Monitoring for Learning and developing Capacities in WASH

Monitoring for Learning and developing Capacities in WASH IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre 31 May 2013 1

Session outline • • • Welcome and introductions Monitoring for learning for improved Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH): Key note How does sector monitoring contribute to learning and capacity development: Experience in Uganda and Honduras Buzz and Plenary discussion Closing 2

Monitoring for Learning and developing Capacities in WASH Key Note Carmen da Silva Wells IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre 3

Key topics for this session Capacity in the WASH sector Monitoring Learning 4

Why focus on these topics? Huge challenges of WASH service provision Need to learn, in order to do better Scale up good practices, avoid reinventing the wheel Capacity Development, learning and monitoring often addressed as parallel processes • Need to strengthen these processes, seek synergies to improve sector capacities • • Sector capacities, continuous monitoring, joint reflection, analysis and adaptive action are key elements for improved performance, better coordination and harmonisation of approaches. 5

5 steps in performance measurement What to measure What to do with the data? How to analyse and present data? Source: MWLE 2004 in RWSN 2012 How to measure it? How to collect data? 6

Monitoring “an ongoing process by which stakeholders obtain regular feedback on the progress being made towards achieving their goals and objectives ” Donaldson 2011 7

Diverse actors- diverse information needs and incentives for monitoring • Actors: • National government • Decentralized governments • Service providers • Users, water committees, support agencies, etc. 8

Multiple systems Sector-level monitoring Complexity Institution-based monitoring Infrequently updated asset inventories Organisational project-level monitoring Degree of inter-institutional cooperation

Some Lessons from IRC’s 2013 symposium • Monitoring is: • a means to an end • a process: build on existing capacity and consider resources needed. • There is no one-size-fits-all solution: Flexibility and realism needed. • Monitoring requires multi-stakeholder cooperation and trust building to support critical reflection. • Transparency and commitment to change are needed. 10

Learning…for change The process of gaining knowledge or skills, or of developing a desired behaviour through study, instruction, or experience…. in order to adapt and improve service delivery. 11

A sector with capacity to learn • Requires that: • stakeholders are supported to systematically capture and share experiences • capacity is built to reflect on lessons learned • formal structures/mechanisms are in place to enable evidence-based learning and action • knowledge sharing, continuous learning and improvement are encouraged through high level leadership commitment and supportive culture. 12

Linking monitoring to learning: What do all these data mean? • what is the evidence? • why has there been success or failure? • so what are the implications for our work? • now who will do what about the situation? 13

Sector capacity and learning • Levels Sector/ enabling environment Organizations Individuals • Kinds of capacities • Human Resources • Capacity to plan, provide O&M services/ construction support/ technical assistance • Capacity to monitor and use evidence and lessons learned 14

Sector capacity and capacity development • Does the sector have the capacity to implement the monitoring system over time? • Does the sector have the capacity to continuously use the data to improve decision making? • Do monitoring processes assess and develop sector capacities? 15

Purpose of 5 th Symposium Reflections on cases presented 1. What sector capacities do these monitoring processes measure? 2. How do these monitoring processes feed into sector planning and implementation? 3. Is monitoring linked to learning and corrective action encouraged? 4. What capacities have been built? 16

Purpose of 5 th Symposium Further resources IRC’s symposium on Monitoring Sustainable WASH service delivery: http: //www. irc. nl/page/72969 Discussion group on country-led monitoring : http: //dgroups. org/rwsn/country_led_monitor IRC brochure on learning and adaptive sector http: //www. irc. nl/page/75135 Papers for this symposium: Van Lieshout, Uytewaal & da Silva Wells and Danaert & Ssozi. 17

Thank you

Case presentation 1 Developing Capacity for Country-led Monitoring of Rural Water Supplies in Uganda Kerstin Danert (Skat Foundation) & Disan Ssozi (Ministry of Water and Environment) 19

Case presentation 2 Developing a sector-wide comprehensive system for monitoring WASH service delivery in Honduras Erma Uytewaal (IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre) 20

Purpose of 5 th Symposium Reflections on cases presented 1. What sector capacities do these monitoring processes measure? 2. How do these monitoring processes feed into sector planning and implementation? 3. Is monitoring linked to learning and corrective action encouraged? 4. What capacities have been built? 21

Purpose of 5 th Symposium Turn to your immediate neighbour(s): 1. What is your experience on the link between learning, monitoring and capacity development? 2. What are your reflections on the presentations? 22

Purpose of 5 th Symposium Thank you for your participation dasilvawells@irc. nl Carmen da Silva Wells Coordinator ‘learning for change’ IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre www. irc. nl / http: //learningforchange. wordpress. com/ 23