Stef Smits is a senior programme officer and Co-director of IRC's Growth Hub. He has 20 years of professional experience in water supply and sanitation in over 25 countries in Europe, Latin America, Southern Africa, and South Asia. His main thematic expertise includes: institutional models for water supply, sustainability and enabling environment, monitoring, costing and financing of services and integrated water resources management.
Stef has led numerous projects on these topics, and published about them. In addition, he has ample management expertise: from consultancy assignments to multi-annual programmes, and units within an organisation. He has worked for a range of clients including bilateral donors, development banks, research funders and NGOs. Stef holds an MSc degree in Irrigation and Water Engineering from Wageningen University, The Netherlands.
A special issue of ' Water Alternatives' journal looks at trends in water services in rural areas. Read more...
A new report shows the impact of post-construction support on rural water supply in Colombia. Read more...
Los resultados de un estudio realizado por IRC y CINARA sobre gobernabilidad y sostenibilidad de los servicios rurales de agua en Colombia fue publicado como monografía del BID. Read more...
IRC and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have been supporting El Salvador, Honduras and Paraguay to develop and implement rural water monitoring systems. Read more...
This includes the structured support activities to service providers as well as to users or user groups. This may be provided in a variety of ways by either local governments directly, by regional utility agencies, specialized agencies or external contractors or a by combination of these modalities. Read more...
Alternative service provider options refer to models such as self-supply and public-private partnerships, that are a departure from the conventional model of community-based management that has tended to dominate rural water supplies. Read more...
The professionalisation of community based-management means moving away from an approach based purely on volunteerism, towards a more professional, competent and effective management of rural water services working to agreed standards, and with greater transparency and accountability. Read more...
Service delivery models describe the practical implementation of water service provision as part of a service delivery approach Read more...
Water and sanitation facilities: a service provider is needed for day-to-day administration. Read more...
El IRC apoya al Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo en el tema de monitoreo de agua y saneamiento rural. Consiste del desarrollo de una guía de indicadores, y apoyo a la aplicación del mismo en El Salvador, Honduras y Paraguay. Read more...
El municipio de Chinda ha logrado cobertura total en agua y saneamiento, con el apoyo de la ONG Water For People. El IRC sistematizó cómo se logró esto, y analiza si los servicios serán para siempre. Read more...
Estudios de caso mostraron que la práctica de usos múltiples del agua es una realidad en muchas comunidades rurales de Honduras. Se desarrolló una guía para anticipar estos usos en el diseño y la gestión de los servicios de agua, y se la aplicó en comunidades del departamento de La Paz. Read more...
Una sistematización de experiencias con el uso múltiple del agua en 14 comunidades en diferentes partes de Honduras revela que es una práctica casi universal, con impactos tanto en la economía familiar como en la sostenibilidad de los servicios. Read more...
Various case studies confirm that multiple-use of water is a common practice in rural communities in Honduras. IRC and FHIS developed a guideline to support consideration for these uses in the design and management of rural water supplies. This guideline was applied in a number of communities in... Read more...
Presentation with new research evidence; practices and institutional opportunities and barriers for scaling MUS. Read more...
“The goal of universal access to clean water is far from complete”, says IRC's Stef Smits on CNN International. "Reaching the last 10% of the population -- those living in remote rural areas and on the fringes of big cities - will become increasingly difficult and expensive," he explains in “Going... Read more...
This webinar presents the results of a study into post-construction support and goes into the broader discussion on the role of post-construction support on rural water supplies. Read more...
The lack of clearly delineated roles can undermine sustainable services at scale. Read more...
¿Cómo será el sector de agua, saneamiento e higiene (WASH – siglas en inglés) a nivel internacional dentro de, digamos, unos 10 años?, ¿Continuará el saneamiento estando rezagado con respecto al abastecimiento de agua o evolucionará hasta convertirse en un subsector autónomo con sus propias... Read more...
Estudio revela diferentes modelos de apoyo post-construcción a prestadores de servicios en zonas rurales de Colombia Read more...