Kick-off of the RWSN working group on “Management and support of rural water supplies”

It is our pleasure to announce the kick-off of the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) Working Group on “Management and support of rural water supplies”. This Working Group focusses on management models for rural water supply and on support to service providers to ensure sustainable service provision under different service delivery models. Service delivery models include community management of hand pumps or piped systems, but also private management and public-private partnerships for small-town water supply. Support to service providers under these different models includes monitoring, technical assistance and (re)training. Local government often plays an important role in the provision of this kind of support, but also private sector, civil society and associations of water service providers can play an important role. 

The Working Group brings together individuals and organisations with an interest in learning and sharing on these management models and support mechanisms for providing sustainable water services in rural areas and small towns. Between now and November we intend to kick-off the working group, with as much involvement of RWSN members as possible. To support this we’ll be organising two face-to-face meetings (the first on 29 August in Stockholm – during the water week, the second on 3 October 2012 in the Netherlands). In addition to which, with the support of the secretariat, we’ll be using the RWSN mail list and D-Groups to enable contributions from those of you who are interested but not able to join the physical meetings.

The objectives of this process are:

• To establish a strong Working Group, consisting of individuals and organisations interested in learning and sharing on management and support of rural and small town water supply
• To define clear objectives, governance and management arrangements, and clear mechanisms for communication and cooperation between members of the Working Group
• To define an action plan for the Working Group
• To define an advocacy agenda for the Working Group
• To define funding arrangements and identify potential sources of funding to support the activities of the Working Group.

The meeting in Stockholm will take place on Wednesday 29 August, from 9.00 – 12.30 in room K13 (see flyer for more information). During this half-day meeting we will be sharing recent results and experiences from IRC’s Triple-S project (with a focus on post-construction support and monitoring). This meeting is open to all registered participants of the Stockholm Water Week. For more information, please contact Julia Boulenouar (J.Boulenouar@aguaconsult.co.uk).

The October meeting in the Netherlands will take place in The Hague on 2 and 3 October 2012 and will be hosted by IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. The meeting will be a 1.5-day thematic discussion on “Management and support to piped systems in rural areas and small towns”. For more information, please contact Marieke Adank (adank@irc.nl).

Sponsorship for attending these meetings is limited and reserved for invited presenters.