on a common vision may be a defining aspect of WASH collaborative approaches, some alignment around specific activities is also... Read more...
Using a multiround Delphi survey, a panel of WASH sector experts identify, characterise, and prioritise the necessary attributes of WASH systems... Read more...
Recommendations on coordination of initiatives and professionalisation of rural water supply maintenance. Read more...
Three factors – legitimacy of the collaborative, aligning activities within clear mandates, and demonstrating value – all work together to secure... Read more...
All the learning alliances continue functioning at generally healthy — albeit varying — levels of interaction, particularly when considering the... Read more...
The WASH SDG plan for Baka Dawla Ari Woreda has been developed by the planning team drawn from district WASH sector offices of water, education,... Read more...
The WASH SDG plan for Woba Ari Woreda has been developed by the planning team drawn from district WASH sector offices of water, education, health,... Read more...
The WASH SDG plan for South Ari Woreda has been developed by the planning team drawn from district WASH sector offices of water, education, health,... Read more...
The WASH SDG plan for Mille Woreda has been developed by the planning team drawn from district WASH sector offices of water, education, health,... Read more...
