Opinions and voices for change
Navigate the blogs from our experts, water, sanitation and hygiene sector colleagues and guests. Narrow down your search by using the filters.
How entrepreneurs in Odisha, India, provide villagers with safe, affordable, home-delivered drinking water. Read more...
In the Safe Water II programme (2015-2018) we map tools and approaches that local businesses in household water treatment products use to start and scale up their business. Read more...
2016 is a crucial year for IRC India. With its strong track record in India, IRC is well positioned to develop and establish a country programme there. Read more...
How can you get 110 million children to wash their hands before meals? India has the answer. Read more...
IRC is working with partners on a research project called 'Community Water Plus'. It consists of case studies throughout rural India. The objective is to understand which models of community managed water supplies - with professional support - work well, and why, so that we understand how they can... Read more...
Mr Belwal is a community facilitator with the Himalaya Institute Hospital Trust, an NGO that, amongst others, develops water supply systems in the Uttarakhand Himalayas, through a programme supported by Himmothan Society. His main responsibility is ensuring that villages that have been "phased out... Read more...
Sangeeta Ramola is the former Pradhan (president) of the Gawana Gram Panchayat (local government), in the State of Uttarakhand, India. Her work and effort shows the importance of local political leaders in achieving access to rural water supply that lasts. Read more...
Two years ago, I posted a blog summarizing discussions on whether insuring rural water supply systems is a good idea. But these remained largely theoretical discussions, as there are few examples of such insurances put in place. During field work for the Community Water Plus project in the State of... Read more...
Mr Ragunathan, the ex-President of Ramianahalli village, proudly explains how his community had come together when facing a water crisis in 2004. But in subsequent years of 'times of plenty', much of the good practices of the village water and sanitation committee were lost. This is due to the... Read more...
Ultimate success in water service delivery is defined by the service level received by households. There can be excellent infrastructure and impeccable administration, but if households don't receive enough water of good enough quality without spending an excessive amount of time collecting it,... Read more...
28 May is Menstrual Hygiene Day. In Bangladesh, BRAC field staff are working hard to "end the hesitation around menstruation" especially in schools. Read more...
Saraswati Halder, the president of the Durganagar Kanchantala water committee, shows me the committee's bank booklet. It shows only one transaction: 100 Rupees (about 1.50 US$) deposited in 2011, more than 3 years ago. Read more...
The India WASH Summit focused on solutions for Swacch Bharat (Clean India mission), to find ways to meet the goal of making India Open Defecation Free by 2019. The Summit drew sector players, government, elected representatives, bilaterals, multilaterals, donors, INGOs, NGOs, academia and the... Read more...
Uttam Majundar is a successful Jalabandu (handpump mechanic) in Digambarpur (West Bengal, India). But now he risks becoming a victim of his own success. Following a day in his life explains why. Read more...
How does India's new large-scale sanitation monitoring effort compare with similar initiatives in Bangladesh and Indonesia? Read more...
The Prime Minister has given a call for ‘Swachh Bharat’ (Clean India) as a mass movement to realise Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a clean India. To make this campaign a success, it needs to become a bureaucratic priority in addition to a political priority. Read more...
As we approach near universal water supply coverage, India is facing the twin challenges of achieving last mile coverage and simultaneously addressing sustainability of the massive assets already created. Read more...
A passionate school teacher took the lead in making his school a model in sanitation. However, the ground in front of the school is an open defecation area. Read more...
India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi has deviated from convention and made sanitation a central theme of his Independence Day speech 2014. He has announced a programme of Clean India to make the country Open Defecation Free (ODF) by 2019. In that year India will celebrate the 150 th birth... Read more...
Over the last months, a number of influential media outlets have published stories on the deplorable state of sanitation in India and the negative influence this has on the country. While this may be welcome attention for those campaigning for increased government expenditure in the field of... Read more...