Stef Smits is a senior programme officer and Co-director of IRC's Growth Hub. He has 20 years of professional experience in water supply and sanitation in over 25 countries in Europe, Latin America, Southern Africa, and South Asia. His main thematic expertise includes: institutional models for water supply, sustainability and enabling environment, monitoring, costing and financing of services and integrated water resources management.
Stef has led numerous projects on these topics, and published about them. In addition, he has ample management expertise: from consultancy assignments to multi-annual programmes, and units within an organisation. He has worked for a range of clients including bilateral donors, development banks, research funders and NGOs. Stef holds an MSc degree in Irrigation and Water Engineering from Wageningen University, The Netherlands.
Sanitation criteria under the Model Healthy Village Program would best be harmonized with the Ministry of Health's Guideline for Open Defecation Free... Read more...
Recommendations to accelerate progress towards achieving Open Defecation Free (ODF) status by 2030 and the progress made up to January 2021. Read more...
Decentralized Provincial Community Participation and Education (PEC) was found to be the most cost-effective modality, with significant potential for... Read more...
Improvements in sanitation access played a substantial role in increasing average child height. Read more...
Ten years after a community-led total sanitation campaign, intervention households continued to have higher rates of ever owning a latrine but... Read more...
Sharing a sanitation facility with just one to two other households can increase the risk of moderate-to-severe diarrhea (MSD) in young children,... Read more...
Whilst poor design or siting of latrines or hygiene related facilities are not the root cause of violence, these issues can contribute to increased... Read more...