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Will Tillett

Aguaconsult Helps Agenda for Change Articulate Its Work on WASH Systems Strengthening



Strengthening WASH systems is a core focus of Agenda for Change, in their efforts to help governments to meet the WASH-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's).


But what does Agenda for Change mean by ‘WASH system’? What examples do they have of efforts to strengthen it? And what have been the experiences of the various Agenda for Change members on progressively applying a systems approach in their programming?


Will Tillett (Aguaconsult) worked together with Susan Davis (Agenda for Change) and Angela Huston (IRC) on a paper which seeks to shed light on these questions, drawing on case studies from Agenda for Change members.


Whilst not seeking to be prescriptive, it is expected that the paper will be useful to organisations, particularly NGOs, who are looking to adopt systems approaches in their work. It starts with laying a conceptual understanding of WASH systems, followed by examples of how to analyse systems, and use this information to define entry points to strengthening systems. Following this, practical examples of systems strengthening are provided, including the eight ‘building blocks’ and experiences of Agenda for Change members in applying systems approaches. The paper includes common challenges that organisations face in making the shift from an infrastructure-focused approach to a systems approach, and some of the solutions they have developed.


The paper was launched in the recent University of Colorado Boulder WASH Symposium (see picture).


You can download the paper here.

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