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...
Inspirational stories about how ordinary women in India and Kenya have converted the challenges posed by COVID-19 into an opportunity to promote good... Read more...
Keynote for World Health Organization presented at the Twelfth meeting of the Working Group on Water and Health | UNECE. Read more...
Conceptual frameworks and guiding questions that help identify opportunities to strengthen links between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and... Read more...
This guide covers steps required for engaging effectively with decision-makers; increasing the impact beyond programmatic solutions; and influencing... Read more...
A comprehensive package of WASH interventions is needed that is tailored to address the local exposure landscape and enteric disease burden. Read more...
In this podcast (6 mins) WASH finance expert Sophie Trémolet explains how can we make blended finance work towards addressing the finance gap in the... Read more...
Presentations from the CONNECT Social Justice thematic track of the All Systems Connect International Symposium 2023. Read more...
Presentations from the CONNECT Health 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...
This paper presents IRC Ghana's experience of acting as a 'hub' to support collective action in the Asutifi North District of Ghana. Read more...
How UNICEF aims to refine and improve WASH knowledge management by systematically basing its actions on the best available evidence. Read more...
Annual report presenting the work of IRC in Mali Read more...
Recording of a webinar on lessons learned after nearly four years of intensive research on the use of collective action in WASH by the USAID-... Read more...
How CSOs in Bangladesh, India, Kenya and elsewhere have collaborated to understand funding flows and key moments for budget decision-making, and... Read more...
This report provides a guide to the practical application of outcome mapping and sustainability scorecards to monitor systems change in WASH... Read more...
The status of WASH at national and municipal levels and how IRC and a coalition of partners are working together with Government to inspire and... Read more...
An approach is developed to assess WASH risks in marginal populations that are poorly understood and served through conventional approaches. Read more...
Tracking the trends for the state budgets of Odisha and Bihar on water and sanitation. Read more...
This paper highlights efforts in using one-off surveys to inform WASH plans to help to kick-start recurrent monitoring and management processes in... Read more...