Find out how to collaborate with RWSN

Project starts: 2020
Project finished: 2030
Collaborators & Partners: REACH; Uptime Consortium; University of Oxford; other partners
Funder: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)

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Summary

Following the 100 Million Initiative global diagnostic study of rural water service providers, the RWSN-REACH 100 Million Initiative is proceeding to a second round of data collection, and inviting rural water service providers to submit a sample of service data from part of their operations for the period of one quarter of a year. This sample data will be used to identify rural water service providers who are able to provide sufficient data quality to participate in results-based funding arrangements that funders could establish. This process will also be used to help potential donors understand the size and scale of service providers who may be ready for results-based funding.

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Project Description

In 2017, almost 800 million people still lacked even a basic water supply. Eight out of ten of those people lived in rural areas, many in communities that at one point or another, saw the construction of water points. Yet, after decades of investment, what’s left behind is a graveyard of failed rural water supply infrastructure and services.

By and large, sector partners agree: not only is there a need for increased operations and maintenance funding; links between investments and results need to be more transparent, and the value of existing public funding needs to be maximized by incentivizing sector performance, improving subsidy targeting and promoting better sector planning and management.

We believe one key answer lies in the use of Results-Based Funding for rural water services. Particularly in rural areas, it is clear that concessionary funding is needed to guarantee reliable services for everyone. Results-based funding is a way to invest those funds in a manner that is targeted, transparent, data-driven and scalable while motivating services to improve over time.

Selected performance metrics, such as the number of waterpoints that work reliably, the volume of water produced, and the amount of local revenue generated, are used to design performance-based contracts with service providers, and inform payments when results are verified.

The 100M Initiative will undertake a multi-stage data collection exercise to estimate the scale and potential of results-based funding globally.

Steps will include:

• Identify and reach out to as many rural water service providers as possible, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries;
• Administer a short survey collecting data to inform viability and design of results-based funding contracts across different contexts and service types; the survey is available for completion until 25 June 2021: https://enketo.ona.io/x/O5TeX3xE
• Identify a Reference Group of service providers across multiple countries interested to model results-based funding at scale;
• Use collected data and analysis to finalise a strategy to develop results-based funding for 100 million people by 2030;

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Perspectives

• …Are you, or do you know, a water service provider working in rural areas?
• …Are you interested in supporting a strategy for results-based funding for rural water service providers?

We are seeking sample operational data from rural water service providers who:
- Provide maintenance services to rural water infrastructure
- Require water users to pay for services
- Are receiving or needing a subsidy to sustain rural water services

Following the 100 Million Initiative global diagnostic study of rural water service providers, the RWSN-REACH 100 Million Initiative is proceeding to a second round of data collection, and inviting rural water service providers to submit a sample of service data from part of their operations for the period of one quarter of a year. This sample data will be used to identify rural water service providers who are able to provide sufficient data quality to participate in results-based funding arrangements that funders could establish. This process will also be used to help potential donors understand the size and scale of service providers who may be ready for results-based funding.

The template is available here in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian.
A short video guide to the template is available here: https://vimeo.com/642355838

Data in this template can be submitted by email to data@uptimecatalyst.org. You can also use the same address to contact Kristina Nilsson about any questions about participating or using the data template.

Or would you….
• …like to know more about this initiative?
• …be interested to join the Reference Group?


Then contact us at ruralwater@skat.ch: Meleesa Naughton, Rena Salzmann & Sean Furey (RWSN), Robert Hope & Alice Chautard (REACH/ University of Oxford), Duncan Mc Nicholl (Uptime), and Carolien Henderson, Kristina Nilsson & Viacheslav Sorokovskyi (Skat Foundation).

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More Information

» Template for data submissions from rural water service providers

» Global prospects to deliver safe drinking water services for 100 million rural people by 2030. REACH working paper 12. Global Diagnostic Report

» Presentations of the launch of the REACH-RWSN 100M global diagnostic report webinar

Presentations of the REACH-RWSN 100M global diagnostic report launch webinar (27 October 2021) in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian

» Recording of the launch of the Global Diagnostic Report Webinar, 27 October 2021

Recording of the launch of Global Diagnostic Report Webinar/ REACH-RWSN 100M Initiative.
The report "Global prospects to deliver safe drinking water services for 100 million rural people by 2030" documents a global diagnostic survey to evaluate the status and prospects of rural water service providers from 68 countries. The service providers describe providing drinking water services to a population of around 15 million people through over 3 million waterpoints.

» English: REACH/ RWSN 100M presentation and flyer

» Francais: L'initiative 100M de REACH/ RWSN

» Modèle pour la transmission de données des fournisseurs de services d'eau en milieu rural (Français)

» Spanish: La Iniciativa 100M de RWSN-REACH

» Plantilla para la presentación de datos de proveedores de servicios de agua rurales (Español)

» Portuguese: Iniciativa RWSN-REACH 100M

» Modelo para envio de dados de prestadores de serviços de água rurais (Português)

» Russian: Иницитива RWSN-REACH 100M

» Шаблон для представления данных от поставщиков услуг водоснабжения в сельской местности

» REACH-RWSN 1 亿倡议

» REACH/ RWSN 100M webinar

This webinar presents the 100M Initiative, which will undertake a multi-stage data collection exercise to estimate the scale and potential of results-based funding for rural water services globally.

» REACH Water

REACH (Improving water security for the poor) is a global research programme to improve water security for millions of poor people in Africa and South Asia.

» Uptime Consortium

Uptime is a global consortium working to deliver drinking water services to millions of rural people through long-term, performance-based funding to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6.1.