Resources on Supply Chains for Water & Sanitation
Updated April 4, 2016 Water points in developing countries fail and fall into disuse at high rates, in part due to the unavailability of spare parts. We compiled some resources on supply chains for spare parts for water and sanitation systems in developing countries. They are sorted by type of resource: case study, guidance, lessons learned, program... Read More
What WASH can learn from the Game of Thrones
By Susan Davis, Executive Director [This blog is based on a talk Susan gave at FailFest DC on December 10, 2015. If you haven’t seen “Game of Thrones”, check out this summary. If you have seen it, but haven’t caught up on all the episodes, warning: there might be spoilers. ] I like this show... Read More
2015 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 24,000 times in 2015. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 9 sold-out performances for that many... Read More
Resources on Microfinance for Water & Sanitation
By Susan Davis, Executive Director You might have heard about the wonders of microfinance for helping poor people start or expand small business. Many think microfinance means simply small loans but it more broadly describes financial services to people who have low incomes or do not have access to typical banking services. In recent years,... Read More
Report: Pilot Study on Donor Restrictions & WASH Sustainability
By Susan Davis, Executive Director The Pilot Study on Donor Restrictions & WASH Sustainability report compiles the results of the pilot survey that we distributed a few months ago. This pilot study represents the first step that we know of to determine the impact of the WASH Sustainability Charter and funding mechanisms on sustainability. Analysis... Read More
UNC Water and Health Conference Event: Resources to Keep the Water Flowing
By Susan Davis, Executive Director with research support from Lydia Prokosch At the UNC Water and Health conference last week, Improve International hosted an event called Keep the Water Flowing. We highlighted the various types of post-construction support, results and costs. Below are links to the presentations: Susan Davis, Improve International, Improve International Keep the... Read More
Lessons Not Learned in International Development
Susan Davis wrote this guest blog on ICTWorks based on her lightning talk at MERLTech: The world has made several commitments to water and sanitation, starting as far back as the 1970s, and leading up to the recent Sustainable Development Goals. Also over the past few decades, the development of the internet and cool data... Read More
Guest Blog: Playing With Failure
Guest Blog by Muthi Nhlema, Communications and Monitoring Specialist, Water For People Malawi From Susan Davis, Executive Director, Improve International: I was working at Water For People in 2009 when the Case Foundation approached us about handing over their PlayPump inventory and funds. When I left in 2011, none of the pumps had been installed by... Read More
The Sustainable Development Goals are here, and “business as usual” won’t work!
By Susan Davis, Executive Director The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were approved by the UN last week. A tweet last week about the SDGs caught my eye: “Business as usual does not work. We need to move beyond the traditional mode of development, says @IrinaBokova. ##ICSD2015 #SDGs” I totally agree with this, and that’s part... Read More
SuSanA Talk: Failing forward and future proofing. What we can learn from sanitation failures
By Susan Davis, Executive Director This blog is based on a talk I gave at the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance Meeting August 22, 2015 in Stockholm (if you prefer to watch the video – about 15 minutes – click here) Every day, several times a day, I use a toilet. I flush and forget. I don’t... Read More
Closing the loop on customer feedback
Treating people as customers could improve water and sanitation services
Failure data: an acquired taste
By Susan Davis, Executive Director When I first posted on the Improve International website a list of water and sanitation failure statistics, a few people asked, “Aren’t you worried that talking about failures will make people not want to give money for water and sanitation?” I responded that I hoped the information about failure would... Read More
Engineering for Change Article: Beyond the Band-Aid: Building Sustainability into Emergency Response Efforts
By Susan Davis, Contributing Editor Earthquakes. Hurricanes. Tsunamis. Floods. Landslides. These kinds of disasters hit developing countries hardest and the people affected often lose everything. That includes their homes, water sources, water containers, and toilets. When effectively implemented, water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions can prevent or lessen the impact of disease outbreaks. However, several post-emergency... Read More
You are invited: survey on US WASH Donor Effectiveness
Improve International is conducting a survey about US WASH Donor Effectiveness. We are looking for opinions from representatives of organizations that implement water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions in developing countries AND have solicited or received funds from a US donor in the past 5 years. Your input would be appreciated (and can be anonymous... Read More
WEDC Conference Presentation: Future Proofing Rural Water Systems
By Susan Davis, Executive Director I gave this talk today at the Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC) International Conference: Good afternoon, I’m Susan Davis from Improve International and I like water. My water comes to my house every day, all day, and I know it won’t make me sick. Unfortunately, millions of people who... Read More
Engineering for Change article: How to improve the adoption of innovative technology in developing countries
Below is an excerpt from an article Susan wrote for Engineering for Change last week. By Susan Davis Contributing Editor Focusing on technology or infrastructure alone as a solution to water access issues has contributed to high failure rates. There is, however, a good way to use technology. Tools exist that can help evaluate a... Read More
Improve international turns four today
By Susan Davis, Executive Director It’s hard to believe we were officially formed four years ago today. Let’s raise a glass of clean water (or coffee or wine or beer if you prefer) in a toast. So what are we happy about right now? One big thing is that representatives of two major donors referenced... Read More
Global Framework for Sharing Water Point Data Launched with Largest Ever Public Data Set
Note: Susan Davis is here in DC for the launch of the Water Data Point Exchange, a New Approach to Sharing Water Data Promises Improved Water Access around the World. Here’s the press release. WASHINGTON | May 14, 2015 – Around the world, one in nine people lack access to safe water. While progress is... Read More