Systems Change

A variation – positive or negative – in the strength of factors (i.e., technology, financing, regulation, coordination, service delivery, learning, accountability mechanisms, etc.) and actors (i.e. the capacity of institutions, organizations and individuals) that make up a system. System change also reflects variations in the dynamics and inter – relationships among actors (i.e. improved access to information or participation in decision – making). There has been significant progress in our collective ability to measure systems change in the WASH sector in terms of factors and actors (“the what”), but much less progress in assessing changes in the dynamics among actors (“the how”). Systems strengthening is a deliberate effort to effect systems change, but systems change is a result of both intended and unintended changes within the WASH sector and the broader political economy.