Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council

Through the Global Sanitation Fund (GSF), a multi-donor United Nations trust fund, WSSCC supports national efforts to help rural communities improve their sanitation and adopt good hygiene practices. The GSF funds behaviour change activities. Community-led total sanitation is frequently utilized by GSF-funded national programmes, such as in Cambodia[4] and Nigeria.[5]

The GSF funds national programmes in Benin, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. WSSCC's Secretariat gathers funds and donations at the global level, selects the eligible countries for funding, and manages the disbursement of grants to national sanitation programmes.

In the period of 2008 to 2018, the Global Sanitation Fund has allocated over US$119 to sanitation projects in developing countries.[1]^:24

The Global Sanitation Fund is a multi-donor United Nations trust fund that aims to help large numbers of people in developing countries improve their sanitation and adopt good hygiene practices.[6] GSF is an innovative way to finance sustainable development.[7]

Currently, 2 billion people lack access to basic sanitation services, and 673 million defecate in the open.[8] Diarrheal disease, a preventable disease largely caused by poor sanitation and hygiene, is a leading cause of child malnutrition and mortality, claiming around 525,000 lives of children under 5 every year.[9]

The GSF, along with a diverse range of sector actors, aims to help address the sanitation and hygiene crisis by enabling tens of millions of people to live in open defecation free (ODF) environments and access adequate toilets and handwashing facilities.[10] These activities are also aimed at supporting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal Number 6. The United Nations system has identified global funding for sanitation and hygiene as key to enabling member countries to achieve their national development targets.[11]

The GSF funds behaviour change activities to help large numbers of poor people in hard to reach areas attain safe sanitation and adopt good hygiene practices. These activities are described as being community-based, supporting national efforts, and bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders.[12] The GSF works with a range of prominent entities in the water, sanitation and hygiene sectors including the World Bank, Water Aid, UN-Water, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, Global Poverty Project and the CLTS Foundation.

Community-led total sanitation is frequently utilized by GSF-funded national programmes, such as in Cambodia[13] and Nigeria.[14]

The GSF currently funds, or has funded, national programmes in Benin, Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. Results to-date are: 18.1 million people with access to improved sanitation facilities; 24.4 million people living in open defecation free environments; and 23.8 million people with access to basic handwashing facilities on premises.[15]

Governments in the following countries, mainly through the development assistance programmes, have contributed to the GSF. They are:

• Australia[16]
• Finland[17]
• The Netherlands[18]
• Norway[19]
• Sweden[20]
• Switzerland[21]
• The United Kingdom

The GSF was established by WSSCC to boost financing to countries with high needs for improved sanitation. It was first established in 2007, in response to the United Nations Human Development Report for 2006, which raised the issue of the global sanitation crisis.[22]

A key challenge that WSSCC is addressing relates to the inclusion of menstrual hygiene management in the sustainable development agenda. WSSCC has highlighted that the taboo surrounding menstruation is a barrier to equal participation and opportunities for women.[23] A National Public Radio article[24] highlighted that many policy makers often admit that they had never considered questions around menstruation before.

WSSCC advocates for equality, human rights and non-discrimination as central to ensuring access to safe water supply, adequate sanitation and good hygiene for all. In particular, WSSCC WASH advocates promote women's participation and leadership[25] and menstrual hygiene and health.[26][27][28]

Other focus areas include sustaining behaviour change as well as ensuring reliable and consistent monitoring, particularly of households that return to previously abandoned unhygienic behaviours. WSSCC works on these issues through systems strengthening[29] and impact evaluations.[30]

Notable reports and campaigns supported by WSSCC include:

• 'We Can't Wait', a report in 2015 on sanitation and hygiene for women and girls produced in collaboration with WaterAid and Unilever[31]
• The Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment report produced in collaboration with the WHO and UNICEF in 2015[32]
• The United Nations 'End Open Defecation' campaign in 2015[33]
• The Women for Water and Sanitation Declaration, sanctioned by the first ladies of Madagascar and Malawi, among others in 2015[34]

The current chair (in 2019) is Hind Khatib-Othman.[1]

WSSCC receives or has received funding from several European governments as well as Australia. In 2016-2018 the donors to WSSCC's budget were the Governments of the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.[1] In previous years, donors also included Australia, Finland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.[37][38]

The expenditure in 2018 totaled US$18.2 million representing a 72% delivery rate against a budget of US$21.1 million.[1]

Key collaborating partners with WSSCC include WaterAid, the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) and UNICEF, among others. In 2020, WSSCC announced a stronger collaboration with SuSanA by merging their Community of Practice group into the SuSanA Discussion Forum.[39]

WSSCC hosted the communications team of Sanitation and Water for all (SWA) until the end of 2019 (from 2020 onwards, it is being hosted by UNICEF).

WSSCC partners with:

• Global Citizen[40]
• Global Water Partnership (GWP)[41]