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.
Increasing repair and maintenance funds leads to higher borehole functionality and water access rates in the drought-prone regions of Turkana, Kenya... Read more...
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...
Research found a strong relationship between variation in seasonal water access and reported emotional response. Water security improvement could be... Read more...
Successful pathways secured uptake by government and had flexible programming. Read more...
This paper presents the journeys that Agenda for Change members have gone through in progressively embracing systems strengthening approaches in... Read more...
Policy recommendations are given for five building blocks: institutional capacity, financing, asset management, water resources management, and... Read more...
The Multi-country synthesis report brings together the insights from the 13 Triple-S country studies to identify trends in rural water supply,... Read more...
Even in the worst case scenario, the benefits of mutliple use water services outweigh the costs at both household and system levels Read more...
Strengthening the monitoring of water services to improve water service delivery. Read more...
Pour changer les systèmes, il faut un «Conteur, un Expert et un Homme Politique». Histoires d'acteurs du changement au Malawi, au Honduras, en... Read more...
Para cambiar los sistemas se necesita un "narrador de historias, un experto y un político". Historias de agentes de cambio en Malawi, Honduras,... Read more...
It takes a 'Story Teller, an Expert, and a Politician' to make systems change happen. Stories from change makers in Malawi, Honduras, Uganda,... Read more...
This study confirms the high relevance of payment modalities that reduce the barrier of the upfront payment to get access to a water supply service... Read more...
Presentations from the WASH Learning Theme 2 - "Markets and behaviour change : how people invest and driving to scale" session of the All Systems... Read more...
Presentations from the CONNECT Finance thematic track of the All Systems Connect International Symposium 2023. Read more...
The Transform WASH Activity in Ethiopia has significantly contributed to advancing market-based sanitation approaches and promoting gender equality... Read more...
Ministry of Water and Energy (Ethiopia), COWASH, SNV and IRC reflecting on partnership work in Ethiopia Read more...
The SMART market-based approach is contributing to SDG 6 and beyond. Its impact is significant, but localised. Read more...