Water, sanitation and hygiene
Contact //Tel: +61 2 6178 4000
Fax: +61 2 6178 4880 // Post: GPO Box 887, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
New Civil Society, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Fund
The AusAID Civil Society WASH Fund is a $97 million competitive grants program that will run from 2012 until 2017 and will support civil society organisations (CSOs) to deliver WASH programs in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. This funding covers grants to CSOs and components which will support CSOs to deliver the fund’s outcomes. These include research grants, innovation and impact grants, fund management and knowledge and learning events.
The core objective of the fund is to enhance the health and quality of life of the poor and vulnerable by improving sustainable access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
Latest news—selection process outcomes
AusAID has commenced advising applicants of the outcomes of the selection process for the fund.
Information on the process is available in the frequently asked questions.
We also encourage you to monitor our website for further updates.
Design
Grants are allocated via a competitive funding round, which was coordinated by AusAID's Infrastructure and Water Policy Section (IWP) in Canberra. Proposals were invited from both accredited and non-accredited Australian CSOs, as well as suitably experienced international CSOs (partnerships with national CSOs will be supported). Proposals were assessed primarily on program quality and organisational capacity, with consideration also given to the need to achieve a balance of funding across regions.
Successful applicants will be required to implement activities over two phases. Firstly applicants will enter an inception phase of approximately four months during which time they will be required to further define and document their activity designs and implementation plans. A team of monitoring and evaluation experts will be responsible for producing document templates and will also provide technical assistance during the inception phase. The resulting products will form the scope of services for an agreement with AusAID for the four-year implementation phase of the activity (July 2013–June 2017).
The fund will resource a mix of water supply, sanitation and hygiene behaviour activities. AusAID favoured activities that place an emphasis on sanitation, which globally is tracking poorly against Millennium Development Goal target 7c: to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Furthermore, to be considered eligible both water and sanitation activities had to have a hygiene component.
In addition to delivering water, sanitation and hygiene activities, each successful CSO will be expected to contribute to the evidence base on effective practice in WASH. Activities should monitor and report on the cost effectiveness of WASH approaches, the success factors and risks associated with innovative approaches and lessons learned from taking proven interventions to scale.
CSO contributions to the evidence base will be enhanced by a Knowledge and Learning Component, which will have three parts:
- Innovation and pilot grants of up to $100,000 per year for up to two years, available to CSO participating in the fund, in collaboration with research organisations.
- Two AusAID Development Research Awards Scheme research grants of up to $400,000 per year for up to three years for research organisations with recognised expertise in WASH (the grants will be linked to the work of the fund).
- Knowledge sharing and learning events such as regional workshops, webinars and an active website.
Resources
New, revised guidelines were uploaded to this website on 4 July 2012 at 17:30 hours Australian Eastern Standard Time.
Read the revised fund program guidelines
Read a summary of the changes
Those interested in the fund are encouraged to read the detailed design report for the fund and the Fund Performance Assessment Framework.
A supplementary document to the design report for the fund has also been included on this website. Annex D—Knowledge and Learning Component provides more information on the Innovation and Impact Grants, the AusAID Development Research Awards Scheme grants linked to the fund and the role of the Knowledge and Learning Manager.
The design draws on lessons learned from the first Civil Society WASH Fund, which ran from May 2010 to March 2012. Applicants are encouraged to read the associated Independent Progress Report, which provided recommendations for the design of a future program.
Presentation to sector
On 28 June 2012 AusAID delivered a presentation to the WASH sector in Melbourne, Australia. The presentation was an opportunity to ask any questions regarding the fund's design, the application process and implementation.
Access the PowerPoint presentations used by AusAID
CS WASH industry presentation Q&A