Creator: Sam Mendelson & Marcela Perez.
In 2021, the WASH Motion Group – co-led by e-MFP and Aqua for All – got down to deal with a structural downside within the sector: whereas WASH finance was increasing, impression measurement was not protecting tempo. Throughout the ecosystem, monetary establishments, traders, and enterprises have been being requested to report related outcomes utilizing completely different indicators, definitions, and codecs. This fragmentation made comparability troublesome, elevated reporting burden, and restricted the flexibility of traders to interpret outcomes throughout portfolios. On the identical time, this constrained studying and weakened the case for scaling funding.
For the previous 5 years, the Motion Group has been making an attempt to deal with a serious problem: the absence of a shared, sensible strategy to measuring the impression of WASH finance: to help higher WASH outcomes by making WASH finance extra credible, extra comparable, and simpler to scale. A harmonised indicator framework will not be an finish in itself, however a obligatory situation for attaining this. With out it, it turns into considerably tougher to handle efficiency, determine developments, allocate capital successfully, or construct confidence amongst decision-makers.
A phased strategy
So, what has occurred thus far? In 2023-24, an preliminary set of indicators was developed to seize the monetary, social, local weather, and service-level dimensions of WASH investments, adopted by a feasibility evaluation that examined how these indicators aligned with current practices throughout asset managers, monetary establishments, and SMEs. This earlier analysis highlighted persistent challenges, together with inconsistent reporting necessities, restricted information availability, and the operational issue of capturing extra complicated outcomes.
Constructing on these findings, Part III – which has simply wrapped up – targeted on pilot testing the framework with monetary service suppliers (FSPs) in real-world settings, and refining them iteratively primarily based on feasibility and usefulness. Working with taking part FSPs, indicators have been built-in into operational workflows and examined by a mix of MIS-based reporting and focused survey instruments. The method was iterative: indicators have been assessed towards standards resembling readability, feasibility, ease of adoption, information availability, and analytical relevance, after which retained, refined, merged, or dropped accordingly.
This iterative strategy was important. Earlier phases had already proven that some indicators – significantly these associated to well being outcomes or local weather – are inherently harder to measure, typically requiring main information assortment and extra assets. Others, significantly these built-in into routine MIS assortment and reporting techniques, are considerably simpler to seize.
The output of this analysis has been not solely the refined WASH impression indicator framework, but in addition an operational guide, offering clear definitions, information sources, and reporting steering on all 11 indicators and 44 sub-indicators, and standardised information assortment instruments and templates.
The indicator framework and related instruments have been launched at a webinar on February eleventh, and now the WASH AG should flip consideration to the following vital goal – adoption and use of those indicators, and improvement of a harmonised information assortment framework for WASH finance.
So what comes subsequent? From framework to real-world adoption
Reaching significant scale would require buy-in from traders, asset managers, and different ecosystem actors who form reporting expectations and capital flows. If extensively adopted, a shared strategy to WASH impression measurement has the potential to scale back reporting fatigue for investees whereas bettering transparency and comparability for traders. Extra importantly, it might probably assist shift the framework from a software utilized by a small variety of establishments to a standard language for the sector.
The following part of labor will deal with operationalising information assortment and reporting at scale. The Motion Group will convene an on-line roundtable on Might twentieth of WASH traders and investees to reveal information submission processes and discover the worth proposition of standardising WASH impression information – significantly by integration with the ATLAS information platform. This can be an opportunity not simply to reveal this course of utilizing actual however anonymised information collected throughout Part III, however an opportunity to listen to from these members about their ache factors, capability and priorities. We’re at present having discussions with related stakeholders prematurely of this assembly, to collect suggestions, deal with sensible issues, and form how this subsequent part is carried out.
e-MFP and Aqua for All are happy with what this AG has achieved to date, and are wanting ahead to taking this from framework to follow. If you need to debate the indications, the round-table, WASH finance usually, or when you want to help this work (together with through funding the AG usually or any particular undertaking particularly), please get in contact with the co-heads Sam (smendelson@e-mfp.eu) and Marcela (m.perez@aquaforall.org).
Photograph credit score: Masudar Rahman through pexels
In regards to the Authors:
Sam Mendelson & Marcela Perez are the co-heads of the WASH Motion Group.
