A presentation by Michel Becks of Rode Kruis, for IRC event on Innovative approaches to WASH in emergencies situations. Nov 2015

1. Michel Becks
mbecks@redcross.nl
Demand-driven humanitarian WASH innovations
A selection of priorities and solutions

3. Demand-driven humanitarian WASH innovations 3
Key principles in humanitarion assistance
Right to life with dignity
Right to humanitarian assistance
Right to protection and security
Address emergency thresholds:
• Crude Mortality Rate: 1 per 10,000 per day
• Under 5 Mortality Rate: 2 per 10,000 per day
(“Non-crisis” CMR in Sub-Saharan Africa: 0.3 to
0.6 per 10,000 per day, +/- double for U5MR)

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Innovation priority areas
Demand-driven humanitarian WASH innovations

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Noticable changes in the humanitarian system
Improved coordination, transparency and
predictable response (Cluster system)
Clear standards and indicators (SPHERE)
Increased focus on health outcomes (hygiene
promotion/ software...)
Addressing/ absorbing trends:
• Cross-sector working
• Resilience building
• Green response
• Cross-cutting issues: Gender, disability
Demand-driven humanitarian WASH innovations

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Challenges remain…
Natural disasters, and other shocks such as
human pandemics and conflict, are likely to
occur more often in urban settings
More than half of the refugees now served
by UNHCR lives in urban areas; Forming
new high density settlements, settling in
urban slums or living with host families
River flooding poses a threat to over
379 million urban residents
Over 283 million urban people could
potentially be affected by earthquakes
Demand-driven humanitarian WASH innovations

7. 7
WASH gap analysis 2013
Water supply
 Water Treatment,
particularly bulk and
point of use
household filters,
including cost and
sustainability issues
 Low-tech solutions
that are acceptable
and can be sustained
by local people
Study carried out through the Humanitarian Innovation Fund
Demand-driven humanitarian WASH innovations

8. Sanitation
 Latrines in locations where no pits
are possible (urban, high water
table/flooding)
 Latrine emptying and desludging
 Final sewage disposal options
after desludging and treatment
 Community Led Total Sanitation
(CLTS) and sanitation marketing
 Urban alternatives for excreta
disposal
 Further develop non-toilet options
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WASH gap analysis 2013

10. Titel van de presentatie | datum 10
WASH gap analysis 2013
Hygiene Promotion/ software
 Hand washing hardware and
promotion and sustainability
 Non-soap options
 Approaches that are suited to
the local context
• Behaviour Change Communication
• Data collection and feed-back
using mobile devices

11. ‘Other’ issues
 Programming across the relief-development continuum
• Sustainability
• Integrate exit strategies from the onset
 Greater involvement and coordination
• With existing local NGOs and NGO development programmes
• With other clusters
 Urban disasters
 Create an evidence base: Impact of WASH interventions on
health outcomes
 Attention to sanitation and hygiene promotion (‘Getting the
balance right’)
 Impact of the SDGs on humanitarian action
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WASH gap analysis 2013
Demand-driven humanitarian WASH innovations

12. Urban WASH in Tondo, Manila

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Transformation management intensity
Innovationintensity
Fashionista
• Many innovations but within some
silo’s (sectors/ organisations)
• No shared vision
• Underdeveloped coordination
Conservative
• Shared but underdeveloped vision
• Limited, but traditionally strong
innovation
• Strong coordination/ control
• Active in building innovation capacity
and culture
Innovation Leader
• Strong shared vision, governance and
coordination
• Vibrant innovation chain with
measurable added value
• Strong innovation culture
Beginner
• Management sceptical towards
innovation in its organisation
• (Potentially) some experiments
• Immature innovation culture
Creating a culture of innovation
Demand-driven humanitarian WASH innovations

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The innovation process
Developing Functional
Requirements
Intensive (WASH)
sector consultation
Match-making:
humanitarian actors,
knowledge institutes
& Private Sector
Match offerings with
requirements
Testing/ adjusting
promising solutions
Bringing innovation to
scale
Beyond humanitarian
demand...
e.g. PPPs in longer-
term settings
Matching
humanitarian demand
with supply
Setting priorities
1. Raised latrines
2. Desludging
3. Treatment and disposal
Demand-driven humanitarian WASH innovations

15.  Humanitarian innovation value chain:
Exploring & fixing our weakest link
 Converge: common priorities and agenda
• Platform for humanitarian (WASH) innovation
 Inclusiveness: identify local needs,
centering innovation more around local
communities (but… ‘do no harm’)
 Partnership approach: Co-creation of
innovative and scalable solutions by
humanitarian actors, Private Sector &
knowledge institutes
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Aspirations
Demand-driven humanitarian WASH innovations

16. Michel Becks
mbecks@redcross.nl

17. time
resiliencelevel
critical resilience
level
Human capital
Social capital
Financial capital
Physical capital
Natural capital
Political capital
stresses
(sudden onset) disaster
resilience level
Longer-term response
Disaster Response
Longer-term response
Diagram adapted from IFRC’s ‘the road to resilience’
The relief-development continuum
17Demand-driven humanitarian WASH innovations