1.
Our Work in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
Water, Sanitation and
Hygiene
HELVETAS Swiss
Intercooperation
Agnes Montangero
Director Water &
Infrastructure

2.
Who We Are
•Founded in 1955 in Zurich: first private
Swiss development NGO
•2011 merger with Intercooperation
•$136M annual budget
•Politically and denominationally neutral
•Over 100,000 members and Swiss donors
•1,200 staff (17% Swiss & international
experts)
•US presence since 2012
•Fiscal sponsorship
•NICRA, Registered with USAID
• Long country presence (12+ years)
• Build the capacity of local partners
• Multi stakeholder approach
• Cross-cutting themes: gender equality
and social justice
• Strong monitoring and evaluation: 11
impact assessments from 2009-2011
• Low overhead: 10-15%
• Focus on rural and peri-urban areas
• South-south collaboration
• Implementation - Advisory Services -
Advocacy

3.
Our Programs
Rural Economy Environment &
Climate Change
Water &
Infrastructure
Skills
Development and
Education
Governance and
Peace
• Sustainabl
e
agriculture
systems
• Agriculture
extension
• Organic
farming &
fairtrade
• Value
chains
• Citizen
engagement &
participation
• Political
accountability
• Civil peace
building &
conflict
sensitivity
• Artistic
expressions for
an open society
• South-south
labour
migration
• Climate
protection and
conservation
of resources
(land, water,
forests).
• Risk reduction
and adaption
• Safe
drinking
water &
sanitation
• Irrigation &
efficient use
of water
• Bridges,
roads &
trails for
access to
ideas,
services
and
markets
• Private-sector
& labor
market
oriented
training
• Linkages:
basic
education &
youth skills
development
• Mobile
trainings
• Life skills
• Tracer study
toolkit
Cross-cutting themes: Gender &
social equity, capacity
development, learning & innovation

4.
Where We Work
32 partner
countries
CRITERIA
•High level of
poverty
•High potential for
impact
•Government
collaboration
•Relevance of our
programs
•Civil society or
government as
partners to
collaborate
•Donor interest

5.
Past & Current U.S. Partners
• IDB
• US State Department
• USDA
• World Bank & World Bank Institute
• USAID
• CARE
• Chemonics
• Mercy Corps
• RTI
• Winrock
• United Nations
• UNCTAD
• UNDP
• UN Forum on Forests
• UNICEF
• UNIDO
Foundations
•Blue Moon Foundation (renewable energy)
•Ellysium Foundation (Bhutan)
•Ford Foundation (CATIE)
•Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (water study)
•McKnight Foundation (rural economy)
•Open Society Foundations (governance)
NGOs
•Bridges to Prosperity (trail bridges)
•KickStart International (water pumps)
•Rights & Resources Institute (forests/rights)
•Partnership for Transparency Fund
•The Nature Conservancy (forests)
•Women World Banking
•Wildlife Conservation Society
•World Resources Institute

6.
International Associations
Rural Economy
•Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
•DCED
•ICAC
•IFOAM
•FLO (Fairtrade Label Organisation)
•ISEAL
•Textile Exchange
Education
•Centre International d’Etudes Agricoles
Microfinance
•CGAP
•Social Performance Task Force
•Women World Banking
Democracy & Peace
•CIVICUS (World Alliance for Citizen Participation)
•INTRAC (International NGO Training and
Research Centre)
Water
•End Water Poverty (UK): Member Executive
Committee
•Global Water Challenge
•World Water Council (France
•Water Integrity Network
•Rural Water Supply Network
•WHO – International Network on Household
Water Treatment and Safe Storage
Roads & Bridges
•International Forum for Rural Transport and
Development
Climate Change & Adaptation
•Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change
(IPCC) (HSI = lead author)
•International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)
•Global Environment Facility (GEF)
•Rights and Resources Initiative
6

7.
Financial
Funds by Program Area %
Rural Economy 35
Water & Infrastructure 27
Skills Development & Education 16
Governance & Peace 15
Environment & Climate 7
Total 100
Use of Funds %
Asia 32.3
Africa 18.7
Latin America 16.9
Eastern Europe, Caucasus &
Central Asia
9
Program coordination & support 2.4
Advisory Services 5.1
Swiss programs 3.8
Fair Trade 3.2
Head office 4
Fundraising 4.6
Total 100
Income: Sources %
Swiss Development Corporation 61.0
Private 19.9
Other Official Development Aid 11.0
Advisory Services 4.8
Other 3.3
Total 100

8.
Table of Contents
1. About us
2. HELVETAS’ WASH sector: an overview
 In which countries do we work?
 What are our key activities?
 The WASH team
 Partners and networks
3. Strategic orientation
 A few lessons learnt
 What is our strategic framework?
 Safe Water
 Sanitation
4. Selected key projects

9.
2. HELVETAS WASH Sector: An Overview
Kyrgyzstan
Vietnam
Laos
Nepal
Pakistan
Afghanistan
Mali
Niger
BeninBurkina Faso Ethiopia
Tanzania
Mosambique
HaïtiGuatemala
Nicaragua
Bolivia
Togo
Senegal
Bhutan
Working area/field # projects Budget 2012 (CHF)
26 13 Mio
3 3 Mio
5 2.5 Mio
11 10 Mio
6 2.5 Mio
WASHWASH
Water for FoodWater for Food
Madagascar
Bangladesh
Honduras
Governance & PeaceGovernance & Peace
Agriculture & MarketAgriculture & Market
Environment &
Climate
Environment &
Climate
Water-related
projects in
other sectors
 Safe water (household water
treatment, safe storage, hygiene)
 Sanitation
 Drinking water supply
 Water for food
 Integrated Water Resource
Management

10.
2. HELVETAS WASH Sector: An Overview
• International: e.g. steering committee EWP (SWA)
• Advocacy in Switzerland
• Policy development in the countries
Internal & External
• Project support (planning, evaluation, technical assistance)
• Research & development
• Documentation, publications
• Impact assessment
• Tool development
• Training, Knowledge sharing
• Development of partnerships
• Development of networks and platforms

11.
Short CV Agnes
Experience
Key competencies
 sustainability assessment
 management models of water and sanitation
 strategic sanitation planning
 decentralized sewage treatment
 institution and capacity building
 advocacy and policy development
Countries of experience
 Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast
 Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, India, Nepal
 Haiti, Argentina
 Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova
Since 2010 HELVETAS Swiss
Intercooperation
Director Water &
Infrastructure
2007-2010 Skat Consulting Water & Sanitation Specialist
2003-2007 Eawag/Sandec Programme Officer
Sanitation / PhD student
1998-2003 Eawag/Sandec Project Officer Sanitation
A life without
toilet?
Unthinkable.
Sanitation is
a human
right!

12.
3. Strategic orientation
A few lessons learnt
 Investing in empowerment, involving local population including disadvantaged
groups in the planning process increases the level of functionality of water supply
schemes (functionality study, Nepal, 2011)
 Putting emphasis on understanding the determinants of behavior change helps
design more effective behavior change interventions (e.g. use of Eawag RANAS
behavior change model)
 Behavior change interventions are key in increasing the impact on health of
water projects (hygiene, sanitation, safe storage, household water treatment)
 Rural sanitation: scaling up is a challenge, rather work at scale from the
beginning (piloting at scale approaches)
 Improving sanitation in small towns requires specific approaches, which may be
different from the ones applied in rural or densely populated urban areas)
 Water is a good entry point to improve local governance structures
 Creating income generating activities (e.g. through multi-use systems providing
drinking and irrigation water) helps communities invest in maintaining and
improving/extending their water supply systems

13.
3. Strategic orientation
 Safe water (household water
treatment, safe storage, hygiene)
 Sanitation
 Drinking water supply
 Water for food
 IWRM

14.
3. Strategic orientation
Water supply Sanitation
Safe Water
Treatment Safe
Storage
Hygiene
Safe Water
 Household water treatment (SODIS, filtration,
chlorination, boiling)
 Safe Storage (during transport and at home)
 Hygiene Education (personal, household and
environment)
Objectives
 Increase the health impact of WASH projects
through integration of the Safe Water approach
 Promote solutions for unserved households (pro-
poor/innovative approaches)
Working principles
 National partner to facilitate scaling up (Ministry
of Health)
 Private sector/supply chains (products and
services to reach the poorest, financing
mechanisms)
 Facilitate behaviour change
 Partnership with Eawag (SODIS)

15.
3. Strategic orientation
Sanitation
 Focus on rural areas and small towns
Key principles
 Creating demand (programmatic approaches such as CLTS)
 Developing a dynamic private sector (producing affordable latrines,
sanimarts, business skills, competition)
 Appropriate policies
 Financing mechanisms (ODF incentives, cross-subsidies, etc.)
Challenges
 Scaling up rural sanitation
 CLTS in schools (as part of a broader approach; linking with a
community component for more effective taking up)
 Post-ODF monitoring and interventions (climbing up the ladder, SWM,
etc.)
 Sanitation in small towns

16.
4. Selected key projects
Kyrgyzstan
Vietnam
Laos
Nepal
Pakistan
Afghanistan
Mali
Niger
BeninBurkina Faso Ethiopia
Tanzania
Mosambique
HaïtiGuatemala
Nicaragua
Bolivia
Togo
Senegal
Bhutan
Madagascar
Bangladesh
Honduras
Water & sanitation
in fragile states
Clean water and
healthy schools
Rainwater
harvesting
Enhancing
participation
Water for healthy
schools
Blue schools
Improving rural
sanitation
Supporting sanitation
entrepreneurs
Equitable use of
water resources
Improving
transparency
Improving
rural sanitation
More crops
per drop More crops
per drop
Safe Water

17.
Water and sanitation in fragile states
Improving access to water supply and
sanitation in fragile states – the case of
Haiti
 Improved access to water supply and sanitation
 Building capacity of the local actors (communities,
water committees, local authorities, private sector,
decentralized services)
 Improved sector policy

18.
Clean water and healthy schools in Guatemala
Building capacity to better plan and implement water projects and intro
“
 Construction of water supply systems,
drainage and waste disposal
infrastructure, as well as latrines, with
the active participation of local people
 Capacity building at municipalities and
village level officers and water
committees for operating and
maintaining the infrastructure.
 Women’s participation in decision-
making is explicitly encouraged
 Healthy schools

19.
Rainwater harvesting in Ethiopia
Rural Roof Water Harvesting
Initiative
 Tigray region in Northern-Ethiopia
characterized by water shortage
 Design and test low-cost roof water
harvesting systems (ferro-cement
cistern with a storage volume of 7.2
m3)
 Improving domestic hygiene, skills
development and job creation
 Blue schools

20.
Enhancing participation
Enhancing political
participation and improving
service provision in
Mozambique
 The project focuses on enhancing
political participation through capacity
building of civil society organizations
in development planning and linking
up to district governmental tiers
(demand side).
 It facilitates improved public service
provision through technical assistance
and the provision of sector funding at
district level for projects in the area of
water & sanitation (supply side).
 The project contributes to minimizing
conflicts (humans and wildlife) and
reduces water-borne diseases such as
diarrhea and cholera.

21.
Water for healthy schools and safe births
Transforming wells to improve
water quality in schools and
health centers (Bénin)
 Cleaning, consolidating and closing
existing large shallow open wells
 Installing small-piped network to
school or health centre
 Handpump for community
 Accompanying measures such as
hygiene promotion, handwashing with
soap, chlorination (WATA) in health
centres
Cleaning and closing existing wells is
a cost-effective measure to improve
water quality.
Winner 2006 Development Marketplace

22.
Blue schools
Blue schools in Bénin
 Sustainable access to safe drinking
water,
 Sustainable access to sanitation and
hygiene,
 A school garden as practical place to
show relationships between food
production and an efficient
management of water,
 A demonstrative place for watershed
and land management practices,
wherever it is suitable (depending on
the surrounding of the schools).
 Benin: lessons learnt on management
(pupils, teachers, parents committee),
protection of vegetable gardens and
reforestation
 Ongoing projects in Bénin, Ethiopia
and Nicaragua

23.
Improving rural sanitation in Burkina Faso
SaniFaso (Burkina Faso)
 Establishing and training water and sanitation
commissions in 3 communes (Manni, Thion et
Bogandé)
 Training 64 village development committees
 Identification of more than 1500 beneficiaries
 Supply of sanitation products by local private
sector
 Supporting the development of communal
development plan (water and sanitation) in Thion
 Training 30 health agents and 234 community
mobilizers to work in 117 villages
 More than 600 latrines implemented
 SaniFaso at AfricaSan - YouTube

24.
Supporting small sanitation entrepreneurs
Said – the latrine man (Mali)
 Support to latrine emptying
entrepreneur (Bougouni, Mali)
 Said the latrine man - YouTube

25.
Equitable use of water resources
Water Use Master Plan (WUMP)
An approach to participatory and
inclusive planning for integrated water
resources management (Nepal)
 Identification of available water
resources
 Identification of water needs
 Prioritization of water-related
infrastructure
 Inclusion and empowerment of
disadvantaged groups in the planning
process
Planning/prioritizing the use of
available water resources (drinking
water, irrigation, water for nature and
other uses) as a basis for sound
investments, conflict prevention and
empowerment.2012 World Water Forum Solution

26.
Ensuring transparency
Public audit practice (Nepal)
 Public audit practice consists of three
events (Public Hearing, Review, Audit)
 Contributes to enhance participation of
poor and excluded communities in
planning, implementation and
monitoring.
“Public audits are very important to
ensure transparency. Through these
events, the public is aware of the costs
of the project. Furthermore, Public
Audit Practice prevents any misuse of
the funds, as people can control the
fund flows. So it strengthens the
relationship and trust between the
Water and Sanitation User Committee
and the users.”
ALINe Farmers Voice Award 2010

27.
How latrines became a status symbol
Promoting the development of
ODF communities in Nepal
 Training of latrine builders (including
people from disadvantaged social
groups)
 Villages where at least 50% of
households already have a latrine can
apply for other small projects for farm
irrigation, drinking water supply or
catchment protection.
 The programme supported three VDCs
to declare ODF in the first half of 2012
„We’ve long wanted a latrine.
It’s not good to go in the jungle.
It’s difficult because of the
snakes. And as a woman I’m
scared when I have to go out in
the open to relieve myself. I
finally had enough money for
the low cost latrine.“

28.
Efficient small-scale irrigation systems
Prospects towards prosperity
with farmer managed irrigation
systems in Nepal
 Construction and rehabilitation of
farmer managed irrigation schemes
 Increased annual income of approx. $
500 per hectare.
 By the end of December 2011, a total of
230 Farmer Managed Irrigation
Systems have been completed,
irrigating 1,800 hectares and benefiting
11,500 households of which 60%
belong to disadvantaged groups.
Factsheet
Food Security: Every Drop counts

29.
Safe Water
Using sunlight to purify water
in Vietnam
 HELVETAS has introduced the SODIS
water disinfection method in Vietnam
 A simple and scientifically proven
technique for disinfecting drinking
water at home
 Contaminated water is put in
transparent PET or glass bottles,
which are then left in the sun for at
least six hours. During this time, UV
radiation from the sun kills the germs
in the water
 HELVETAS offers training and
assistance to local people to raise
awareness about this simple and
efficient method

30.
Efficient small-scale irrigation systems
Saving water through drip
irrigation in Kyrgizstan
 HELVETAS strengthens and trains
local organizations, cooperatives and
private companies involved in
agricultural extension
 Men and women farmers learn on
demonstration plots how to use short
furrows to spread water more equally
and thus save water; or how they can
distribute a defined quantity of water
directly to the plant by means of a
perforated plastic tube.
 Thanks to this simple drip irrigation
method, farmers use two to three times
less water, but harvest up to three
times more crops. This is very
important in a region where vegetables
are scarce.

31.
Swiss Water & Sanitation NGO Consortium
Swiss NGOs join hands to
contribute to solving the water
and sanitation crisis
 Drinking water supply, sanitation,
hygiene and small-scale irrigation
 16 million CHF (2011-2013)
 27 projects in 16 countries
 3 regional hubs: technical assistance
and knowledge sharing
 Pooling resources and know how,
stronger voice

32.
Swiss Water Partnership
A new platform of Swiss water
organisations from academia,
civil society, public and private
sector
The Swiss Water Partnership intends to:
 Exchange information and promote
networking between its members
 Advance the discussion of important
international water policy issues
 Draw together the substantial and
diverse range of Swiss experience and
knowledge in water issues into a single
voice
 Promote the Swiss water perspective
and expertise in international
conferences and networks

33.
Thank you!