On Monday 26 August 2019, the Agenda for Change collaboration hosted its fifth annual breakfast to kick off Stockholm World Water Week. Susan Davis, the Global Coordinator, welcomed the 100 attendees. She explained that Agenda for Change members are strengthening WASH systems in more than 20 countries (see map) and highlighted accomplishments from recent years, including a learning event in Costa Rica and a Technical Assistance Facility funded by the Vitol Foundation. The latter is an experiment in how Agenda for Change members can provide support to other organizations on various aspects of systems strengthening.
Countries where Agenda for Change members are working on systems strengthening
Eleanor Allen, CEO of Water For People, one of the founding members of the Agenda for Change collaboration, introduced the panel of presenters:
- Reaching Everyone Forever in San Pedro, Bolivia, presented by Kimberly Slinde Lemme, Director of Program Learning and Influence at Water For People. By 2014, everyone in San Pedro had at least basic access to water, and in 2018 they still do, with the proportion of high service increasing. Water For People continues to track service levels, but has plans to exit once sustainable service delivery is established (see figure below).
- Mobilizing government in and around Kampala, Uganda, presented by Ceaser Kimbugwe, Sustainability WASH Project Manager with WaterAid Uganda. One key activity was to set up a forum for the mayors of towns around Kampala to help them engage with their citizens and to agree on a Sanitation Ordinance, which was passed in March 2019.
- Sector planning using life-cycle costing in Madagascar, presented by Kelly Alexander, Senior Learning and Influence Advisor for Water plus at CARE USA. Through the Rural Access to New Opportunities for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (RANO WASH) program, CARE, WaterAid, and other partners ensured that the updated sector plan was informed by data and the involvement of WASH actors at regional and national levels, including Private sector and civil society organizations.
- Financing sanitation businesses in Nicaragua, presented by Mauricio Villagra, Senior Program Manager, Water For People Nicaragua. Water For People, WaterAid, and other partners employed a market-based approach to sanitation in rural communities, small towns, and urban areas. Forever means something can be sustained without NGO involvement: as scale increases, NGO investment falls off.
The combined presentation slides can be found here.