Achieving SDG6 needs continued dedication but sometimes appreciation of hard work is welcome. Read more...
Online humanitarian Question&Answer [Q&A] forum KnowledgePoint is modernising in its user experience, data security and use of gaming technology, among other areas, over the next six months. Read more...
Join for free! Courses start Thursday 1st of March, Friday 1st of June and Monday 1st of October. Read more...
What will rural water supply look like in the future? And will it include the handpump or are there viable, and preferable, options? Read more...
A post reflecting on the theme of World Water Day: 'Affordability of public goods: why does energy outperform water?' Read more...
This blog post is a response to the video posted by Matt Damon, co-founder of water.org, where he announces a toilet strike to raise awareness for the water crisis. It was first published on WASH Finance , where it has started a lively discussion. Read more...
At SACOSAN-V in Nepal, IRC shared the WASHCost Calculator with South Asian governments and organisations working on sustainable sanitation. Kathy Shordt gave a sneak preview of the advanced tool based on an example from Venkatapuram, India. Read more...
An investment of US$ 5 per person per year (the implementers’ cost only, not households or district) in Mozambique saw improvements in latrine use, handwashing and drinking water management Read more...
An animation illustrating the relationship between life-cycle costs and the service delivered. Read more...
Our online course is free.... Now what is the cost of failure? The delivery of sustainable and equitable services requires that financial systems are set up to build, operate, repair and renew a water, sanitation or hygiene system through its entire cycle of use. This is the 'life cycle' at the... Read more...
Based on national standards, the 7 boreholes and 3 standpipes in the village of Komsilga, Burkina Faso, are sufficient to supply water to 3,600 people. Since only 1,500 people live in the village, you might think that they had water in abundance. Read more...
Information scan on WASH unit costs and financial planning and budgeting This study: "Information scan on WASH unit costs and financial planning and budgeting of the Water and Sanitation Sector in Uganda" presents an overview of the income and expenditure flows in the Ugandan rural water and... Read more...
Professor Tanvi Nagpal teaches the Graduate Seminar: Delivering services in developing countries at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She uses WASHCost to help her students understand the long-term costs associated with sustainable service delivery. Read more...
Boreholes with handpumps continue to play a significant role as a main source and even in communities with piped networks are used as alternatives when piped networks fail. However, they failed to supply a basic level of service to more than 36% of users in any of the research countries. In the... Read more...
A basic level of service is assumed to be achieved when all the following criteria have been realised by a majority of the population in the service area: Quantity: people access a minimum of 20 litres per person per day, Quality: acceptable quality (judged by user perception and country standards... Read more...
WASHCost research strongly suggests that the rural poor are missing out due to failure to finance water services properly, especially recurrent expenditure subsequent to initial hardware provision. Even the relatively small amount of additional money that is required is 6-12 times bigger than the... Read more...
What you do not measure, you do not cost. What you do not cost, you cannot do: reporting systems must change to reflect the real costs of providing services that last. Read more...
Two decades of investment in water supply infrastructure has substantially increased the number of people with access to an improved water service. However, high breakdown levels and lack of support for monitoring, maintenance and repairs renders services unreliable. People, systems and finances... Read more...
Monitoring often ceases three to five years after a contract has been signed. Finding cost data older than three years is a problem even when projects are implemented by governments, donors or the private sector. Where it does exist, data is rarely sufficiently disaggregated to show the difference... Read more...
Rural water services in WASHCost research countries are chronically underfunded, with insufficient resources to provide and sustain a basic level of service that meets national norms and standards. In communities researched by WASHCost, most people did not receive this basic minimum, although they... Read more...