Stef Smits is a senior programme officer and Co-director of IRC's Growth Hub. He has 20 years of professional experience in water supply and sanitation in over 25 countries in Europe, Latin America, Southern Africa, and South Asia. His main thematic expertise includes: institutional models for water supply, sustainability and enabling environment, monitoring, costing and financing of services and integrated water resources management.
Stef has led numerous projects on these topics, and published about them. In addition, he has ample management expertise: from consultancy assignments to multi-annual programmes, and units within an organisation. He has worked for a range of clients including bilateral donors, development banks, research funders and NGOs. Stef holds an MSc degree in Irrigation and Water Engineering from Wageningen University, The Netherlands.
How CSOs in Bangladesh, India, Kenya and elsewhere have collaborated to understand funding flows and key moments for budget decision-making, and... Read more...
Guidelines for European national and subnational policy-makers responsible for sustainable financing of small-scale water and sanitation services,... Read more...
How can the devolution of planning and budgetary processes help communities raise their issues and plan accordingly. Read more...
A roadmap for tracking and analysing district budgets for water and sanitation programmes in Bihar, India. Read more...
A roadmap for tracking and analysing district budgets for water and sanitation programmes in Odisha, India. Read more...
Tracking the trends for the state budgets of Odisha and Bihar on water and sanitation. Read more...
Though mobile money penetration is high (72%), using mobile money for water bill payments is not top of mind and would require additional awareness... Read more...
Capital expenditure efficiency (CEE) can result in capital savings of 25 percent or more compared to traditional solutions. Read more...
This presentation describes how a blend of public and concessional financing is being used to attract larger investments for public water supply... Read more...
This week's Weekly WASH Graph presents an infographic and a graph, the combination of which reflects what we think should be the core content of WASH investment plans. Read more...
As countries, regions and municipalities are making plans to reach universal access to WASH services, a frequently heard question is how much does it actually cost to provide services to everyone in the area? This week's "weekly WASH graph" will provide some magic numbers of the costs of reaching '... Read more...
This concept note provides an action plan for cost recovery in the Indian water sector based on an analysis of the existing institutional... Read more...
This concept note proposes a phase-wise approach to cost recovery in the Indian water sector starting with a focus on blended finance through an... Read more...
How can blended finance can close the financial gap needed to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6? Read more...
Addressing the financing challenges that result from the adoption of the water Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). Read more...
Countries should place greater priority on leveraging commercial finance into the sector while at the same time bolstering public funds. Read more...
Marcala municipality in Honduras is spending a decent amount on WASH, though not yet enough. Read more...
Based on 20 detailed successful case studies from across India, this book outlines future rural water supply approaches for all lower-income... Read more...
Spreading the cost of faecal waste removal over a series of monthly payments could make it more affordable for poor households and help kick start... Read more...