Universal access to water and sanitation is a fundamental human right recognised by the United Nations. Despite this, nearly a billion people worldwide lack access to these provisions. At ISF we have been addressing this issue for more than two decades through applied research in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). One longterm research initiative, Enterprise in WASH, concluded in June 2018.
Enterprise in WASH looked at the emerging role of private enterprise in the provision of water and sanitation services to the poor. The original scope of the research, from 2012 to 2016, focused on the role of private and social enterprises in Indonesia, Vietnam and Timor-Leste, understanding the influences on private sector roles and the motivators, drivers and barriers for enterprises. A key question behind ISF’s research was if and how these enterprises were serving the poor.
The second phase, 2016-2018, focused on key research gaps identified during the first phase. This involved a focus on issues of gender and entrepreneurship, associations and other business support mechanisms, life cycle costs for private water enterprises, and entrepreneurship models supporting rural water sustainability.
The initiative resulted in significant impact in the countries in which ISF worked, shaping policy, building capacity, filling gaps in knowledge and contributing to improved evidence and practice.
ISF Research Director Professor Juliet Willetts says one of the key successes of the research was robust evidence on how the poor may be systematically excluded.
Our research showed, for both water services and for sanitation, that whilst private enterprises play a critical role, strengthened regulation and complementary measures are needed to ensure that the poor are not excluded.
Outputs have been widely accessed and used by target audiences with more than 19,000 unique visitors to the project website. Below are just a few examples of impact achieved through engagement with government, CSOs, university partners and other WASH stakeholders.
- Plan Indonesia adjusted their approach to sanitation marketing in Eastern Indonesia as a direct result of research findings, using a new strategy to target private sector government agencies and increasing their focus on gender inclusivity in their enterprise work.
- The Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Vietnam instructed more than 300 representatives from Provincial Governments to implement the recommendations of our research to support more equitable rural water services.
- SNV Vietnam directly used research findings (that remote communities are expensive to reach and need for alternative approaches to reach these populations) in their subsequent large-scale work with The World Bank across 9 provinces in Vietnam.
Enterprise in WASH was funded through the Australian Government’s Australian Development Research Awards Scheme (ADRAS). Collaborators were local universities in Vietnam, Indonesia and Timor-Leste, and Plan International, Thrive Networks, SNV, WaterAid and the Overseas Development Institute. It resulted in more than 15 peer-reviewed publications, 17 research reports, five policy briefs, six guidance briefs, five in-country national government stakeholder workshops, 16 international conference presentations, three webinars and six training workshops.
Water for Women funding
2018 was a pivotal year for the International Development team at ISF, who have now won four WASH Research Awards, part of the Government’s Water for Women Fund. Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Water for Women Fund aims to support improved health, equality and wellbeing in Asian and Pacific Communities through socially inclusive and WASH projects.
More than $110 million is being invested over four years to deliver 19 implementation projects in 16 countries, as well as 10 research projects with ISF leading four of the latter.
Read more about each project at waterforwomen.uts.edu.au
