Former Senior programme officer | Change hub
René is senior program manager and a WASH generalist with experience as manager of large programmes and in the role of advisor for the water sector. René is by education a sanitary engineer and has 32 years of experience related to development cooperation in water supply, sanitation, and water resource management in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. His expertise ranges from developing urban infrastructure to participatory appraisals with community members; from action research of rural water supply service delivery models to piloting biological wastewater treatment plants. In the period prior to his retirement in 2023 René's time was divided between developing IRC's WASH System strengthening approach further, supporting IRC (country) teams and evaluating water sector programmes for external clients.
Why is rural water is different for communities, schools, and healthcare facilities across characteristics of scale, institutions, demand, and... Read more...
Higher payments for rural water services in Kwale, Kenya, are associated with higher education and faster repair times. Household wealth, sex of... Read more...
This paper proposes a framework of elements that need to be in place for continued handpump functioning, and then turns this into a diagnostic device... Read more...
Developing viable business models to provide point-of-use safe water services to communities at the base of the pyramid (BoP). Read more...
To help understand the impact of different interventions, this paper proposes the adoption of systems-based analysis for looking at water point... Read more...
Although most people acknowledge the importance of learning for improving performance in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector, in practice key information and knowledge are too often not (or only partly) used for the planning and implementation of interventions. Read more...
Paper underlining the importance of learning for better performance in the WASH sector and to contribute to the discussion on how this can be... Read more...
Human development and human rights' approaches can benefit each other mutually to improve international and local monitoring systems for water,... Read more...
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and government are looking for innovations in their work with smallholder farmers and communities in Lesotho to strengthen their livelihoods and to conserve the environment. Read more...
UNICEF and IRC start partnership to improve learning in WASH for better services in West and Central Africa Read more...
In the context of the devolution of political powers and responsibilities to the counties in Kenya, planning for water and sanitation services has to step up. Read more...
Using numbers in local planning for water resources and services helps stakeholders to make (conflicting) interests clearer and choices more explicit. Read more...
The report provides insights on the cost of providing water in emergency situations using two camps as case studies. The life-cycle costs approach... Read more...
The Sierra Leone WASH sector has asked an IRC-led consortium to set-up a structure for sector learning and to create a common platform for easy access to all sector information. Read more...
This year the rains started in March and in June the water ponds still have water in them. Mwende is happy because now she only has to walk ten minutes to fetch water for her family. Read more...