Announcing Release of USAID Water for the World Implementation Research Agenda

Dear Colleagues and Partners, 

I am pleased to announce that USAID has released its first-ever “Water for the World Implementation Research Agenda.” A newly published Globalwaters.org blog frames the key evidence gaps and questions included in the document. 

Evidence is critical to effective and efficient water security, sanitation, and hygiene development programming at USAID, among our partner governments, donors, and implementing partners. The research agenda identifies 27 broad research questions that are critical to improving implementation of programs that contribute to the goal and associated Development Results of the USAID Water and Development Plan within the U.S. Government Global Water Strategy. The identification of these questions represents the culmination of an extensive process of exploring the evidence base associated with current approaches to water security, sanitation, and hygiene development programming, and of prioritizing evidence gaps through consultations across USAID and with our partners. 

The Water for the World Implementation Research Agenda is a key contribution to the Agency’s “evidence cycle.” By looking to the past (through our Ex-Post Evaluation Series) to current evidence (through our Water and Development Technical Series) and to the future (through this agenda), USAID is seeking to coalesce partners and the sector around approaches that last, and to measure those results in meaningful ways (see our Water and Development Indicator Handbook).

The Water for the World Implementation Research Agenda will guide investments in implementation research across USAID’s water security, sanitation, and hygiene portfolio. We look forward to working with you on expanding the evidence base to improve the impact and sustainability of our work on water security, sanitation, and hygiene for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.

Read the Agenda

Jeff Goldberg
Director, Center for Water Security, Sanitation, and Hygiene
Bureau for Resilience and Food Security
USAID

USAID announces funding for global research partnerships

USAID Announces $2.5 Million in Global Research Partnerships. USAID, November 2019.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced $2.5 million dollars to support global research partnerships that will promote advancements across the full spectrum of discovery, from building new knowledge to piloting and scaling game-changing breakthroughs.

The Agency selected a total of 32 research projects for funding through the Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) program managed by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The lead researcher for each project carried out overseas will work in tandem with a U.S. Government-funded researcher. By increasing international scientific cooperation, the United States can accelerate progress on the Journey to Self-Reliance.

The 32 selected research projects span 18 countries on four continents, and range in amount between $30,000 and $80,000. Researchers will investigate a number of topics, including health, water and sanitation, agriculture, and economic growth.

WASH grants include:

AFRICA

Uganda – Project 8-186: Promoting hand hygiene through production and use of locally produced alcohol hand-rub in health facilities in Uganda
PI: Esther Buregyeya, Makerere University School of Public Health
U.S. Partner: Christine Moe, Emory University (funded by National Institutes of Health)

Uganda – Project 8-187: Improving hand hygiene practice among healthcare workers through mhealth and environmental cues in Kampala metropolitan area
PI: Richard Kibirango Mugambe, Makerere University School of Public Health
U.S. Partner:: Christine Moe, Emory University (funded by National Institutes of Health)

Burkina Faso – Project 8-116: Increasing access to sanitation services integrated with resource recovery in rural Burkina Faso
PI: Ynoussa Maiga, University of Ouaga I Pr Joseph Ki-Zerbo
U.S. Partner: James Mihelcic, University of South Florida (funded by the National Science Foundation)

ASIA

Vietnam – Project 8-6: Sustainable groundwater management under socioeconomic and climate change in Mekong Delta, Vietnam
PI: Chau Nguyen Xuan Quang, Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City, with co-PI Sangam Shrestha, Asian Institute of Technology
U.S. Partner: John Sabo, Arizona State University (funded by the National Science Foundation)

Vietnam – Project 8-14: Improved management of water and sediment yield in 3S basin – upper part of Mekong River Basin
PI: Duong Bui, National Center for Water Resources Planning and Investigation, in partnership with the National University of Civil Engineering
U.S. Partner: Venkataraman Lakshmi, University of Virginia (funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

MIDDLE EAST

Iraq – Project 8-113: Evaluate land management practices to improve water quality and address drought and salinity and train stakeholders
PI: Hamad Abdulghafor, University of Baghdad
U.S. Partner: Ranjith Udawatta, University of Missouri (funded by the United States Department of Agriculture/ Agricultural Research Service)

USAID Global Water and Development Report of Water and Sanitation Activities FY 2017

Global Water and Development Report of Water and Sanitation Activities FY 2017. USAID, June 2019.

In the “Global Water and Development Report of Water and Sanitation Activities FY 2017,” USAID charts its progress toward achieving the goal of providing 15 million people with sustainable access to safe drinking water services and 8 million people with sustainable sanitation by 2022.

In FY 2017, USAID provided $449.6 million to support water, sanitation, and hygiene activities in 41 countries. As a result, 3.6 million people gained access to improved water while 3.2 million gained access to improved sanitation.

The annual report also explores USAID’s support for partner countries on their journeys to self-reliance through many voices:

• A community mobilizer in India marketing safe water kiosks to her neighbors
• A homeowner in Indonesia who can now afford to build a septic tank system with funds from a community savings account
• A mother in the Dominican Republic who has traded a wetland for the open sewer that used to run through her backyard
• A regional water bureau manager in Ethiopia who can remotely monitor water point functionality through a data visualization platform

The latest updates to USAID’s Globalwaters.org & Global Waters on Medium

Below are some of the latest updates to USAID’s Globalwaters.org website and Global Waters on Medium

Blog Posts 

• Water @ Wilson: 50 Years of Water, Conflict, and Cooperation – December 19, 2018
• Realizing the Scoop on Poop in Ethiopia’s Lowland Regions – December 14, 2018
• Examining USAID Efforts to Strengthen India’s Urban Water and Sanitation Sector Governance and Finance – December 5, 2018

Global Waters on Medium

• Global Waters Stories – November 2018 (Happy World Toilet Day!) – November 19, 2018.
• From Satellite to Village, Turning Data into Action – November 15, 2018
• “The River Belongs to the People” – Sustainable Water Partnership Team Leader Gordon Mumbo brings a lifetime of experience to the Mara River Basin – November 13, 2018
• Keeping the Water Flowing: One village in Nepal is working to implement a shared vision of the future – November 8, 2018

Resources

• USAID WASH in the News
• India Fire-D Project Ex-Post Evaluation – 2018
• SWS Network Analysis and Systems Assessment For Sustainability in the Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Sector in Cambodia – 2018
• Finding New Solutions to Strengthen Local Systems and Improve WASH Service Delivery and Sustainability – 2018

Water Currents

• Water Currents: Water Utilities – December 2018
• Water Currents: World Toilet Day 2018 – November 2018

 

USAID Webinar – Toward a Hygienic Environment for Infants and Young Children: A Review

Toward a Hygienic Environment for Infants and Young Children: A Review

• View the webinar

This United States Agency for International development (USAID) webinar to discusses findings from the recent report, “Toward a Hygienic Environment for Infants and Young Children: A Review of the Literature.”

USAID recently completed this review of the scientific and grey literature to capture the state of knowledge of the health risks to infants and young children from fecal exposure in their home environments, focusing on historically underemphasized sources and transmission pathways not disrupted by the traditional suite of WASH measures.

The review is complemented by an array of interviews with researchers and practitioners and includes two central findings: (1) domestic animal excreta may be a significant source of risk; and (2) direct ingestion of pathogens via eating feces, dirt (geophagy) and/or mouthing behaviors represent important paths of transmission. Technological and behavioral measures that reduce exposure to excreta in play spaces are of growing interest for the protection of infant and child health.

In this webinar, Julia Rosenbaum, along with Francis Ngure and Jeff Albert will present highlights from the desk review, share key lessons for implementers, and share the project’s next steps in this area.

Learn more about the literature review: http://www.tetratech.com/en/documents/toward-a-hygienic-environment-for-infants-and-young-children-a-review-of-the-literature

Jim Peters on Water Improvements in Kenya and the U.S. Government Global Water Strategy

Jim Peters on Water Improvements in Kenya and the U.S. Government Global Water Strategy. Global Waters Radio, March 29, 2018. 

Jim Peters serves as Deputy Assistant Administrator and Acting Global Water Coordinator in USAID’s Bureau for Economic Growth, Education, and Environment (E3).

Jim’s career with the Agency has spanned more than 20 years, and prior to his current role with USAID, he served as Deputy Mission Director for USAID/Pakistan.

In this podcast, Jim speaks with Global Waters Radio about his recent experiences in Kenya, where he saw first-hand how USAID and local partners are making improvements to the country’s water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector.

Jim also shares his thoughts on the U.S. Government’s first-ever Global Water Strategy, released in 2017, and discusses the role USAID will play in its implementation.

Listen to the podcast.

Global Waters Radio: Jacky Ralaiarivony on Water and Sanitation in Madagascar

Global Waters Radio: Jacky Ralaiarivony on Water and Sanitation in Madagascar. Global Waters, January 2018.

“I am really optimistic….I can tell you, other countries, they come here to learn more about how Madagascar is implementing these community-led total sanitation activities.”

For the past eight years, Jacky Ralaiarivony has served as USAID/Madagascar’s water and sanitation program specialist. During that time, he has helped expand the role that public-private partnerships play in the island’s capacity-building efforts to improve water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and has also been closely involved with Madagascar’s successful community-led total sanitation (CLTS) campaign, which continues to take root across rural districts and has become an internationally recognized success.

A local mason examines a SanPlat latrine slab in Amboditafara, Madagascar. Photo credit: Water CKM Project

Jacky recently spoke with Global Waters Radio from the USAID/Madagascar office in Antananarivo about the reasons behind CLTS’ success on the island, the importance of monitoring and evaluation in strengthening the mission’s WASH programming, and prospects for Madagascar fully eliminating open defecation in the years ahead.

Read the complete article/listen to the podcast.

IHUWASH Accelerator India seeks high impact urban WASH innovations

The IHUWASH Accelerator India program identifies and supports high-impact WASH business innovations to work with the city governments of Faridabad, Udaipur and Mysuru to solve pressing urban WASH problems.  Submissions should focus on one or more of the following urban WASH innovations:

1. Safe drinking water
2. Last-mile water distribution
3. Recovering water supply costs
4. Decentralised and improved sanitation solutions
5. Improving public/community toilets
6. Sustainable faecal waste treatment
7. Hygiene behaviour change

Benefits for the selected innovations include opportunities to:

• Roll out small-scale pilots that demonstrate your WASH innovation to governments
• Work directly with key government officials, sector experts and impact investors
• Showcase your innovation through a high visibility nation-wide program
• Raise funds from private sector companies and impact investors

More program details are available here. Applications for the program are now open and they close on 22nd Jan 2018.

Please apply to the program (or) help identify relevant WASH business innovations by nominating them to chandrakant.komaragiri@ennovent.com.

About IHUWASH:

IHUWASH is a collaborative initiative between NIUA, Taru, IRC and Ennovent. The three year project is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and aims to improve the performance of urban WASH programs for India within a collaborative framework. Under IHUWASH, national and city-level Innovation Hubs are being established to work closely with the Faridabad, Mysuru and Udaipur city governments along with other national level WASH stakeholders.

The IHUWASH Accelerator builds on the experience of the 2016 Sanitation Innovation Accelerator in which Taru, IRC and Ennovent were also involved.

Webinar – Contribution of Community-Led Total Sanitation to Ending Open Defecation: Findings of a Desk Review

Webinar – Contribution of Community-Led Total Sanitation to Ending Open Defecation: Findings of a Desk Review, December 14, 2017. 

• Link to Webinar

On Wednesday, December 13, 2017, the USAID-funded Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Partnerships and Learning for Sustainability (WASHPaLS) Project held a webinar on the role of community-led total sanitation (CLTS) in helping to end open defecation.

WASHPaLS presented key findings from a desk review assessing the knowledge base on CLTS program performance. The findings and identified evidence gaps will inform the WASHPaLS research agenda for subsequent years of the project.

 

CSIS – The State of Water and Sanitation in India

India is a water stressed nation. Yet it is India’s states that have ultimate authority over many water related issues. Water is a key pillar in these states’ ambitions to improve the quality of life of their citizens and to drive industrial growth.

These states must form innovative partnerships to meet their needs within the context of growing scarcity, increased pollution, and interstate conflict.

The Wadhwani Chair invites you to the first public segment of the Indian States Engagement Forum series to hear from key U.S. stakeholders on their experience in addressing the water challenge across India’s states.