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.
The two utility models present in Kabarole outperformed the community management model, with the existing national utility demonstrating greater... Read more...
This paper presents the journeys that Agenda for Change members have gone through in progressively embracing systems strengthening approaches in... Read more...
Pour changer les systèmes, il faut un «Conteur, un Expert et un Homme Politique». Histoires d'acteurs du changement au Malawi, au Honduras, en... Read more...
Para cambiar los sistemas se necesita un "narrador de historias, un experto y un político". Historias de agentes de cambio en Malawi, Honduras,... Read more...
It takes a 'Story Teller, an Expert, and a Politician' to make systems change happen. Stories from change makers in Malawi, Honduras, Uganda,... Read more...
Écoutez ce podcast (3 minutes) avec Simon Louver sur la promotion de l'hygiène. Read more...
WSUP's Sam Drabble shares his experiences with measuring urban sanitation systems. Read more...
Presentations from the WASH Learning Theme 2 - "Markets and behaviour change : how people invest and driving to scale" session of the All Systems... Read more...
Presentations from the WASH Learning Theme 5 - Systems change and collective action session of the All Systems Connect International Symposium 2023. Read more...
This paper presents IRC Ghana's experience of acting as a 'hub' to support collective action in the Asutifi North District of Ghana. Read more...
Recording of a webinar on lessons learned after nearly four years of intensive research on the use of collective action in WASH by the USAID-... Read more...
This study contributes to both literature and practice by identifying the relative importance of factors to consider when designing collaborative... Read more...
This report provides a guide to the practical application of outcome mapping and sustainability scorecards to monitor systems change in WASH... Read more...
Successful sanitation approaches were characterized by their adaptation to the local context, community participation, built-in mechanisms that... Read more...
The status of WASH at national and municipal levels and how IRC and a coalition of partners are working together with Government to inspire and... Read more...
Podcast featuring Patrick Moriarty and Stef Smits, who discuss taking on a systems approach in the WASH sector – including real-life examples from... Read more...