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.
A novel Empowerment in WASH Index is presented, which was piloted in Banfora, Burkina Faso. Findings show importance of household- and community-... Read more...
This paper briefly describes the state of the evidence on menstrual hygiene management (MHM) in schools, the remaining knowledge gaps, and potential... Read more...
While the importance of hygiene is increasingly being recognized, far less consideration has been given to the role of the complete WASH package in... Read more...
The use of sanitary latrines in a rural area in Bangladesh was found to have increased substantially (73 per cent compared to the national average of... Read more...
Accepting the necessity for irrigation in areas where there is insufficient rainfall to sustain agricultural production and admitting the negative... Read more...
Describes a prototype workshop organized by Unicef as part of their new basic services programme for Ethiopia. The workshop was held in Samre, Tigray... Read more...
An epidemiological survey carried out in the Dodoma region of Tanzania found that high rates of trachoma infection in pre-school children were... Read more...