WIN empowers local communities to create lasting change. We ensure communities have water that lasts for generations by working at the district level, because district governments are responsible for providing and managing water services. Here is our implementing strategy.
Beginning
- WE LISTEN FIRST: We do everything in partnership with local governments and communities, so we start by listening and learning. When we’re invited into an area, we take the time to meet with partners, listen to their ideas, and assess existing resources.
- WE PLAN: We take everything we’ve learned, and alongside local government partners we make a plan that covers every family, clinic, and school. No one gets overlooked or left out.
- WE BUILD: Now comes the part where we and our partners get our hands dirty. We build wells, place pipes, and install taps. We make sure there are facilities to test and treat water. Sometimes we build local institutions that manage water services and operate water systems. Other times we build supply chains so parts for repairs are available locally.
- WE TRAIN: We spend time training local mechanics and government offices to monitor, repair, and manage water systems. Then with our government partners we train community water committees on topics like tariff collection and managing water resources. All of this ensures services are sustainable.
- WE ADVOCATE: Throughout the process, we work hand in hand with local and national governments, advocating for laws and institutions that will manage and protect water services long into the future.
- WE MONITOR: Every year, we monitor water services. This lets us see how close districts are to reaching Everyone Forever, and gives us and local partners the information to make adjustments as necessary.
- WE OBSERVE: Once we know everyone in a district has water services that are sustainable, we consult and provide oversight to district governments for 3 to 5 years to make sure those services remain at high levels.
- WE EXITE: When a district has sustained water services without our direct support, our work there is finished. Confident that local governments and communities can manage water services for the long term, we shift our investment to new areas.
- CAPACITY-BUILDING & TRAINING: WIN ensures that when something breaks, someone has the capacity to fix it. We train our partners and water committees on topics like tariff collection, maintenance, and water resources management.
Planning
Our local partners select water point locations based on a variety of factors like geography, assessment of need, community participation, and long-term sustainability.
- Choosing a Location
Our partners select water point locations based on geography and assessments of need. They also consider the potential for building strong relationships with local stakeholders, risk of overlap with the work of other organizations and availability of spare parts and repair services. Additionally, a community’s willingness to participate is important, since strong programs require buy-in and participation to sustain water points over time.
- Finding the Right Technology
Context drives which water technology is appropriate for an area. Physical factors (such as terrain) play a major part, but so do cultural factors (like a community’s comfort level with the technology design). We also need to make sure that spare parts can be purchased locally
- Selecting a Partner
We select partners based on how well they support our mission to provide sustainable, safe drinking water. We assess the quality of their water, sanitation and hygiene programs, as well as things like water hardware and indicators of sustainability. In order to ensure that funds are used responsibly, we also look at their operational capacity and fiduciary responsibility. Every new or potential partner is subject to this vetting process
Implementation
In addition to the construction process, local partners spend months establishing community buy-in, promoting safe hygiene practices, and building water committee capacity to manage projects.
- Determining Project Costs
There’s more to a project than cement, pipes and pumps. Costs include salaries for engineers, community organizing and training mechanics. Field teams need a home base, so we often help cover partners’ local office expenses and support staff like accountants and managers.
- Establishing Best Practices
There are many ways to deliver water, sanitation and hygiene services in less developed countries in Africa. We work with sector experts to know which approaches are most effective so we can continue to ensure that our programs utilize best practices in the field.
- Following Timelines
It can take weeks to transport materials over rough terrain or lay several kilometers of piping. Our teams spend months establishing community buy-in, promoting safe hygiene practices and building water committee capacity to manage projects. The entire process takes about 1 month.
- Working with Locals
Locals play a major part in keeping water flowing. Our field staff engage with community, district and regional leaders to plan out the projects that we’re going to fund. This strengthens local ownership and can help build local capacity to maintain projects for years to come.
After Implementation
To ensure that water continues to flow for years to come, we empower local leaders, use strong operations and maintenance structures, collect data on specific WASH indicators, and implement innovative sensor technology.
We remain committed to monitoring, evaluation, and maintenance to ensure that these programs operate sustainably for years to come.
- Ensuring Sustainability
Each of our projects has a plan in place so that local stakeholders can make sure that water flows long after installation. We invest in forming strong water committees, partnering with local government, and training mechanics to perform repairs.
- Monitoring & Evaluating
Understanding when projects aren’t functioning helps us learn how to make them more successful. Our Programs team ensures that all of our projects are carefully monitored during and after implementation. We frequently check up on our work in the field and we bring in external evaluators to independently assess projects.
- Proving It
In the end, we map every completed project on our website using Google Maps so supporters can see exactly where we work, the types of projects we fund in each area and the number of people being helped.