Request for Proposals: “GSF Mid-Term Evaluation Consulting Services”

The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) has specified in its Medium Term Strategic Plan 2012-2016 that all programmes funded by WSSCC’s Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) are subject to independent mid-term and five-year evaluations. These evaluations are aligned with the overall GSF financing mechanism, which is based on a five-year programme cycle.

Therefore, WSSCC is now calling for proposals by 7 June 2013 for “GSF Mid-Term Evaluation Consulting Services”. For more information about the consultancy, please click on this link:

http://www.wsscc.org/about-us/jobs

The mid-term evaluations of GSF programmes in ten countries will be clustered in two batches of five countries in 2013 and 2014/2015 respectively. The assignment covers design and implementation of the mid-term evaluations as well as analysis, consolidation and dissemination of findings as per the Terms of Reference.

As of 31 March 2013, the GSF programmes are implemented in ten countries: Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Madagascar, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda. In addition, programme preparation is on-going in another six countries; Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Pakistan and Togo. Sanitation and hygiene awareness-raising and promotion activities in the first ten countries with GSF programmes has resulted in 1.4 million people having improved toilets, and more than 1 million people in nearly 4,000 communities who are now living in open defecation free environments.

WaterAid Australia – Seeking Program Effectiveness Manager

WaterAid Australia have exciting news! We are recruiting for a Program Effectiveness Manager to join the leadership group of the International Programs department in Melbourne.

We are looking for an experienced and passionate individual to support program staff in Southeast Asia and the Pacific and provide leadership on program quality and learning. The person should have detailed knowledge and experience on current best practice thinking on WASH approaches, technologies and methodologies and be able to adapt them to our programs.

They will spend a significant amount of time in our Country Programs and will work with staff in WaterAid Australia and partners to develop and deepen their understanding on sanitation approaches, hygiene promotion and rural water supply systems. The person will be a key driver to embed our monitoring and evaluation systems and action learning culture.

• More information about the role

Tanya Stelmach, Regional Programs Officer
WaterAid Australia
Level 7, 176 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne, VIC 3002 Australia
Direct Line: +61(0)3 9001 8241
Fax: +61(0) 3 9001 8260
Email: tanya.stelmach@wateraid.org.au

Create a world where everyone has access to clean water www.wateraid.org/australia

Hybrid management models: blending community and private management

A clear distinction is generally made between community and private management of water and sanitation services. This distinction reflects the different motivations, values, attitudes and approaches generally associated with each type of provider.

In WSUP programmes, the local context is often suited to community or to private management models. But in practice, WSUP often seeks to go beyond this “community” versus “private” dichotomy, to try to get “the best of both worlds”. For instance, CBO operators are often encouraged to adopt commercial practices and achieve business efficiency. Similarly, entrepreneurs are encouraged to be more supportive of the needs of the community, and more responsive to poverty and gender issues.

In this Topic Brief, the approaches used by WSUP in Nairobi, Kumasi and Antananarivo under the African Cities for the Future (ACF) programme are examined from this perspective of blending community and private management models. The Topic Brief concludes with practical guidance on this issue for programme managers. Click on the image below to download the Topic Brief.

Global Sanitation Fund helps 1.4 million people gain improved sanitation

Children in Senegal carry signs to show support for good hygiene practices including handwashing in a celebration confirming this village in Senegal has improved sanitation. The ceremony is in Agnam Civol, a village which was declared open defecation free thanks to efforts through GSF financed programmes in 2012.

The Global Sanitation Fund Progress Report 2012, a new report from the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), details programmatic results, reporting methodology and financial data from Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) programmes in Africa and Asia.

In 10 countries – Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Madagascar, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal Tanzania and Uganda – Global Sanitation Fund Sub-grantees have implemented sanitation and hygiene awareness-raising and promotion activities resulting in:

• 1.4 million people with improved toilets.
• More than 1 million people in nearly 4,000 communities now live in open defecation free environments.
• Almost 10,000 communities have participated in demand-creation activities.
• 3.8 million people have heard about the importance of good hygiene through community activities and communications campaigns.

Designing effective contracts for small-scale service providers in urban water and sanitation

Extending water and sanitation services to the urban poor will often involve contractual relationships between small-scale entrepreneurs and municipalities or utilities. The expectation is that poor communities are more likely to receive improved services when delivery is formalised under contractual agreements that provide clarity to all parties, as well as systems for enforcement of contractual obligations.

This Topic Brief draws on WSUP’s experience in the six-city African Cities for the Future (ACF) programme to illustrate ways of dealing with the challenges that arise when developing contracts between large and small service providers in the urban setting. The Topic Brief gives practical guidance for programme managers on how to make contracts of this type more effective and more enforceable.

Request for Proposals: The effects of poor sanitation on women and girls in India

The SHARE Research Consortium and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) have joined together to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) with a total value of £400,000 for research on sanitation and women in India. Four priority research questions have been identified, further details are available in the revised RFP documents:

1. The conditions and effects of WASH in health facilities, particularly around childbirth

2. Operational research into menstrual hygiene management

• Psycho-social stress linked to ignorance, taboos, shame and silence around menstruation
• The link between menstrual hygiene and infections and/or other health related impacts
• Operational research on the design and unit costs for safe reuse and disposal options

3. Psycho-social stress resulting from violence experienced by women in the course of using sanitation facilities or practicing open defecation.

4. The practice of limiting, postponing or reducing food and liquid intake to control the urge to urinate or defecate: the prevalence of this behaviour and related health risks.

Proposals must be led or co-led by an Indian research institution. SHARE and WSSCC envisage making three or four grants of which at least £200,000 is earmarked for questions 1 and 2 above. However, depending on the quality and size of the proposals received, SHARE and WSSCC may make a single grant only or, alternatively, more grants of lesser value.

The deadline for submission of proposal is 17:00 GMT on 29th March 2013. For full details please refer to the RFP document. Results will be announced by the end of April.

Water.org – Matt Damon goes on strike

USAID/Afghanistan – Afghan Sustainable Water Supply & Sanitation (SWSS) Project

Afghan Sustainable Water Supply & Sanitation (SWSS) Project, 2012. Sustainable Health Outcomes Unit, Project Final Report.

• (Full text, pdf)

USAID/Afghanistan

Introduction
The USAID Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation (SWSS) project, led by Tetra Tech ARD, was designed to improve the sustainability of rural infrastructure and the health of rural populations through a balanced commitment to providing water supply and sanitation facilities and improving community hygiene behaviors. It built upon the significant work done in the water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector in Afghanistan over the previous five years. A national policy framework was in place, engineering standards were set, and over 100 projects had provided facilities in rural communities.

Despite this high level of investment, extremely low percentages of rural Afghans used improved water supplies or sanitation facilities. Widespread utilization of water systems, sanitation facilities, and a core set of hygiene behaviors is the foundation for achieving health impacts. Without health impacts, especially among women and children under the age of five, rural water and sanitation (WatSan) projects were not reaching their goal of reducing the time and money spent by farming families on treating diarrheal diseases, allowing them more time for activities that improve their economic well-being.

New job at WSSCC: Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer P4

WSSCC has an exciting senior-level (P4) monitoring and evaluation (M&E) position based in Geneva, Switzerland. The application deadline is 30 December 2012. The purpose of the post is to coordinate the effective monitoring and evaluation of WSSCC’s work in line with its Medium Term Strategic Plan (MTSP)for the period 2012-2016. The incumbent is expected to establish a conceptual framework for the monitoring & evaluation practice, provide leadership to strengthen WSSCC’s capacity, and to develop systems and engagement strategies to enable WSSCC to:

• Effectively monitor and evaluate progress against its MTSP for the period 2012-2016, and regularly derive evidence-based data and information feeding into organizational and wider sector knowledge and learning.  
• Identify and collaborate on evaluation research initiatives of relevance to the sector as a whole.    
• Represent WSSCC in inter-agency meetings and high-level forums on monitoring and evaluation.
• Develop partnerships and facilitate inter-institutional relations with key research institutions specializing in water, sanitation and hygiene.

WSSCC’s mission is to ensure sustainable sanitation, better hygiene and safe drinking water for all people.  Good sanitation and hygiene lead to economic and social development, yielding health, productivity, educational and environmental benefits. WSSCC manages the Global Sanitation Fund, facilitates coordination at national, regional and global levels, supports professional development, and advocates on behalf of the 2.5 billion people without a clean, safe toilet to use.  WSSCC is hosted by UNOPS, supports coalitions in more than 30 countries and has members around the world.

For information on the United Nations salary scale and post adjustment formula, visit here: http://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/salaries_allowances/salary.htm.

 

Now also in Nepali: Compendium of Sanitation Systems and Technologies

Clean toilets save lives. But with billions of people lacking access to basic sanitation around the world, which toilet best meets each person’s and family’s need? Since 2008, one of the most popular guidebooks used to help answer that question has been the Compendium of Sanitation Systems and Technologies.

Now, the Compendium, published by the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), is available in Nepali, complementing the English, French and Spanish versions available.

As a tool, the compendium sheds light on the diverse sanitary solutions which can help poor people across the developing world lead healthier and happier lives. With abundant information about sanitation technologies scattered throughout numerous books, reports, proceedings and journals, this unique Compendium centralizes all the available main information.

Promoting a systems approach, where sanitation devices and technologies are considered as parts of an entire system, the Compendium is split into two parts: System Templates and a description about how to use them; and illustrated Technology Information Sheets.

While the System Templates primarily address engineers and planners dealing with infrastructure delivery, the Technology Information Sheets allow non-experts to understand the main advantages and limitations of different technologies and the appropriateness of different system configurations. This approach allows all stakeholders to be involved in selecting improved sanitation technologies and the promotion of people-centred solutions to real sanitation problems.

Eight different System Templates, presenting logical combinations of technologies, are described and evaluated. By combining these templates with 52 different illustrated Technology Information Sheets (describing the main advantages, disadvantages, applications and the appropriateness of the technologies required to build a comprehensive sanitation system), ensures the selection is context specific and suitable for local environment (temperature, rainfall, etc.), culture (sitters, squatters, washers, wipers, etc.) and resources (human and material).