Marieke Adank

Marieke is a WASH expert with over 18 years of experience in the sector. She has a special interest in small town WASH, participatory strategic planning processes and evidence-based decision making in WASH.

After graduating as an Irrigation and Water Engineer from Wageningen University, Marieke joined IRC as a Junior Professional Officer (JPO) in 2003. As JPO she was stationed with NGO Forum (Bangladesh) and with TREND Group (Ghana). In 2006, she joined the IRC team in the Netherlands.

Marieke has led and participated in action-research studies in Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe on issues like monitoring sustainable WASH service provision, small town water supply, Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM), multiple-use water services, and cost recovery and financing.

Marieke has experience in working closely with ministries (e.g. the Ministry of Water Resources, Irrigation and electricity in Ethiopia) and government agencies (e.g. Community Water and Sanitation Agency in Ghana) in identifying and addressing sector challenges. She has supported knowledge management and sector learning processes in various contexts and countries (e.g. support to the establishment and development of Learning Alliance Platforms in Ghana and Ethiopia and the Resource Centre Network Ghana). 

Marieke is supporting the Accountability and Adaptation team, responsible for monitoring, with special emphasis on monitoring service level and financial indicators. She is also supporting various action research projects, with special focus on monitoring and sustainability issues. She is leading the development of a District WASH Master Planning Facility.