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.
Key elements, success factors, partnership processes, conducive national contexts and types of global partnerships, which can support an effective... Read more...
A short review of the existing landscape of international financial flows to the water sector, with specific focus on climate finance. Read more...
Top-down efforts are ineffective for connecting low-income urban populations to centralised water, sanitation or electricity services. Bottom up,... Read more...
Joint Sector Reviews are social and technical. They emphasise learning, strengthen reporting, adapt over time, encourage open discussion, and publish... Read more...
'End of ownership' models in the water and sanitation sector are generally found in places with a limited public sector and unregulated markets. Read more...
The domain of inquiry of this review is the rural water sector in low- and middle-income countries. Read more...
This paper recommends a range of practical and well-proven methods and tools for managing risk and uncertainty linked to climate change and other... Read more...
This Thematic Overview Paper (TOP) discusses the roles of people, processes, technology and strategy in knowledge management (KM), identifies... Read more...