District WASH Master Planning Facility

A district WASH master plan sets out a costed, 10-15 year strategy for achieving the long term WASH vision of the district. Currently, district WASH visions align with achieving SDG 6 – sustainable WASH service provision for all, forever by 2030. This means WASH services:

• for everyone, leaving no one behind;
• everywhere, both at household level as in institutions, like schools and health care facilities, and public places, such as markets and bus stations;
• which last forever, with systems and mechanisms in place for ensuring sustainable WASH service provision;
• which contribute to climate resilience, by providing water, sanitation and hygiene services and strengthening the ability of districts to plan and adapt in the face of different risks and threats;
• often provided through a mix of different service delivery models, including utility management, community management, safe water enterprises, private sector and self-supply.

The plans are developed and owned by local government partners and guide the work in the district. They contain a shared vision and confirmed political commitment. They describe the current service provision, highlight any gaps, and identify the priorities and processes to fill those gaps. They also include the plan's 'lifecycle costs'. This means the costs of developing new WASH assets and the costs of operating, maintaining and renewing them over time.

In order to be successful a district WASH master plan needs certain elements to be in place. It needs local government leadership and support, and must involve all the relevant stakeholders, including current and potential service providers and user representatives. This can take place via a number of workshops and working sessions. Agreed mechanisms and processes involved with developing district WASH master plans must be embedded in national systems. This allows the scaling up of lessons learned at district level to the national level.

A district WASH master plan typically takes 6 to 12 months to develop. The time taken depends on how much up-to-date data is available, and the level of commitment of the stakeholders to work together. And not surprisingly, the development of the master plan needs funding. Facilitating the district WASH master planning process for one district is estimated to cost between $50,000 and $100,000 USD. Local governments and other local stakeholders contribute with staff time and lead such processes.