WSUP Advisory
Consultancy for urban water and sanitation
WSUP Advisory provides consultancy services that build upon WSUP’s experience, expanding the organisation’s reach and reputation in urban water and sanitation.
Current projects
Support to Mid-Western Umbrella for Water and Sanitation
Country: Uganda
Funder: Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Equitable provision of services
Country: Uganda
Funder: Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Support to Central Umbrella for Water and Sanitation
Country: Uganda
Funder: Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Lake Victoria Basin lake-wide Inclusive Sanitation
Countries: Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda
Funder: The World Bank
Sanitation Business Plan for Blantyre City
Country: Malawi
Funder: UNICEF
Principles of Universal Access to Water and Sanitation for Africa
Countries: Africa-wide
Funder: The World Bank
WSUP’s experience in developing water and sanitation programmes in some of the poorest and most challenging cities in the world informs the advice and guidance we give.
We help municipalities, utilities and independent service providers around the world tackle the challenges of rapid urbanisation and improve life for millions of people who lack access to water and sanitation services. This includes helping service providers identify and develop sustainable business models that can benefit low-income customers.
We work with local and national governments and regulators to create favourable operating environments for these service providers.
We also support and advise international finance institutions, international agencies and non-government institutions, corporations and foundations who are investing in, or supporting water and sanitation improvements.
WSUP Advisory recognises that providing sustainable water and sanitation services to all generally requires system-wide transformation:
- we adopt a holistic perspective on how to improve city-level water and sanitation service delivery so that everyone, including low-income populations, can benefit;
- we offer expertise in strategic planning, organisational change management, business development, policy and regulatory reform that enable transformational change.
Governance of WSUP and WSUP Advisory
Our services
-
Helping utilities and municipalities improve services to low-income customers
As agencies begin to recognise the commercial benefits of serving low-income communities, they face huge challenges in making their services reach parts of the city that lie beyond the range of existing infrastructure.
Providing affordable and sustainable services to low-income customers requires new business models, technical solutions and customer management models that keep profits up and costs down. This often results in significant organisational change.
Our key expertise in this area includes:
- Capacity building and technical assistance in planning, operations and management.
- Regulatory compliance, particularly pro-poor key performance indicators.
- Developing low-income community units and staff training.
- Developing, facilitating and supporting delegated management contracts and public-private partnership models.
- Optimising resources, for example non-revenue water (NRW) reduction.
- Developing the faecal sludge management (FSM) market.
- Support for benchmarking and service performance assessment.
Examples of our work:
-
Supporting small and medium enterprises and community-owned service providers
Small businesses and community-owned service providers such as private entrepreneurs and water trusts are important suppliers of sustainable services in low-income communities. Our specialist teams have worked with stand post and water kiosk operators, small local network operators, sanitation product retailers and fitters, self-employed pit emptiers and vacuum tanker operators.
We support and promote the roles of these alternative service providers by helping create favourable operating environments for their businesses.
Our key expertise in this area includes:
- Supporting business development, including marketing, financial analysis, operational improvements, mobilising finance and advising on financial viability.
- Contractual arrangements including operating contracts and leasing.
- Sanitation marketing.
- Training artisans and improving worker health and safety.
- Use of mobile technology.
- Creating partnerships between utilities and private businesses.
Examples of our work:
-
Helping governments and regulators design policies and regulations
Transforming the WASH sector in fast-growing cities requires changes in government policy, legislation, funding and regulation. We help governments and regulators achieve this, focusing on how these changes benefit low-income populations.
Our key expertise in this area includes:
- Developing national level strategies and masterplans with a pro-poor focus.
- Sharing best practice and developing national standards and guidelines.
- Developing national policies and legislation for non-sewered sanitation.
- Setting tariffs for pro-poor water and sanitation services.
- Developing models and model contracts for public-private partnership and other forms of delegated management.
- Managing hygiene and behaviour change programmes in cities.
Examples of our work:
-
Guiding international finance institutions and funders
Multilateral and bilateral organisations and foundations are changing their investment priorities from rural to urban water and sanitation. They are also looking at how their traditional large-scale investments can better target low-income communities.
Our teams’ expertise in developing urban water and sanitation programmes with local governments since 2006 gives us valuable hands-on experience to advise international organisations and funders.
Our key expertise in this area includes:
- Helping partners understand and adapt to the challenges of working in urban environments.
- Advising on including suitable pro-poor elements such as on-site sanitation and faecal sludge management in project designs.
- Assuring the appropriate implementation of pro-poor components of larger projects.
- Managing large scale water and sanitation programmes.
Examples of our work:
-
Supporting international agencies and non-government organisations
A growing number of international agencies and non-government organisations are shifting the focus of their work to the urban poor. We are able to use our experience in developing urban water and sanitation programmes to assist them with the process of developing road maps and action plans that directly relate to their project goals.
Our key expertise in this area includes:
- Developing urban water and sanitation strategies and programmes.
- Capacity building and training.
- Developing new implementation partnerships with urban actors.
- Addressing unfamiliar business and technical challenges.
- Developing guidance documentation with actionable recommendations.
- Monitoring, reviewing and advising on existing programmes.
Examples of our work:
-
Advising corporations and foundations investing in urban water and sanitation
There are substantial opportunities for corporations and foundations to engage with the WASH sector and make sustainable improvements to the lives of millions of people. Our partnerships with these organisations help them transform water and sanitation services in cities around the world for future generations.
Our key expertise in this area includes:
- Developing corporate strategies and supporting decision-making for developing partnerships for water and sanitation.
- Helping to identify opportunities and partnerships for urban water and sanitation interventions.
- Supporting water and sanitation investment projects.
- Managing water and sanitation programmes.