Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) Secretariat

Vision: RWSN’s vision is of a world in which all rural people have access to a sustainable and reliable water supply which can be effectively managed to provide sufficient, affordable and safe water within a reasonable distance of the home.

Mission: RWSN is a global network of professionals and practitioners working to raise standards of knowledge and evidence, technical and professional competence, practice and policy in rural water supply and so fulfil the vision of sustainable rural water services for all.

RWSN is organised along four themes: Equality, Non-Discrimination & Inclusion, Sustainable Groundwater Development, Accelerating Self-supply and Sustainable Services. The topic “Mapping and Monitoring” cuts across all themes. Communities have been formed around these topics. They share their experiences, concerns and ideas and work towards improving policies, professionalism and practices on each topic. RWSN’s topics are led by WaterAid, Skat Foundation and IRC, working in partnership with other organisations. The RWSN Secretariat, which coordinates the topic leaders and manages RWSN’s membership, publications, online platforms and reporting, is hosted by Skat Foundation.

RWSN has a dual approach to influence decision makers and improve professionalism:

• Documenting experiences, developing codes of conduct, standards and guidelines and embedding them within countries and organisations
• Facilitating knowledge-sharing and networking amongst rural water professionals and organisations

RWSN’s peer-reviewed publications generally provide recommendations with respect to policies, strategies and action whereas the knowledge-sharing and networking provide space for open and frank dialogue between network members. By bringing different organisations and individuals together with common interests and working to common goals, RWSN is trying to embed professional ways of working within countries and organisations.

Recent Activities and Selected Publications

• 2 webinar series a year, each series comprises ten webinar presentations and Q&A in English and many repeated in French.
• Manual Drilling Compendium 2015

Activities and Priorities for Skat within RWSN during 2015-2017

• Organising the 7^th RWSN Forum in West Africa in late 2016
• Active online and face-to-face networking and knowledge management activities, including webinars, e-discussion, policy briefs, peer-reviewed publications, conference side events and workshops.
• Co-ordinating activities with key partners in particular the Theme Coordinators for Equity & Inclusion (WaterAid) and Management & Support (IRC)
• Influencing policy, raising the profile of rural water supply and setting the agenda for rural water supply in the new era of Sustainable Development Goals.
• Ongoing research and mainstreaming of key approaches, in particular Self-supply, the Code of Practice for Cost Effective Boreholes, rainwater harvesting, and a service delivery approach to the sustainable provision of rural water supply that combines the efforts of government, private sector and NGOs.
• Being an active portal and facilitator between academic & action research and policy and practice.
• Maintaining and revising international standards on public-domain handpump designs, and promoting better handpump manufacturing standards and quality control.
• Skat is the principal driver and co-ordinator of networking, fundraising, management and advocacy activities. In addition, Skat is co-ordinating the Accelerating Self-supply and Sustainable Groundwater Development Themes.