Collaborations Find out how to collaborate with RWSN
New Book: Self-supply - Filling the gaps in public water supply provision
Project start: 2021 • Project finished:
Collaborators: Dr Sally Sutton (Ind), Dr John Butterworth (IRC), Practical Action Publishing
Funder: IRC, SWL Consultants
Stop the Rot! A project in action research and catalysing action to ensure the quality of water lifting technologies for drinking water in sub–Saharan Africa.
Project start: 2021 • Project finished: 2022
Collaborators: Ask for Water GmbH, Skat Foundation
Funder: Waterloo Foundation
Summary
The Challenge1) Premature corrosion and failure of water supply hardware, such as handpumps, is widespread across Sub-Saharan Africa, but evidence is limited and largely anecdotal.
2) For tens of millions of Africans who depend on handpumps for their daily water needs, these failures threaten their health and livelihoods.
3) Despite millions of dollars wasted on poor quality hardware, there seems to be a lack of interest among key international donors and other development partners that fund rural water supply services to engage in the problem of variable handpump quality.
This new RWSN initiative by Skat Foundation and Ask for Water GmbH strives to find ways in which key stakeholders can ensure that handpump technologies and spare parts that are installed for drinking water in sub-Saharan Africa are consistently of high quality and can last
Webinar Series 14 April - 23 June 2020: Human Right to Water - achievable by 2030? Série de webinaires 14 avril - 23 juin 2020 : Droit Humain à l'Eau - Réalisable d'ici 2030?
Project start: 2020 • Project finished: 2020
Collaborators:
Funder: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC; UNICEF; UK Aid through UPGro and REACH
Summary
RWSN webinars return! Join the global conversation with leading thinkers and practitioners in rural water supply and WASH. These webinars are free for participants, thanks the support of our series sponsor (SDC) and webinar sponsors (UNICEF, UK Aid through UPGro and REACH)ENGLISH - every Tuesday @14:30 Central European Summer Time (CEST)
14 April Demystifying the human right
21 April Using data for water safety
28 April Monitoring SDG targets
05 May JMP database on inequalities
19 May RWSN Mentoring Programme
09 June Affordability
16 June A Hidden Crisis?
POSTPONED due to COVID-19:
12 May Right for a regulated and sustainable service
26 May Importance of Household Investments POSTPONED
02 June Borehole Drilling Associations POSTPONED
RWSN Late Webinar Series 2020 Série de webinaires de RWSN 2020 / Serie de webinarios de la RWSN 2020
Project start: 2020 • Project finished: 2020
Collaborators: Various
Funder: Various
Summary
Oct 13 – Dec 1Running every Tuesday in English, French and/or Spanish.
Webinars in English - Every Tuesday @ 14.30 CET
13 Oct Water supply in rural areas: the right for a regulated and sustainable service
20 Oct Prioritization and sustainability of rural WASH service delivery
27 Oct Strengthening accountability and broader WASH systems in fragile contexts
3 Nov Increased resource mobilization for rural WASH in Africa
10 Nov Achieving sustainable WASH at scale; lessons from an NGO-led Payment by Results Programme
17 Nov Data for rural water decision-making
24 Nov Exploring the relevance of borehole drilling associations
1 Dec Overlooked and underestimated: The role & importance of household investments
20 Oct – 1 Déc
Les webinaires ont lieu le mardi en anglais, français et/ou espagnol.
Webinaires en français - Chaque mardi @ 11.00 CET
20 Oct Priorisation et durabilité de la fourniture des services WASH
3 Nov Mobilisation accrue des ressources pour le WASH en milieu rural en Afrique
24 Nov Explorer l’importance des Associations de Forage
1 Déc Négligés et sous-estimés : Le rôle et l'importance des Investissements des Ménages
13 Octubre
Los webinarios tendrán lugar los martes en inglés, francés y/o español.
Webinario en español - El martes @ 16.30 CET
13 Oct El suministro de agua en zonas rurales: el derecho a un servicio regulado y sostenible
Women’s empowerment through rural water supply A practical guide by and for practitioners
Project start: 2020 • Project finished: 2021
Collaborators: RWSN Members from the Leave No-one Behind Community
Funder: SDC
Summary
This practical guide is the result of a consultation and co-creation process with members of the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN). Engineers and gender experts have come together to overcome jargon barriers from their respective disciplines. This guide aims to pro-vide water specialists with the language and knowledge on how best to work with gender experts to build more transformative activities.Une version française sera disponible plus tard dans l'année
La versión en español estará disponible a finales de este año
The REACH/RWSN 100 Million Initiative A Global Diagnostic of rural water service providers to inform results-based funding (EN/ FR/SP/PT/RU/CHI)
Project start: 2020 • Project finished: 2030
Collaborators: REACH; Uptime Consortium; University of Oxford; other partners
Funder: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)
Summary
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.
L'initiative REACH/RWSN pour 100 millions de personnes (100M) Un diagnostic global des fournisseurs de services d'eau en milieu rural pour éclairer le financement basé sur les résultats
Project start: 2020 • Project finished: 2030
Collaborators: REACH; Uptime Consortium; University of Oxford; autres partenaires
Funder: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)
Summary
En 2017, près de 800 millions de personnes n'avaient toujours pas accès à un approvisionnement en eau, même de base. Huit sur dix de ces personnes vivaient dans des zones rurales, souvent dans des communautés qui ont vu la construction de points d'eau à un moment ou à un autre. Pourtant, après des décennies d'investissements, il ne reste plus qu'un cimetière d'infrastructures, et des services d'approvisionnement en eau en milieu rural qui ne fonctionnent pas.Dans l'ensemble, les partenaires du secteur sont d'accord : non seulement il est nécessaire d'augmenter le financement des opérations et de la maintenance, mais les liens entre les investissements et les résultats doivent être plus transparents et la valeur du financement public existant doit être maximisée en encourageant les performances du secteur, en améliorant le ciblage des subventions et en promouvant une meilleure planification et gestion du secteur.
Nous pensons qu'une réponse clé réside dans l'utilisation du financement axé sur les résultats pour les services d'eau en milieu rural. En particulier dans les zones rurales, il est clair qu'un financement concessionnel est nécessaire pour garantir des services fiables pour tous. Le financement basé sur les résultats est un moyen d'investir ces fonds de manière ciblée, transparente, basée sur des données et évolutive, tout en motivant les services à s'améliorer au fil du temps.
Certaines mesures de performance, telles que le nombre de points d'eau qui fonctionnent de manière fiable, le volume d'eau produit et le montant des recettes locales générées, sont utilisées pour concevoir des contrats basés sur les performances avec les fournisseurs de services et pour informer les paiements lorsque les résultats sont vérifiés.
Safe Water: monitoring, data and decisions Une eau potable gérée en toute sécurité: surveillance, données, décisions
Project start: 2019 • Project finished: -
Collaborators: University of North Carolina, RWSN
Funder:
Summary
New partnership between RWSN and The Water Institute of UNCNouveau partenariat entre RWSN et le Water Institute à UNC Chapel Hill
We are excited to announce a new partnership between RWSN and The Water Institute at UNC Chapel Hill. This partnership will leverage the RWSN platform and The Water Institute’s expertise in water quality and management to bring up-to-date evidence and methods to the members of the network. As a new Topic Leader in Mapping and Monitoring,
The Water Institute aims to bring evidence and practice closer by facilitating lively discussion and producing practical guidance on Safely Managed Water. The new partnership will begin in 2019, so look out for The Water Institute’s new weekly Mapping Monday posts in the RWSN Mapping and Monitoring online community in the New Year!
Nous sommes ravis d'annoncer un nouveau partenariat entre RWSN et le Water Institute à UNC Chapel Hill. Ce partenariat s’appuiera sur la plateforme RWSN et sur l’expertise du Water Institute en matière de qualité et de gestion de l’eau pour apporter des données et des méthodes scientifiques de pointe aux membres du réseau. En tant que nouveau responsable du Thème cartographie et de surveillance, The Water Institute a pour objectif de rapprocher la science et les pratique en facilitant une discussion animée et en produisant des conseils pratiques sur une eau gérée de manière sûre. Le nouveau partenariat débutera en 2019, alors ne manquez pas les nouveaux articles hebdomadaires intitulés Mapping Monday du Water Institute dans la communauté en ligne RWSN dédiée à la cartographie et au suivi !
RWSN Strategy 2018-2023 La stratégie RWSN 2018-2023
Project start: 2018 • Project finished: 2023
Collaborators: RWSN
Funder: RWSN Executive Committee partners (with special thanks to SDC) + projects + in-kind contributions
Summary
The 2015-2017 RWSN strategy came to an end last year, and the RWSN Theme Leads and Secretariat have been busy consulting members and partners to develop a new strategy for the period 2018-2023. We have received valuable ideas for the network through consultations with working groups, the 2017 RWSN member survey and evaluation of the network, and the 6-week open consultation to which we invited all RWSN members. We also hosted a webinar in November 2017 during which the RWSN Secretariat and Chair outlined the proposed changes to the existing strategy. Ideas and comments received from the network members and partners through the open consultation were incorporated into the RWSN Strategy in early 2018. The final version of the Strategy was approved by the RWSN Executive Steering Committee in March 2018.****
La stratégie RWSN 2015-2017 a pris fin l'an dernier. Les responsables thématiques et le secrétariat de RWSN ont pris l'initiative de consulter les membres et les partenaires du réseau afin de développer une nouvelle stratégie pour la période 2018-2023. Nous avons reçu des bonnes idées pour le réseau à travers des consultations avec les groupes de travail, l'enquête des membres RWSN 2017 et l'évaluation du réseau, et la consultation ouverte de 6 semaines à laquelle nous avons invité tous les membres de RWSN. Nous avons également organisé un wébinaire en novembre 2017 qui a permis au Secrétariat et à la Présidente de RWSN d'expliquer les changements proposés par rapport à la stratégie existante. Les idées et commentaires reçus des membres et des partenaires du réseau à travers cette consultation ont été incorporés dans la nouvelle stratégie RWSN début 2018. La version finale de la stratégie a été approuvée par le Comité de Pilotage Exécutif de RWSN en mars 2018.
RWSN Publications - now on Practical Answers RWSN Publications - maintenant sur Practical Answers
Project start: 2018 • Project finished:
Collaborators: RWSN, Practical Action
Funder: SDC
Summary
To help rural water professionals get access to the inform they need, RWSN has teamed up with Practical Action to make some of our leading publications available on the Practical Answers website and mobile App.Let is know if there are any particular resources or publications that you would like to have on this platform.
Pour aider les professionnels de l’eau en milieu rural à accéder aux informations dont ils ont besoin, le RWSN s’est associé à Practical Action pour rendre certaines de nos principales publications disponibles sur le site Web de Practical Answers et l’application mobile.
Indiquez s'il existe des ressources ou des publications particulières que vous aimeriez avoir sur cette plate-forme.
Challenges of Water Well Drillers & Water Well Drillers Associations Case Studies of Six Countries Angola, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda and United States of America
Project start: 2018 • Project finished: 2020
Collaborators: Skat Foundation
Funder: Skat Foundation
Summary
Groundwater has been identified as the key to sustainable development and forms the foundation for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UN-Water, 2018). Although not properly recognised in the SDG framework, its importance is seen in its provisioning and regulating functions (e.g. maintaining river base flow, preventing land subsidence and seawater intrusion), and acting as a solution for climate change adaptation. Groundwater accounts for over 97% of the world’s freshwater resources, and it is readily available.Groundwater is diminishing in some regions, and water quality deterioration is increasing (UN-Water, 2018). With no incentives to save groundwater, the impacts of unsustainable use are slow and multiple (Villholth, 2018). In order to sustainably manage groundwater resources, intervention is needed at different levels and in accordance with local contexts.
Drillers are in direct contact with groundwater resources and thus understand key issues on the ground. If well organised, such as in the form of an association, and empowered with knowledge, drillers can advocate for and influence policies at state and national levels, and even lobby the governments to bring groundwater issues to the forefront.
A Review of Rural Water and Sanitation Services in Seven Countries of the Danube Region Beyond Utility Reach? How to Close the Urban - Rural Access Gap.
Project start: 2017 • Project finished: 2018
Collaborators: The World Bank, Danube Water Programme + inputs from Skat-Apasan (Moldova)
Funder: The World Bank Group
Summary
Governments of countries of the Danube region face the double challenge of meeting their citizens’ demand for quality and sustainable water services, while catching up with the environmental requirements of the European Union (EU). In general, the bulk of public investments have targeted urban areas, resulting in the improvement of drinking water systems and the development of wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure. This process is largely driven by EU accession and compliance targets and in several countries involves the regionalization of service providers.However, rural areas are lagging and significant service access gaps exist in comparison with urban areas. Approximately 28.5 million people remain without access to piped water supply and 22 million remain without flush toilet access in the region (World Bank 2015), of which at least eight out of 10 reside in rural areas. Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) underlines the countries’ commitment to achieving universal access to safe and affordable drinking water and safe sanitation and hygiene for all by 2030 (WHO/UNICEF 2017). Understanding how to effectively reach the rural population with “safely managed services” is paramount from the social inclusion as well as the human rights perspective.
Testing, Piloting, and Validation of the Rural Water Indicator Global Framework
Project start: 2017 • Project finished:
Collaborators: The World Bank, WPDx, WaterAid, Aguaconsult, IRC
Funder: The World Bank
Summary
Globally, the proportion of people living without improved drinking water was halved between 1990 and 2010; however, inequities remain between and within countries. For example, eight out of 10 people who are still without access to improved drinking water sources live in rural areas.Agreeing on a global core set of indicators that can be integrated into existing monitoring efforts or harnessed as a foundation for new monitoring efforts will improve the efficiency of the sector and still enable collection of locally relevant information.
Sustainability Assessment of Rural Water Service Delivery Models Findings of a Multi-Country Review
Project start: 2016 • Project finished: 2017
Collaborators: The World Bank, Aguaconsult, IRC
Funder: The World Bank
Summary
Failure by governments and development partners to ensure sustained access to basic water supplies in rural areas is, to a large extent, the result of inadequate investment to deliver infrastructure where needed. It is also the result of a failure to ensure that infrastructure, once in place, continues to effectively provide the expected services over time.Impressive gains from the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) era remain fragile and at risk, with various empirical studies indicating that 30 percent to 40 percent of rural water infrastructure is not functioning or functions below expected service levels (RWSN 2010).
REACH: Improving water security for the poor A global research programme to improve water security for millions of poor people in Asia and Africa.
Project start: 2015 • Project finished: 2022
Collaborators: Oxford University, UNICEF, Water and Land Resource Centre, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, icddr,b, University of Dhaka, University of Nairobi, IFPRI, IWA, RWSN, IRC.
Funder: DFID
Summary
REACH is a seven-year, global programme of research (2015-2022) led by Oxford University and funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) that aims to improve water security for over 5 million poor people by 2022.As a Research into Action partner, the Rural Water Supply Network will support the design and implementation of the programme’s communications strategy, supporting the uptake of the research findings and ensuring that they translate into positive policy and practice outcomes.
Professionalising Manual Drilling UNICEF, Skat Foundation
Project start: 2013 • Project finished: 2014
Collaborators: UNICEF, Skat Foundation
Funder: UNICEF, Skat Foundation
Summary
Building and supporting local enterprises to develop markets and undertake manual drilling in a professional manner.
UPGro – African Groundwater 2020 Final report from Unlocking the Potential for Groundwater for the Poor
Project start: 2013 • Project finished: 2020
Collaborators: Skat Foundation, Richard Carter & Associates + research teams from across Africa and Europe.
Funder: UK's Department for International Development (DFID), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and in principle the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Summary
Unlocking the Potential of Groundwater for the Poor (UPGro), was a seven-year international research programme (2013-2020) which was jointly funded by UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).Nearly 200 of the world’s best researchers from more than 50 organisations across Africa and Europe were focused on improving the evidence base around groundwater availability and management in Sub-Saharan Africa. The goal has been to ensure that the hidden wealth of Africa’s aquifers benefit all citizens and the poorest in particular. UPGro projects have been interdisciplinary, linking the social and natural sciences to address this challenge
Writing Course for WASH Professionals Skat, WaterAid, SHARE, Waterlines Journal
Project start: 2012 • Project finished: -
Collaborators: RWSN, Skat, WaterAid, SHARE, Waterlines Journal
Funder: SHARE
Summary
The ChallengeOver 2.5 billion have no access to improved sanitation and 780 million people lack access to improved sources of drinking water, according to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (2012). The numbers are staggering. The suffering is real. The challenge to overcome is immense. Success can only come through a combination of action and communication. Both are critical.
We have a vision where Water, Sanitation and Hy-giene (WASH) professionals are regularly sharing and learning – at all levels from districts to global networks. As a sector, we also need to reach out and communicate with wide range of audiences: politicians, policymakers, companies, water users, and the public in all countries.
We often have the content: experiences, data, pro-jects, methodologies and stories of success and failure. What we are often not great at is explaining ourselves to others in a way that leads to positive action.
We want to change that.
Technology Applicability Framework (TAF) & Technology Introduction Process (TIP) WASHtechnologies.net
Project start: 2011 • Project finished:
Collaborators: Skat Foundation, WaterAid, GIZ. The WASHTech consortium consisted of IRC WASH, WaterAid, Cranfield University, Skat Foundation, WSA, TREND, KNUST and NETWAS
Funder: Currently un-funded
Summary
The TAF is a tried-and-tested way of helping organisations improve their understanding of whether a technology that is designed to tackle a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) problem will work in a particular context. This improved understanding can be used to support decisions on:1. Whether or not to invest or support the introduction of Technology X in Context Y
2. Whether or not to continue to invest, support or approve the introduction of Technology X in Context Y
3. Is Technology X ready to scale-up? And what are context-sensitive factors that may play a major role in the success or failure of widespread promotion and uptake?
Although the TAF was developed for WASH technologies, it can be used for any type of technology or product, and has been adapted by others for renewable energy technologies.
Myths of Rural Water Supply Learning from past failures, building on successes
Project start: 2010 • Project finished:
Collaborators: UNICEF, Skat, WaterAid, Water & Sanitation Program, African Development Bank, Swiss Development Cooperation
Funder:
Summary
Ensuring that rural dwellers around the world do not have to walk for hours to collect sufficient and safe drinking water is a huge challenge. In 2010, RWSN published "Myths of the Rural Water Supply Sector" which raises issues for those of us who are involved in trying to improve rural water supplies, whether as donor, Government or NGO; program manager or practitioner. It takes a hard look at our limited achievements, points to areas where our approaches need to be radically improved and sets some challenges.
'Smart Handpumps' Handpumps can be better - who is leading the way?
Project start: • Project finished:
Collaborators: Several
Funder: Several
Summary
Drilling a borehole and installing a handpump is a common way to improve access to water for rural (and urban) people in many parts of the world. However, the failure of these water points is shockingly high, a third in many African and Asian countries and often much higher.New communications technology is opening up the possibilities for 'Smart Handpumps' - handpumps that actively record how and when they are used and transmits that data to an organisation who can use that information to (a) mobilise targeted maintenance and repairs; (b) identity priority areas for future improvements and investments; (c) to understand the user needs better, and main other reasons that shift rural water supply away from 'fire-and-forget' projects and towards water services that last and that reach everyone.
Uptime: Delivering Reliability for 100 Million People by 2030 Temps de fonctionnement : Garantir la fiabilité à 100 millions de personnes d'ici 2030
Project start: • Project finished:
Collaborators: FundiFix, Water for Good, Water Mission, UDUMA, Whave, Oxford University
Funder: GIZ, Osprey Foundation
Summary
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.
Rural Water 2021 + Blue Pages / Pages Bleues The second edition of the RWSN Directory of rural water supply services, tariffs, management models and lifecycle costs
Project start: • Project finished:
Collaborators: Dr Philip Deal (Water 4), Skat Foundation + RWSN members
Funder: SDC + Advertisers
Summary
Welcome to the second edition of Rural Water, the RWSN Directory of rural water supply services, tariffs, management models and lifecycle costs, and the first edition of the RWSN Blue Pages (in English and French).This year we have updated and expanded Rural Water and added:
- Special features from the RWSN Themes and projects.
- Blue Pages: a free listing service for any product or services directly related to rural water supply, plus paid advertising opportunities in the publication and the standalone version of the Blue Pages.
- Short entries from charities and NGOs who were able to provide a bit of data on how they operate or implement community-based projects.
- Country profiles for selected countries with some key data from the UNICEF-WHO Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP).
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