Co-director | Growth Hub
Follow
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.
Stef Smits' in-depth review of the JMP 2021 data on the progress made in 15 countries and discussing the implications towards 2030. Read more...
A case study on the experience of developing and implementing water, sanitation and hygiene finance strategies. Read more...
This is snapshot shows how nature-based solutions can be cost-effective alternatives to conventional infrastructure. Read more...
Utilities are not a silver bullet. But as professional, system-oriented organisations, they can be powerful drivers of change — if the right capacities, incentives and enabling conditions are in place. Read more...
This report identifies a set of transition pathways reflecting how systems evolve from basic access to meeting safely managed criteria. These... Read more...
Meet our colleagues at UNC Water and Health Conference Read more...
In the wake of Hurricane Eta, IRC and Water For People support government appeal and call for immediate action to restore a decade's worth of water and sanitation development in Honduras Read more...
Minister Kaag komt in een gespreid bedje om aan de streefwaarden voor haar water en sanitatie doelstellingen te voldoen. Maar voor de lange termijn moet er een tandje bij, met name voor sanitatie. Read more...
Maybe there should have been a disclaimer on the SDGs. Read more...
Honduras, just like other Central American countries has adopted SIASAR (the Rural Water and Sanitation Information System) to monitor water and sanitation services in rural areas. IRC supports the development and roll-out of SIASAR in different ways. Read more...
The government of Sagar island, together with Water For People, and other partners, aim to achieve full coverage of sanitation and water supply in... Read more...
Water For People adopted the "Everyone, Forever" approach. Read the case study to learn lessons on scaling-up rural water and sanitation services. Read more...
“ We just take the programmes as they fall upon us, with their conditions. One donor uses a per capita threshold of 150 US$/capita and wants us to follow one approach, and we will do that. Another uses a threshold of 250 US$/day, but with another approach, and a different degree of community... Read more...
Cities in Latin America face a double challenge in environmental sanitation, of both providing access to basic water supply and sanitation for those currently lacking that, and improving the collection and treatment of wastewater and solid waste. Governance is a crucial factor affecting the way in... Read more...
The biggest news this week in the world of water and sanitation was undoubtedly the announcement of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) that it will be investing in the reinvention of the toilet. Read more...
Honduras is well on track towards meeting the MDGs for sanitation as coverage is expanding rapidly. However, these statistics do not reflect the sustainability or the use of such facilities, as many of these are in poor condition or are not used at all. In addition, there is a large negative impact... Read more...
