In deze blog voor Vice Versa gaat Stef Smits dieper in op de publieke kritiek die minister Ploumen recent kreeg van Kamerleden Taverne en Smaling. Is hulp aan de allerarmsten niet meetbaar? Is Ploumens beleid niet op feiten gestoeld? Na wat graafwerk komt Stef Smits tot een opmerkelijke conclusie:... Read more...
" Sin salsa no hay paraíso " canta el Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. En Honduras, sin el gran combo, no hay agua. Read more...
Nederland doet goede toezeggingen om drinkwater- en sanitaire voorzieningen aan te leggen. Maar het moet niet voor een dubbeltje op de eerste rang willen zitten. Read more...
The King's speech marks the opening of the Dutch parliamentary year. This year he drew attention to the important position of the Netherlands in the international water sector. The budgets that were presented alongside the speech also reflect this, notably with a 6% increase for the budget for WASH... Read more...
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have the target of reaching universal access to water and sanitation by 2030. But can this target realistically be achieved in the most difficult of settings: fragile states? Read more...
Mr Belwal is a community facilitator with the Himalaya Institute Hospital Trust, an NGO that, amongst others, develops water supply systems in the Uttarakhand Himalayas, through a programme supported by Himmothan Society. His main responsibility is ensuring that villages that have been "phased out... Read more...
Sangeeta Ramola is the former Pradhan (president) of the Gawana Gram Panchayat (local government), in the State of Uttarakhand, India. Her work and effort shows the importance of local political leaders in achieving access to rural water supply that lasts. Read more...
Two years ago, I posted a blog summarizing discussions on whether insuring rural water supply systems is a good idea. But these remained largely theoretical discussions, as there are few examples of such insurances put in place. During field work for the Community Water Plus project in the State of... Read more...
Honduras es un país cinco estrellas, y no solo por el número de estrellas en su bandera. Aunque en términos de agua y saneamiento tiene un buen desempeño, solo logra cuatro estrellas. Read more...
The COMAS – Municipal Water and Sanitation Committee – of the municipality of El Negrito (in the Department of Yoro, Honduras), is strongly committed to providing universal water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services to its citizens. But it needs a plan to get there. And it needs to make a plan... Read more...
Een cruciaal onderdeel van de financiering van de nieuwe ontwikkelingsdoelen 2015 - 2030 is belasting, zo pleiten Stef Smits en Catarina Fonseca in vakblad voor ontwikkelingssamenwerking Vice Versa. Zonder belasting zouden wij in Nederland geen duurzame water- en sanitaire voorzieningen hebben. In... Read more...
Ultimate success in water service delivery is defined by the service level received by households. There can be excellent infrastructure and impeccable administration, but if households don't receive enough water of good enough quality without spending an excessive amount of time collecting it,... Read more...
Saraswati Halder, the president of the Durganagar Kanchantala water committee, shows me the committee's bank booklet. It shows only one transaction: 100 Rupees (about 1.50 US$) deposited in 2011, more than 3 years ago. Read more...
One of the nicest water-related customs in Honduras is the breaking of the pot. When a village gets connected to a water system, part of the inauguration ceremony consists of an old woman from the village symbolically throwing a clay water-pot on the ground, so that it breaks. She will never need... Read more...
Honduras es uno de los países estrella que alcanzó los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio (ODM) de agua y saneamiento unos años antes de su tiempo. La pregunta ahora es si el país está bien preparado para los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS), que se están aprobando ahora. Read more...
En nuestro sector, Cochabamba (Bolivia) es conocida por la llamada "guerra del agua", una serie de protestas que terminaron la privatización del servicio de agua. Cochabamba merece ser conocida por sus importantes logros en el tema de agua en tiempos de paz, sobre todo a través de su sector público. Read more...
Uttam Majundar is een succesvolle Jalabandu, een mecanicien die handpompen repareert, in Digambarpur, West-Bengal, India. Maar hij dreigt slachtoffer te worden van zijn eigen succes. Stef Smits, programma officer van IRC, schetst een dag uit het leven van Uttam en laat zien waarom te goed je werk... Read more...
Uttam Majundar is a successful Jalabandu (handpump mechanic) in Digambarpur (West Bengal, India). But now he risks becoming a victim of his own success. Following a day in his life explains why. Read more...
At the start of the New Year, newspaper and magazines are all busy making predictions of what the year may have in store. Personally, I always enjoy reading The Economist’s “ The World in… ”. In that magazine, predictions are made of how political events may unfold in the year to come, how the... Read more...
Several Dutch water sector organisations have written to Minister Ploumen (Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation) about the Dutch targets for water supply. Read more...