Programmes and activities

Selection of programmes and activities of IRC and partners in South Asia.

QIS workshop in Nepalgunj, Nepal

IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC) and Nepal Water for Health (NEWAH) held a QIS (Quantitative Information System) workshop in Nepalgunj, Mid Western Region, Nepal from 17 to 22 June 2008.

Using theatre to promote men’s hygiene in Nepal

Local health workers in Nepal are performing in village plays to promote men’s hygiene.

It’s an innovative way of getting the hygiene message across to the target audience – men. Targeting men is not easy because, in many districts, men go to India for six months at a time for work.

QIS workshop in Bhopal, India

WaterAid India (WAI) and IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC), held a QIS (Qualitative Information System) workshop in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India from 3 to 7 September 2007. Based on the resulting data and findings, WaterAid India decided to use QIS for participatory monitoring and evaluation of their future projects.

Photo story: Promoting sanitation with women and men, girls and boys in Banjarmasin, Indonesia

As part of her advisory work for the Indonesian Sanitation Sector Development Programme (ISSDP) in 14 towns of Indonesia IRC’s Christine Sijbesma is assisting the programme on gender and participation. In April 2009 she and the local team faciltated a rapid and participatory assessment in two high-priority communities in Banjarmasin on sanitation needs by women and men. These assessments allow women and usually “forgotten” men to formulate demands for sanitation improvements. It gives pointers on their willingness and capacity to contribute in better-off, worse-off and in-between groups. It also provides insights in the degree of organization and influence of women and men and local cadres. The resulting scores give a ranking of the high-priority communities in terms of conditions, demand and organizational capacity, which helps high risk communities and the city sanitation working group to select the first community/ies for rapid action and a more likely quick success.

Increased interest in Multiple Use Services in Nepal

Read about a brief meeting of organisations in Nepal from both the WASH and the Irrigation sector about sharing experiences with MUS (Multiple Use Services) in Nepal.

Training on participatory approaches, Bhutan

In October and November 2007, IRC trained 20 engineers from the Public Health Engineering Division in Bhutan with the aim to contribute to the capacity development of the intermediate level in the country. It consisted of participatory methodologies in rural water supply and sanitation; an exposure visit to Nepal; and building blocks for Trainer of Trainers.

AP, India Water Governance Framework & Tools Project

The attached note is the extended summary with the main findings and recommendations of a one-year project that investigated practical means of improving water governance in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. This project, which was supported by DFID, was undertaken by IIT (Delhi) and IRC working in partnership with AP's Department of Rural Development. The five components of the project are: