The Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) is a global, multi-stakeholder network focused on achieving universal access to safe, affordable drinking water for all rural people worldwide. Established in 1992 as the Handpump Technology Network (HTN),UNDP-World Bank (1992) The International Handpump Workshop Kakamega, Kenya, 1992. Papers, proceedings and recommendations, WSP, World Bank, Washington DC, USASkat (1993) Handpump Technology Network (HTN) and Interagency Peer Group (IAG). Project Document, HTN, Skat, St. Gallen, Switzerland the organization originally concentrated on the development and maintenance of handpump technologies. Over time, it expanded its scope to address broader rural water supply issues, and in 2004, it was rebranded as RWSN. The network has no legal structure and instead is a loose collaboration.
RWSN operates on the principles of collaboration, knowledge sharing, and capacity building among its members. The network is organized into various thematic groups, such as sustainable groundwater development, self-supply, and the professionalization of community water management. RWSN runs webinars, facilitates online discussion communities and publishes peer-reviewed guidelines and case studies.
Funding for RWSN comes from a combination of membership fees, grants from international donors, and contributions from partner organizations. The RWSN secretariat had income for the period 2018-2020 from 15 sources of partner contributions and project funding. The largest single contribution (30%) was from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The secretariat complements its core funds with project based work.
Rationale and regional focus The RWSN networking activities focus on rural people most in need of safe access to drinking water, which means its geographic focus by default is developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia. However, in principle anyone living in a rural area anywhere in the world could benefit from the network's activities.
The underlying problem that a network such as RWSN is trying to solve is that millions of people in rural areas of developing countries have no access to safe drinking water. For example, an estimate in 2016 put the figure at 300 million people without safe drinking water in rural Africa.AfDB (2016) Major rural water supply conference underway in Abidjan with AfDB’s support, African Development Bank The Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation of WHO and UNICEF said in 2022 that 411 million people in Africa (3 out of 5 people) still lacked basic drinking water services in 2020.JMP (2022) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in Africa 2000-2020: Five years into the SDGs. New York: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO), 2022. The situation is worse for rural areas in Africa where only 22% had access to basic drinking water services in 2020 compared to urban areas with 59%. Target 6.1 of Sustainable Development Goal 6 is: "By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all".United Nations (2017) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (A/RES/71/313)
Through its work, RWSN aims to address the challenges faced by rural communities, such as inadequate infrastructure and limited financial resources. Since around 2021, RWSN is also explicitly working on aspects that are related to the impacts of climate change, such as climate resilient water services in rural areas.Salzmann, R. (2021) Climate resilient rural WASH: RWSN's contribution & next steps. Working Paper Brief, RWSN, Skat Foundation, St. Gallen, Switzerland
Activities
The aim of RWSN is "to improve the quality of rural water services and their management".
Knowledge sharing and networking Key activities of RWSN include the development of technical guidelines and standards, the dissemination of research findings, and the promotion of innovative technologies and approaches. RWSN participates in the creation of peer-reviewed guidelines and case studies which are hosted in the RWSN virtual library on their website.
RWSN regularly runs activities around knowledge sharing and networking, such as online discussion groups and webinars in English, French and Spanish on topics relating to rural water supply and WASH (water supply, sanitation and hygiene). For example, the World Bank and RWSN ran their first joint webinar series in 2012. WHO and RWSN had a joint "Launch webinar for WHO guidelines and tools to enhance small water supplies" in February 2024.
RWSN provides a platform for raising awareness around chronic failures in water supply systems. The platform also supports activities around research and drilling professionalisation and new service delivery models.
Every year at the World Water Week in Stockholm that is organised by Stockholm International Water Institute, RWSN is convener and co-convener of several sessions to advance the debates around rural water supply.
International standard specifications for handpumps When organisations specify handpumps in contracts, there are often questions around specifying the pipes and rods.Danert, K., Bisoborwa, P. Kyeyune, E., Mutiibwa, R. and Nakayima, L. (2024) ‘Stop the Rot: Documentation of Experiences and Lessons Learnt in the prevention of Rapid Handpump Corrosion in Uganda’. Ask for Water GmbH, Ministry of Water and Environment, Skat Foundation and RWSN, St Gallen, Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.13722.66243 To help with this problem, RWSN has published international standard specifications for some handpumps, for example the India Mark II and III handpumps. These specifications have to be regularly updated and maintained, and RWSN facilitates this process. This can be done for example by leaning on international standards bodies, in particular ASTM and ISO.
Organising global conferences Every five years since 1992, RWSN has organised a global conference dedicated to rural water supply, called the RWSN Forum. So far, there have been seven RWSN Forums. All of them, except for one in India, took place in Sub-Saharan Africa:
The International Handpump Workshop in Kenya in 1992. 2nd HTN Workshop in Malawi in 1997.Wishart, G. (1997) 2nd HTN Workshop (Malawi, 1997). Partnerships, Roles and Responsibilities, HTN (RWSN), Skat Foundation, St. Gallen, Switzerland 3rd International HTN Forum in India in 2000.Wishart, G. (2000) 3rd HTN International Workshop, India - Proceedings. Government and Civil Society Partnership, Skat, RWSN (incl. HTN), St Gallen, Switzerland 4th Forum in South Africa in 2003 (called 4th International HTN Forum).JONES, J. (2003) Proceedings of the 4th International HTN Forum 2003. Strengthening the Rural Water Supply Network, RWSN (incl. HTN), St Gallen, Switzerland 5th RWSN Forum in Ghana in 2006.RWSN (2006) Proceedings of the 5th RWSN Forum 2006 Ghana. Scaling up Local Entrepreneurship in Rural Water Supply to meet the MDGs, Skat Foundation, MWRWH, RWSN, St Gallen, Switzerland 6th RWSN Forum in Uganda in 2011.Furey, S. G. and Danert, K. (2012) 6th RWSN Forum - Event Report. Rural Water Supply in the 21st Century: Myths of the Past, Visions for the Future, RWSN, St Gallen, Switzerland The most recent conference was the 7th RWSN Forum in Abidjan, co-hosted by the Government of Cote d'Ivoire, in 2016. It was opened by the then Prime Minister Kablan Duncan. One of the main sponsors of the event was the African Development Bank through its Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI).ADB (2016) RWSSI Supports RWSN Forum in RWSSI Newsletter - December 2016 The 8th RWSN Forum in 2021 was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been no announcements of upcoming RWSN Forums since then.
Structure
Secretariat and members The secretariat has been hosted from the start and until now by Skat Foundation in St. Gallen, Switzerland. It coordinates and runs the network activities, in partnership with theme leaders and under the supervision and guidance of the executive steering committee.
Membership for individuals and organisations is free and not time-limited. RWSN has over 16,000 members in 168 countries (as of 2023) from government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), research institutions, and private companies.
Themes
There are currently six themes, each with one or several team leaders from various organisations. Theme leaders are either volunteers or are paid by their employers to carry out RWSN networking, training and knowledge exchange activities. Theme leaders are very important to RWSN’s activities.PEMconsult (2017) The 2017 Rural Water Supply Network evaluation. L'évaluation du Rural Water Supply Network de 2017 As of 2024, the themes of RWSN include: Leave no-one behind (realisation of human rights to water and sanitation for the most marginalised people), Data for action, Multiple use water services (water for livelihoods as well as for households), Self-supply of water and sanitation,André Olschewski (2016) Review of Self-supply and its support services in African countries With findings from Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi. UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) and Skat Foundation. Sustainable groundwater development, Sustainable services.
Executive steering committee The network is governed by an executive steering committee. This committee consists of organisations that are "significant global actors in supporting rural water supply and that have demonstrated their commitment to RWSN activities".RWSN (2023) RWSN Governance Protocol 2023-2025. RWSN library The organisations that make up the steering committee have changed over time and currently (in 2023) consist of the following nine organisations: African Development Bank, BGR (Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources), Global Water Center, One for All Alliance (IRC, Water for Good, Water for People), Skat Foundation, UNICEF, WaterAid, Welthungerhilfe, World Bank.
As of March 2024 Lisa Mitchell and Benjamin Filskov from the Global Water Center, a US-based NGO founded in 2020, will serve on the Executive Committee of RWSN. The two organisations share a vision of "a world where everyone has access to safely managed water".
A statement by World Bank in 2012 explained how World Bank is related to RWSN: "The World Bank and WSP are executive partner organizations of RWSN" along with others. There is ongoing cooperation between World Bank and RWSN.World Bank and Skat Foundation (2019) Innovations in rural water supply sustainability
Affiliations and partnerships RWSN has been a UN-Water Partner since 2020. RWSN is also a strategic partner of UNICEF on providing guidance for water supply, sanitation and hygiene programmes on practical implementation of topics like Leave No-one Behind and water well drilling professionalization.Danert K., Gesti Canuto J. (2016) Professional Water Well Drilling. A UNICEF Guidance Note, Unicef, Skat Foundation
In 2021, RWSN became one of the implementing partners in the programme "Rural Evidence and Learning for Water (REAL-Water)" which is funded by USAID and led by Aquaya.
Since 2022 RWSN is in a partnership with Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The aim is "to support networking and knowledge sharing within Latin America and South-South exchange with Africa and Asia". This is part of a project called "Sustainable and Innovative Rural Water, Sanitation and Hygiene" (SIRWASH).Various (2023) SIRWASH Webinar Series. Webinar series of the SIRWASH Programme (Sustainable and Innovative Rural Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)