QUESTION
Capacity building initiatives in WatSan - Need experiences, insights and lessons from initiatives taken in the past

From Arumugam Kalimuthu, WES-Net India & Plan India, New Delhi
Posted 18 October 2007

I am associated with the Water and Environmental Sanitation sector for many years, and I have noticed that capacity building initiatives at all levels play a very important role in the provision and management of water and sanitation facilities. Though most of these aspects are not gained through formal education, it has been noticed that the professionals acquire these skills & knowledge over the year through their work experience and association in the sector.

Though, issues such as fast depletion of ground water, water quality issues, poor sanitation coverage, poor focus on hygiene, problems in dealing in solid and liquid waste, fast urbanisation, emerging issues due to climate change etc., demand adequate human resources with necessary capacity, some how this aspect is not being given priority. I am of the opinion that apart from capacity building initiatives for the people already associated in the sector, grooming younger generation/students is of prime importance towards achieving sustainable water and sanitation solution in the region.

In order to address the above issues, along with like minded national and international organizations, Plan India is taking a lead role under the framework of “WASH Institute”. It is aimed to organize both non-formal and formal courses on “Water and Environmental Sanitation” through partnership with state and central training /academic institutions. WASH aims to cater to the capacity building needs in India and the neighbouring countries in the region.

In this regard, I would like to seek the inputs of the members of water community on the following aspects:

  • Past experiences of capacity building initiatives undertaken, and insights and lessons learned from such initiatives
  • Focus to be adopted for these capacity building initiatives on prioritization of key areas/topics, types of events to be conducted and categories of stakeholders to be targeted
  • Key constraints faced by stakeholders when:

               Imparting skills to target groups
               Undertaking such initiatives on a large scale

  • Types of institutional collaborative mechanisms (or) support essential to take up capacity building initiatives across the country and in the region

Your experiences and suggestions would help in the development of appropriate strategies as envisioned under the framework of the “WASH Institute” to establish effective capacity building initiatives to meet the needs of the sector professionals and also train younger generation of students.

Please see attachment below for the responses.

by
18 October 2007