Existing Solutions

Sanitation, hygiene, handwashing, CLTS,

financial

The Global Sanitation Fund is a pooled fund established to direct finance to help large numbers of poor people to attain safe sanitation services and adopt good hygiene practices. The GSF is a department of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council. In many developing countries national sanitation policies exist but the funding to implement them does not. The Global Sanitation Fund works with national governments to accelerate implementation of these policies. It is the national governments that provide the leadership and legitimacy to any work supported by the Global Sanitation Fund.

It is typically the existing WSSCC National WASH Coalition or other WSSCC partners that request for the country to be considered for funding from the GSF. At this point the support of the national government is sought and must be agreed. These parties engage with the National Government to select sector stakeholders to form the basis of a Coordinating Mechanism. The Coordinating Mechanism makes certain that the work supported by the Global Sanitation Fund is consistent with national policies and the activities of the National WASH Coalitions that undertake professional networking, knowledge management, advocacy and communications work. They continue to provide strategic oversight to the programmes.

Once countries and the sanitation and/or hygiene programme have been selected for funding, the Global Sanitation Fund appoints an Executing Agency to receive the grant and manage the funded programme. The Executing Agency selects, supervises, and support Sub-Grantees who directly implement these programmes. Country Programme Monitors, independently appointed by the Global Sanitation Fund, verify and report on the work of Executing Agencies to WSSCC.

Currently the GSF is active, implementing grants in 7 countries: Madagascar, Senegal, Nepal, India, Malawi, Cambodia and Uganda; with a further 9 countries in various stages of preparation, and a potential target group of up to 35 sanitation-needy countries

The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council recognized that the sanitation sector was lagging behind water and that there was a need for a separate fund that focused exclusively on promoting sanitation and hygiene.

 The WSSCC has the strong support of several core bilateral donors most of whom were consulted when the GSF was being conceptualised: Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, UK and Australia. The WSSCC then assembled a strong team of sector experts to roll out the programme. At the country level programmes have been designed by small groups of dedicated sector people who are committed to collaboration in the national interest.

GSF programmes are designed and owned” by a national coordinating mechanism that ensures that the programmes on the ground are compatible with national policies, sustainable and replicable.

The GSF aims to address the needs of the 2,6 billion people without adequate sanitation and with poor hygienic practices. It mobilizes finance for in-country programmes that encourage people to deal with their own sanitation and hygiene needs in a manner that will be replicable by other donors, governments and agencies in order to generate an unstoppable movement to improve sanitation and hygiene for all subsequent generations.

 The GSF supports Sanitation and Hygiene programs that promote sustainable changes of behaviour in relation to sanitation and hygiene practices at scale. All GSF programs must deliver results that contribute towards national and international targets such as the MDGs, and that are in relation to access to and use of improved sanitation and hygiene services.

Programme impacts include improved health, increased dignity, and contributions to economic growth. Key outputs include whole communities and regions adopting a lifestyle free of open defecation, continuous improvement of sanitation facilities by households, and hygienic behaviours practiced by everyone.

Delivering tangible impact is our long term aim and commitment.

Key indicators to be monitored include: Communities declared ODF; People living in ODF environments;  People using improved toilets; and People washing their hands with soap. These will be monitored regularly and especially after three and five years.
A monitoring framework ist established with extenstive baselien surveys. The independent Country Programme Monitor, that has to deliver monthly, quarterly and annual report.

Anyone contemplating the start of a new sanitation and hygiene programme would benefit from observing and learning from GSF country programmes. Our programmes are designed to be replicable until the entire need is met. They are comprehensive and ambitious, and encourage families to deal with their own problems so that they have a sense of achievement, dignity,  and a commitment to sustain the gains they have made.

 GSF-type programmes depend on an inclusive planning process that brings together government and non-government actors in a collaborative manner, in an environment of willingness to seek a common approach and send out unified messages from the highest level on the need to improve sanitation and hygiene.

 As above, a willingness to seek a common approach and multiple champions in government, religious organizations and high profile individuals.

An investment (funds, agencies, people, leaders commitment etc) should be large enough to cover activities in an entire administrative unit, be it municipality, district, province or region.

1.       GSF programmes are expected to be designed in a collaborative manner, in line with national sanitation and hygiene policies and standards, and to complement ongoing sanitation and hygiene efforts.  In doing so the GSF aims to support improved coordination in the sector and reduce the risk of duplication.
2.       The GSF identifies and works with partners at both the national and international levels and at different stages of programme interventions to support the aim of impacting sanitation and hygiene behaviour change at scale.  Where appropriate this will include joint programming, with state and/or non-state actors, to harness additional resources to accelerate the delivery of results. 
3.       The GSF supports sanitation and hygiene interventions that are designed to serve the targeted areas in their totality.  GSF’s support for total sanitation is based on the belief that this will result in improved health benefits and its alignment with our principle of achieving results at scale. 
4.       GSF programmes support software approaches that generate an increased demand for sanitation and stimulate the development of robust supply chains for sanitation and hygiene services.   The GSF recognizes that hardware subsidies for toilet construction exist within the sector but the GSF will only support software activities, and will encourage hardware subsidies promoted by other actors to be minimal, well targeted and outcome based.
5.       The GSF recognizes the achievement of Open Defecation Free status and increased coverage of improved latrines are important steps in the process of changing behaviours.  However the GSF programmes will measure their success on the demonstration of sustainable use of improved latrines and changes in wider hygiene behaviours, such as hand washing at critical times.
6.      The GSF is committed to reach out to the poorest sections of society and socially excluded groups to ensure they benefit from improved sanitation and hygiene services.  Strategies and approaches to address the impact on access and use of sanitation and hygiene service as a result of social exclusion will be critically reviewed when evaluating programme designs.  In the same way programme monitoring systems will need to capture and track disaggregated information to enable analysis of GSF ability to reach socially excluded groups.
7.      GSF’s programmes are expected to contribute to the wider sector’s pool of knowledge on best practice approaches and financing mechanism to achieve sustainable sanitation and hygiene behaviour change at scale.

Several agencies have committed to replicating the GSF-supported approach in target countries. It is still early days to confirm their identities.

Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council www.wsscc.org
Mark Willis, Programme Manager GSF , mark.willis@wsscc.org

Archana Patkar, Programme Manager Networking and Knowledge Management  Archana.patkar@wsscc.org

http://www.wsscc.org/gsf