The Institute of Water and Sanitation Development (IWSD) is dedicated to advancing knowledge and informing action in the water and sanitation sector. We promote both applied and academic research, generating evidence to support decision-making and policy formulation that improves water resource management, sanitation services, and environmental sustainability.
Our research agenda focuses on critical areas such as water quality, poverty, urban sanitation, integrated water resources management (IWRM), gender dynamics, and information dissemination and utilization. We also prioritize cross-cutting issues like climate change, hygiene, social inclusion, and gender equality, ensuring our research is relevant and impactful.
IWSD actively engages in capacity-building initiatives, strengthening research skills among regional institutions and individuals. We strive to create a vibrant research community that generates and utilizes knowledge to address the complex challenges facing the water and sanitation sector.
By fostering collaboration and promoting evidence-based decision-making, we are working to create a future where everyone has access to safe water, adequate sanitation, and a healthy environment.
An Analysis of Gender Policies In Water Supply And Sanitation Sector In Zimbabwe.
This project was funded under the Water Research Fund for Southern Africa seeking to contribute towards improving the welfare of poor rural and urban households through gender mainstreaming at all levels in water and sanitation sector by analysing gender policies at the international, national, organisational, community and project levels. The purpose of the legal framework was to transform policy intentions into legally binding and enforceable clauses.
A survey conducted revealed the following:
• International organisations including United Nations and donor agencies had made significant progress in mainstreaming gender in their policies and practices.
• At the national level, Zimbabwe had made significant progress in translating international gender policies into national policies. The government set national machinery in the form of Gender Issues Unit in the Ministry of National Affairs Employment Creation and Cooperatives and the Department of Gender Issues in the Office of the President and Cabinet to spearhead the incorporation of gender issues in development.
• At institutional level, gender was not being given enough attention. Government departments, which were involved in the water and sanitation sector, did not have gender mainstreaming policies. The National Action Committee, which coordinated rural water and sanitation programmes, did not itself have a gender mainstreaming policy.
Project findings revealed that although women had been recognized as the primary actors and managers in activities related to water supply and sanitation, gender aspects were often overlooked in policy making, technology design and project implementation.
The project saw the birth or promotion of a number of approaches that included the demand responsive and gender sensitive approaches and it also developed tools that could be used to address gender issues (especially strategic gender needs) at project and policy levels, especially in view of the fact that similar projects had focused on addressing practical as opposed to strategic gender needs.
Linking Urban Sanitation With The Poor
This project was conducted in Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. It was implemented by IWSD, CSIR in South Africa, and University of Southampton in the UK. The aim of this project was to contribute towards the improvement of the well being of the urban poor through cost-effective and sustainable improvements in sanitation.
This was achieved by:• The study of the existing level and quality of sanitation services
• Attitudes
• Practices and willingness to pay of poor urban communities, of institutional policies
• Strategies and resources of sanitation agencies
• Links between communities and sanitation agencies in poor urban areas of Zimbabwe
Major findings were:
• There was no clear water and sanitation policy to govern provision of services in informal settlements
• Solid waste and wastewater management were almost non-existent in the study sites
• Lack of clear and effective communication channels between the urban poor and sanitation agencies as one of the causes of poor sanitation in informal settlements
• Charges for sanitation services in Zimbabwe are extremely low covering less than 20% of the cost
• Tariffs are set through a political process and they do not reflect the cost of providing services or the willingness to pay (WTP) of communities
• Low tariffs coupled with poor billing and revenue collection meant that little revenue was generated for operation and maintenance thus local authorities could not maintain the facilities and the quality of services fell still further.Guidelines on linking sanitation agencies with poor urban community are available. You can also read the book produced under this joint project on publication.
Support and Acceptance of Rainwater Harvesting Techniques- A Case of Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe
The Institute carried out the research to:
• Assess the national policies and strategies on rainwater harvesting in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe
• Determine the level of national support mechanisms for rainwater harvesting initiatives
• Assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of targeted communities towards various rainwater harvesting techniques
• Assess how gender mainstreaming had been addressed in rainwater harvesting projects in light of the different socio-cultural beliefs of the target communities.
Initial findings indicated that rainwater harvesting was not commonly accepted/practised in the study areas.
The project managed to document traditional rainwater harvesting techniques and assisted farmers practicing rainwater harvesting with construction of tanks and inputs suc
h as open pollinated yellow winter and summer maize seed.
