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Reviews and resources
01.06.2007
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A global assessment of budgeting and financing for WASH in schools
01.10.2020
The aim of this review is to assess the literature (published and grey) on capital and recurrent costs of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in Schools (WinS) facilities and services. The review presents life-cycle costs (e.g. consumables, repair, support, and maintenance) of WinS services and assesses the practical costing exercises and tools currently available for WinS. Furthermore, this review characterizes the typical costs and financial sources for WASH services in (primary) schools and explores the different financial mechanisms available to meet school-level WASH financing gaps. -
Editorial: In honour of Alan Gibson
01.12.2019
I first met Alan Gibson on 24 September 2007 in Chiang Mai, Thailand at a seminar on developing service markets and value chains. Alan sat beside me in the morning plenary and introduced himself. Later that day, he invited me to join a group heading out for dinner. I was new to the field of service markets and value chains – I had come from the microfinance world and was looking for a change. I cannot imagine a better person than Alan to introduce me to the new world of market development; I was fascinated by what he had to say. We ended up talking until the wee hours that night, not noticing as everyone around us made their way back to the hotel. -
Water safety plans, water quality surveillance and investment planning in Kyrgyzstan
01.07.2011
Water safety plans have been used in Kyrgyzstan to achieve safer water quality through their role in improving community management of water supply systems, delivering more effective government water quality surveillance and informing a water supply and sanitation investment planning process. This paper reflects on two different projects that were implemented in Kyrgyzstan and considers how the two could be combined to use water safety plans in an important new way - safe water investment planning. It is based upon Atkins' work for DFID, from 2002-2006, and for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2008 and 2009. -
The use of greywater for irrigation of home gardens in the Middle East: Technical, social and policy issues
01.04.2010
The use of untreated household greywater for home garden irrigation is an increasingly common phenomenon in the water-stressed Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particularly among the poor. Most decentralized systems to date have proven to be relatively costly with doubts over their long-term financial viability. This paper describes some decentralized approaches to treating greywater and reducing health risk. It examines financial and social obstacles to wider greywater system uptake, and policy and regulatory incentives that are needed to allow water-stressed communities to use their greywater legally and with controlled risks. Comments are also included on the implications of the 2006 WHO guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater. Policy makers also need to commit to either encouraging or discouraging greywater use as part of water resource optimization and demand management measures. -
Reviews and Resources
01.01.2009
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Community-based financial services: a spectrum of providers
01.06.2013
In recent years, stakeholders have increasingly acknowledged that formal financial institutions are not always able to address the financial service needs of the very poor, particularly those living in remote areas. Small transaction sizes, sparse populations, and poor infrastructure limit the ability of commercial banks and others to reach rural areas where many of the world's poorest and most marginalized populations live. This paper explores the experience in Tajikistan, where a number of different types of financial service providers and civil society organizations play an important role in meeting a variety of financial service needs and market segments. It proposes that in order to increase financial inclusion, community-based providers and collective organizations are necessary to overcome high costs and cumbersome procedures required by regulated providers and thereby contribute to the development of the financial system. -
Editorial
01.06.2011
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Vodacom's community services phone shops
01.12.2004
The South African cellular phone company Vodacom has developed entrepreneur-owned and run phone shops, run under a franchise agreement and operating out of converted shipping containers. These provide public telephone services in townships and other disadvantaged communities at government-mandated prices well below commercial rates. This article describes how Vodacom's Community Services was started ten years ago, how the prices and costs are structured for the phone shop owners, how the service has been altered over the years, and what are the current challenges. There are now 4400 shops run by 1800 entrepreneurs and providing telephone services in areas where people would otherwise be unable to afford them.