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 country needs to meet a certain development or income threshold before aid can prove to be effective and aid flows tend to have diminishing returns. Read more...
Sharing a sanitation facility with just one to two other households can increase the risk of moderate-to-severe diarrhea (MSD) in young children,... Read more...
La región de América Latina y el Caribe ha tenido éxito en alcanzar los Objetivos de Desarrollo de Milenio (ODM) para agua y saneamiento. ¿Pero cómo está encaminado para lograr los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS)? ¿El vaso está más bien medio vacío? Read more...
Decision-support tool to aid the identification of potentially appropriate drinking water methods for arsenic- and salt-mitigation in Bangladesh... Read more...
In the context of urban Haiti, household container-based sanitation services (CBS) systems have the potential to satisfy many residents' desire for... Read more...
The costs of a pilot small-scale container-based sanitation service (CBS) were higher than those of large-scale waterborne sewerage, but economies of... Read more...
IRC and Water For People have developed a roadmap to achieve universal piped water coverage in 30 focus districts in Honduras as well as having plans... Read more...
There are six methodological stages for selecting indicators for WaSH: define the purpose and scope; select a conceptual framework; search for... Read more...
For less than US$12 per person per year a town in Honduras can ensure that everyone's water supply keeps working. Read more...
El Municipio de Chinda alcanzó la cobertura total en los servicios de agua. Sin embargo, el municipio tiene que invertir hasta 11.8 US$/persona en agua cada año para siempre. La buena noticia es que este monto es asequible para el municipio y le permitirá mantener la cobertura total, para siempre... Read more...
WASH for WORMS is a cluster-randomised controlled trial to test the hypothesis that a community-based WASH intervention integrated with periodic mass... Read more...
Fact sheet providing an overview of rural and small towns water services in the Upper West Region, Ghana. Read more...
Una comparación de diferentes modelos de intervención. Read more...
In reactie op een artikel dat deze week verscheen in NRC over fraude met Nederlands ontwikkelingsgeld voor schoon drinkwater in Benin, schrijft Stef Smits deze blog. Terugkeren naar projecthulp is geen optie, zegt hij. Read more...
In deze blog voor Vice Versa gaat Stef Smits dieper in op de publieke kritiek die minister Ploumen recent kreeg van Kamerleden Taverne en Smaling. Is hulp aan de allerarmsten niet meetbaar? Is Ploumens beleid niet op feiten gestoeld? Na wat graafwerk komt Stef Smits tot een opmerkelijke conclusie:... Read more...
Une gestion approximative des services d'assainissement et d'hygiène entraîne nécessairement des conséquences de santé publique pour une société... Read more...
" Sin salsa no hay paraíso " canta el Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. En Honduras, sin el gran combo, no hay agua. Read more...
Webinar recording discussing two initiatives from Asia related to the topic how to move from building infrastructure to creating support mechanisms... Read more...
BRAC WASH has researched how to develop a viable process for faecal sludge-based organic fertiliser. Read more...
Nederland doet goede toezeggingen om drinkwater- en sanitaire voorzieningen aan te leggen. Maar het moet niet voor een dubbeltje op de eerste rang willen zitten. Read more...