For which topics should we provide funds?

Q: Which aspects of the global water crisis and which areas of the world are most in need of funding? How does IRC itself prioritise where its resources will be best put to use?
(Researcher of a philanthropic and nonprofit consulting firm, USA)

Answer: At IRC we have published a report in which we analyse 17 existing trends in the water and sanitation sector.

This report was developed as part of a process of strategy development undertaken by IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. It includes the outcome of a process of sector trend analysis, and scenario building that was developed over a period of about a year as part of the development of a new five-year business plan for IRC. It is therefore written from a very particular point of view, namely that of a medium-sized non-governmental resource centre, based in the Netherlands but operating exclusively in the South. The paper tries to look into the future, to understand what currently observable trends in the sector, the wider development world, and the rather specific area of Dutch development strategy may mean.

Fonseca, C. and Moriarty, P. (2006). WASH scenarios for 2015 : a trends analysis paper. Delft, The Netherlands, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.
Download the document: http://www.irc.nl/page/28445.

You could also take a look at WaterAid´s Advocacy issue sheet


DONOR POLICIES

DGIS, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands

* Drinking water and sanitation for 50 million people - Holland Water Aid, March 2006

DfID, UK

* Why we need a global action plan on water and sanitation, published 11 Nov 2006
* Keeping our promises: A second update on DFID’s work in water and sanitation since the Water Action Plan, 2004


OTHER DOCUMENTS

Human Development Report 2006

Water is life and water for livelihoods are the focus of UNDP's 2006 Human Development Report. Across much of the developing world, unclean water is an immeasurably greater threat to human security than violent conflict, according to the Report, entitled Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis.
Read more : http://www.irc.nl/page/31625

CSD 13: Dutch NGOs propose actions on water, sanitation and human settlements

Following a debate on 29 November 2004 in The Hague, The Netherlands, Dutch NGOs formulated concrete actions on water, sanitation and human settlements in preparation for the 13th Session of the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) in April 2005. The NGOs call for inclusion of the human right to water, sanitation and human settlements in national legislation. They also state that water should be recognised as a public trust in national and international law and that it should therefore not be privatised. In addition, absolute priority should be given to improve livelihoods of poor people living in urban slums and rural areas.

The actions proposed covered the following five areas:

* legislation and regulations
* capacity building and education;
* participation;
* financing; and
* coordination and cooperation.

The full text of the Dutch NGO paper is available here: http://www.mondialedo.nl/uploaded_files/NGO%20Paper%20final.doc