program excellence council (17 feb 2014)

Program Excellence: 2013-2014 Jonathan Wiles // VP for Program Excellence

Council Meeting // 17 February 2014

Monday, February 17, 14

Living Water International Position Paper // Cultivating Sustainability

Cultivating Sustainability: An Organizational Approach

1. Background

We define sustainable WASH as a state in which water supply and sanitation services—along with good

hygiene practices—continue and deliver benefits indefinitely. Since sustainability has no time limit, it is

not a goal that can be “achieved” at any given point, but is a situation that can be cultivated and

strengthened in various ways.

We are beginning to measure WASH services in our WASH Program Areas, through baseline surveys,

monitoring, and evaluation; we will continue to grow in this area. However, in other (non-WPA) projects,

our immediate focus is on building system sustainability—empowering communities to keep boreholes,

latrines, and other systems working for their designed life-cycle. From now through 2015, we will be

working to align our language, understanding, standards, program design tools, and monitoring systems

with the framework described below.

2. Living Water’s Sustainability Framework

2.1 Conditions for Sustainability

We believe that water and sanitation systems are more likely to continue and deliver benefits over time if

the following steps are taken in each program and project.

• Integrate with national plans and policies: Working in isolation from WASH plans and policies

within each country often result in duplication of efforts and failure to meet local standards.

• Assess and account for demand: Users must perceive that new systems are needed and be

willing to invest personally in care and maintenance of those systems.

• Collaborate with local stakeholders: Taking community participation seriously (i.e. through

participatory appraisals and planning) and implementing it effectively provides a solid foundation

for long-term sustainability.

• Implement with quality: Poor construction quality can undermine all efforts to keep systems

working, while high quality construction may lead to a very considerable service life, even if

there are other weaknesses in the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) system.

Environmental Factors

Even if a water supply system is functioning and used, if the water resources on which it depends are

deteriorating in either quantity or quality relative to need, then the system is under threat. There are many

environmental threats that affect the ongoing operation of water systems and the quantity and quality of

Community Management

Technical Support

Supply Chain

Management Support

Principles of WASH Program Areas

Water Access H&S Promotion Christian Witness Sustainability

1.Target a standard level of water service

1.Target standard levels of hygiene and sanitation service

1.Partner with the local church

1.Integrate with national plans and policies

2.Identify and mitigate threats

2.Cultivate an enabling environment in every community

2.Collaborate with mission-aligned organizations

2.Collaborate with local stakeholders

3.Coordinate with water resource planning efforts

3.Develop a program-specific behavior-change approach

3.Cultivate fruitful practices for proclamation

3.Facilitate healthy community management

4.Develop appropriate solutions

4.Address the full sanitation lifecycle

4.Use appropriate financial models

5.Ensure water safety 5.Ensure sufficient and permanent external support

ChurchMobilization

Discussion

ResourcesSustainability Position Paper: livingwater.box.com/SustainabilityPPWASH Program Area Guidelines: livingwater.box.com/WPAguidelinesMinimum Standards 2.0 livingwater.box.com/ms2Church Mobilization Strategy livingwater.box.com/ChurchMobilizationStrat

program excellence council (17 feb 2014)

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