This section is looking ahead and proposes a list of prioritised recommendations for UNICEF’s future global WASH strategy, for future UNICEF-supported WASH programmes, and for future related evaluations.
8.1.Recommendations for UNICEF’s future global WASH strategy
Make equity, scalability and sustainability key corporate principles for WASH: Emphasise the need for all UNICEF WASH interventions to be equity-sensitive (or gender-transformative if that is the ambition), sustainable as well as scalable at country or global level. In collaboration with the Data and Analytics section and the Evaluation Office, define these concepts as precisely as possible in relation to the new SDGs, in order to establish a strong link with these global development goals and make the strategy more ‘evaluable’. Specify what UNICEF’s objectives in these area are – that is to say how success would look like by 2030. Make the two principles of “affordable cost / high impact” and “going to scale without compromising on quality and sustainability” a cornerstone and corporate branding of UNICEF WASH programming globally. Pledge to national governments and donors for a shift from short-term, small scaled, donor driven projects to larger, longer term programmes led or coordinated by national governments. Engage further with the Social Inclusion section to determine the practical contribution and approach of WASH programming to the improved status not only of the poor as well as women and girls, but also of other deprived, vulnerable and marginalised groups including elderly people and ethnic and religious minorities.
Commit to strengthened programmatic integration within WASH and with other sectors: Geographical concentration and integration should be encouraged between the diverse type of WASH interventions (water supply, water safety planning, sanitation and CLTS, hygiene promotion, WASH in schools and health centres). Programmatic integration with other UNICEF programmes, in particular health, nutrition, education, communication for development and social policy, should also be cited as a basic requirement. This internal and external integration will rationalise operational costs, maximise impact and improve sustainability.
Draw lessons learned from CLTS to inform the whole WASH strategy and programming: Acknowledge the major shift initiated by CLTS in the WASH approach to development assistance. Pave the way for a reflection on and mainstreaming of approaches inspired by similar principles for water supply, WASH in schools and health centres, and hygiene and sanitation promotion – in particular handwashing with soap, drinking water treatment, and wastewater and solid waste management.
Revisit WASH in schools advocacy: Adjust advocacy messages to better reflect the (weak) evidence base on the impact of WASH in schools on girls’ education; focus on children’s right to adequate WASH facilities while in school; the need for a better learning environment; the life-long and inter-generational benefits of internalising hygiene behaviour at an early age; and the necessity to improve children’s WASH conditions and behaviours in their entire living environment – that is to say in both their community and school.
Carefully assess and scope UNICEF’s role in (peri-)urban WASH: If UNICEF WASH is to engage more in urban and peri-urban areas in development settings, then risks, capacities, added-value and comparative advantage need to be carefully assessed. Factors to be taken into consideration could include: existence of knowledge, practice, appropriate human resources and relevant guidance within UNICEF to deal with issues that are specific to these areas, such as the weaker social capital and leadership structure, the private sector participation in management of WASH services, the complexity of utility management, land tenure issues, etc.; ability of UNICEF to develop such internal capacities where needed; availability of funds and ability to raise more funds; added value and comparative advantage vis-à-vis other donors already engaged in urban WASH programming; and capacity to integrate WASH programming with other interlinked urban issues such as urban planning, electricity networks, roads, sewerage systems and treatment plants etc.
8.2.Recommendations to the WASH section at HQ and regional offices levels
Research, pilot and roll out innovative programmatic approaches for water supply, hygiene promotion, and WASH in schools and health centres: Based on the successful experience with CLTS as well as the principles of “affordable cost / high impact” and “scalable without compromising on quality and sustainability”, adjust the current programming or develop new approaches for the other types of WASH interventions. Ensure they meet the following requirements: equity-focussed; effective and, to the extent possible, affordable cost; sensitive to existing structures and dynamics in communities, school and health centres (e.g. using prevailing decision-making processes, opportunities for collective action and peer-pressure, institutional processes and administrative rules etc.); make appropriate use of incentives and sanctions; easy to communicate and implement (in order to overcome absorption capacity issues). For water supply, consider the following areas of further investigation and development: Community-based, low cost technologies for water supply including but not limited to manual drilling; innovative service management models in rural and peri-urban areas including private sector participation arrangements; real-time, country-wide, technical and financial performance monitoring (using new technologies such as sensors, GIS/mapping and social medias); control and incentive mechanisms such as sector regulation agencies, national benchmarking of water utilities and local operators, competition and rewards; and performance-based aid. For hygiene promotion, consider the following: Delivery of chlorine through community dispensers at water sources; tippy-taps. For WASH in institutions, focus on integrating WASH in routine administrative procedures and establish country-wide incentive mechanisms. Accompany successful approaches with step-by-step implementation guidance as well as a roll out strategy for the global and national levels.
Engage in sustainability-focussed advocacy to WASH donors emphasizing that sustainability must be built into all programming and incorporated into the M&E strategy. In collaboration with the Public Alliances and Resources Mobilisation section, advocate to donors for longer term financial commitments. Raise awareness on the need for ensuring the sustainability of existing WASH services in addition to expending coverage. Promote an increased focus on the following essential elements of sustainability: a longer and more elaborated software component (behaviour change and capacity building activities); post-implementation follow-up support; upstream work and system strengthening; evaluation. Mainstream sustainability compacts and checks among WASH donors.
Develop guidance to integrate equity and inclusion in WASH programming: Collaborate with the Social inclusion section to review existing evidence of success and failure with a wide range of pro-poor financial and non-financial instruments in water supply, CLTS and hygiene promotion, both within and outside UNICEF. This exercise could cover, for instance: pooled funds; output-based financing arrangements; subsidies for water connections; targeted cash and in-kind household subsidies for sanitation; indirect subsidies; microcredit; revolving fund and other similar mechanisms existing in various countries (e.g. “tontines” in West Africa); methodologies and tools for ‘willingness and capacity to pay’ surveys; and pro-poor water tariffs and cross-subsidy mechanisms. Engage further with the Gender section to design inclusive latrines that integrate the needs of people living with various types of physical disabilities and the needs of menstruating girls and women in schools, health centres, public places and CLTS households. Partner with Supply Division to develop a catalogue of innovative designs for school and household handwashing facilities, adapted to the needs and capacities of a variety of users: remote schools, schools with poor access to water, poor and better-off schools, young and older children, poor and better-off households etc. Accompany the technical guidance with appropriate field notes and decision-making tools. If robust evidence of success is lacking, carry out action research and comparative cost-effectiveness evaluations.
Capture and disseminate knowledge notably on quality infrastructure constructions, sustainable water point maintenance and CLTS implementation: UNICEF is a worldwide organisation with offices and WASH programmes in a high number of different countries and contexts. HQ and regional offices could take advantage of this very unique position. In collaboration with Supply Division, gather and disseminate experience, good practices, guidance, models, standards, technical specifications and tools related to each stage of the WASH construction process: designs for all types of WASH facilities, procurement, tendering documents, contract management, full time field supervision arrangements, and quality control processes and tools. In collaboration with the ESA regional WASH team, document and share experience on management models of water service, strengthening of spare parts supply chain, and professionalization of mechanics. In collaboration with the CLTS Foundation and the UK Institute of Development Studies’ CLTS Knowledge Hub, compile the various CLTS and post-ODF implementation approaches, manuals, tools and training materials that have been developed at country level by UNICEF and other implementation agencies in order to compare them, extract lessons learnt and good practices and share them in a user-friendly manner with regional and country offices. When effective and scalable approaches have been demonstrated for water supply, handwashing, drinking water treatment, and WASH in institutions: encourage, incentivise and reward the drafting of field notes, and develop guidance or step-by-step implementation guidelines and accompanying checklists and tools for country offices. All these knowledge management activities can also benefit from additional support from the Knowledge Exchange section in HQ.
Consider establishing a quality assurance process for major donor proposals and reports: In collaboration with the Resource Mobilisation section, envisage a process whereby all major or strategic donor proposals and reports could be reviewed by the WASH section in the regional office and, if required, in HQ. This would allow for a more systematic integration of good practices in programme design and improvements in the quality of donor report (comprehensiveness, accuracy, clarity). The expected result would be twofold: improved quality of programme design and implementation; strengthened the relationship of transparency and confidence between UNICEF and its donors, leading to an increase in donor funding.
