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.
This systematic approach to planning suits the Rwandan context and has helped to mobilise funds, but is less effective in emphasising the... Read more...
Guidelines for European national and subnational policy-makers responsible for sustainable financing of small-scale water and sanitation services,... Read more...
In Ethiopia, prioritising access to groundwater, supported by responsive and proactive operation and maintenance, increases rural water supply... Read more...
Enhanced capacity building initiatives are needed for Administrators, Technocrats and Elected Representatives, especially at the operational levels... Read more...
An approach is developed to assess WASH risks in marginal populations that are poorly understood and served through conventional approaches. Read more...
Approximately one in four handpumps in sub-Saharan Africa are non-functional at any point in time, which in 2015 was roughly equivalent to 175,000... 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...
Perceived poor performance of hand pumped boreholes has been a persistent problem in Africa Read more...
This brief presents the lessons learnt and advocacy messages from this e-discussion for influencing sector discourse on this topic and ensuring that... Read more...
The motto of the Sustainable Development Goals is "leaving no one behind". For water and sanitation this implies that all people – including those families who live in the last house on top of the mountain - must have access to water and sanitation services. Water For People and IRC in Honduras... Read more...
Strengthening and clarifying the capacity of local government institutions is critical to the success of SDG6 (Water) and contributes to SDG16 (... Read more...
Presentation based on the findings from two World Bank publications. Read more...
Data drawn from the Water Point Data Exchange on 11 countries, reveals that an average of 78% of water points (including handpumps, piped supplies... 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...
This tool provides guidance on a systematic approach to experimenting with innovative solutions to water problems. Read more...
We cannot do it alone. Reflections from the 7th Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) Forum. Read more...