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Published on: 06/03/2019

A building block? Like Lego? You're full of questions today. No, IRC says that there are 9 building blocks that are needed to provide safe and sustainable access to water and sanitation. Finance is one of these blocks.

Ah OK, so what do I need to know about the Finance building block? It deals with identifying the costs of service delivery, the sources of funding, the roles of different actors in providing finance, effective mechanisms for making finance available and the channels for getting the money to where it is needed.

Sounds simple enough. Really?

Erm... Look, the ability to accurately project all costs over the entire service life-cycle and to match projected costs with different sources of funding calls for considerable specialist knowledge from several stakeholders and appropriate tools. In many cases, especially in rural areas, small towns and informal settlements in larger towns, current levels of funding are largely inadequate and the financial instruments presently available are extremely limited.

Fair enough, and what are we doing about it? Strengthening the finance building block, therefore, means both improving existing financing mechanisms and increasing the overall flows into the sector through national and international advocacy efforts, show-casing what is working and providing inspiration for tackling the existing challenges.

So what are you presenting at the symposium? We'll have eight sessions, which will bring cases from national and district level along with some of the most interesting innovations and tools, which are being used across the world.

Sounds great! Tell me a bit more? We're looking at national level financing and costing, mobilising domestic resources at national level, the enabling environment, what's possible and what isn't. We'll also look at results based financing, incentives for increased efficiency in the system, influencing financial flows across the system and conducting district level costing and financing, using life-cycle costing as a tool for strategic planning and advocacy, financing WASH for the last mile in fragile context and how to fund long-term maintenance of different service delivery models.

Phew! That's a lot! Sounds like you'll be busy? Sure will.

Do say: Tell me more about your financing plans

Don't say: Can I pay with card?

Disclaimer

At IRC we have strong opinions and we value honest and frank discussion, so you won't be surprised to hear that not all the opinions on this site represent our official policy.

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