Global Sanitation Fund Frequently Asked Questions

Updated in April 2010.

1. What is the Global Sanitation Fund and what kind of relationship does it have with the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)?

The Global Sanitation Fund is a pooled fund designed to increase financing in the sanitation sector. It is open to contributions from all sources, and accessible to all countries meeting eligibility criteria. The GSF is one of the three "pillars" of WSSCC's work, and thus is not a separate mechanism or organisation. The WSSCC Steering Committee (its democratically elected board of governance) is the ultimate decision making body for WSSCC's work, including the Global Sanitation Fund, while the WSSCC Secretariat in Geneva is responsible for the overall management of the GSF. The United Nations Office for Project Services provides the legal structure and administrative framework for the WSSCC and hence for the Global Sanitation Fund.

2. Why is the Global Sanitation Fund needed?

The GSF is needed because access to sanitation is not being improved. Shockingly, 2.6 billion are without access to basic sanitation; five years ago, the figure was 2.4 billion. Since funding sources in the sanitation sector are pitifully small, there is a need to find new money.

3. Why is WSSCC well-suited to operate the GSF?

National ownership of development work is critically important, as is an on-the-ground network to support that work. WSSCC knows and respects this. Because it has WASH Coalitions labouring daily with the issues in over 30 countries, WSSCC can target GSF funds effectively to support national efforts to help larger numbers of poor people attain sustainable access to basic sanitation and to adopt good hygiene practices, and to provide financial boost to already-existing national strategies. In short, WSSCC can reach the organizations that can implement the work.

4. What is the definition of sanitation used by the GSF?

WSSCC follows the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme's definition of basic sanitation as "the lowest-cost technology ensuring hygienic excreta and sullage disposal and a clean and healthful living environment both at home and in the neighbourhood of users. Access to basic sanitation includes safety and privacy in the use of these services."

The activities eligible for funding under the GSF grant programmes will target improved sanitation and hygiene related to excreta management, as opposed to solid waste management, storm water management or other issues in environmental health. The activities may be concerned with either the household or institutional environment, or both.

5. What kind of work will the GSF be supporting?

Fundamental to the GSF is the principle that it exists only to help poor people. There are four ways it will do this: 1) by working at scale, and not through pilot projects; 2) by raising awareness of the issues and creating demand for toilets; 3) by promoting sustainable services; and 4) by supporting work that is demanded by the people and which does not require or accept direct hardware subsidies.

6. What are direct hardware subsidies?

Direct hardware subsidies mean financing provided to households to build toilets, or toilets provided directly. In both cases, the household doesn't participate, which has proven to be ineffective as people tend not to use facilities for which they don't feel the need, or that are irrelevant for a given social or cultural context. This is why GSF supports work that focuses on sanitation and hygiene promotion, awareness raising and demand creation. GSF funds will not be used for direct hardware subsidies.

7. Isn't there a contradiction between wanting to go to scale and supporting small local organisations?

The purpose of the GSF is to boost the number of people improving their sanitation. But WSSCC knows that in many countries the small CBOs and NGOs are the best at working with communities on a demand-led basis, so the GSF is likely to fund a large number of small programmes rather than a small number of large ones.

8. Who can donate to the GSF?

The GSF is a single pooled fund, open to contributions from any source, including governments, foundations, individuals and the private sector. UNOPS guidelines govern the GSF's interaction with commercial enterprises. A strength of the GSF is that its contributors agree that their funds can be used for the purpose decided by WSSCC and do not impose operational restrictions on their use. This enables WSSCC to most effectively target use of GSF funds.

9. Which criteria determine a country's eligibility for GSF funding?

Six conditions must be met for a country to be considered eligible for GSF funding:

• The national government must approve of and welcome the GSF.
• There must be a large number of poor people without sanitation.
• There must be a high incidence of disease related to water, sanitation and hygiene.
• Economic and social development indicators must be low.
• There must be an existing but under-funded and under-implemented national sanitation policy or strategy.
• An active WASH Coalition or other WSSCC partner must be present in the country.

10. What is meant by 'active WSSCC presence in country' in the country selection criteria?

This normally means that there should be a National WASH Coalition, but in some countries the coalition itself might not be active but there might be a number of active individual WSSCC members who can form the core of the GSF Coordinating Mechanism. The important underlying principle is strong leadership by colleagues in the country itself rather than by the staff in Geneva.

11. Is there a difference between government strategy and policy?

These are different words that come to the same meaning: the country's leadership must demonstrate that the government and major stakeholders have clear ideas about sanitation and the way to implement it in their country and need financial assistance in order to fully achieve their ideas/plans.

12. Who judges the quality of the strategy and based on what criteria? Is there a framework for good strategy?

There is no framework and evaluations are made case by case. But the government must demonstrate a track record of strategy/policy design and implementation.

13. What is the relationship of the GSF with the national government of any given country?

The relationship is fundamental. The national government sets national sanitation policy and strategy and insures that the GSF scope of work is aligned with it; approves GSF activity in the country; provides active leadership for the Coordinating Mechanism; and promotes collaboration and synergy between different actors in the government.

14. Will the GSF open offices in countries?

No. The GSF is one of the 3 programme areas of WSSCC and the latter doesn't have country offices. The work will be accomplished through the Executing Agencies and the Sub-grantees that must be registered in a given country and able to operate in the whole country, and not only in one specific region, and monitored from the Secretariat in Geneva with the participation of several monitoring, coordination and auditing mechanisms.

15. Can the GSF support municipal sewage systems?

This is not excluded, but the main emphasis of GSF funding is on hygiene promotion and demand creation, not construction of (either on-site or off-site) infrastructure. The latter would be rarely funded and would have to be specifically pro-poor and sustainable, plus they usually already have other funding sources.

16. What is the Executing Agency and how is it selected?

The Executing Agency operates the GSF in a given country. There is one Executing Agency in each country. It is selected by the WSSCC Secretariat through a competitive tender process which is initiated by a formal Request for Expression of Interest. In operation, the Executing Agency is advised by the Coordinating Mechanism in the country and the international GSF Advisory Committee.

The Executing Agency must be a legal entity registered in the country and must have the mandate to work anywhere in the country. It must have a legally-defined purpose that is clearly different from the policy-setting purpose of the national government, to avoid conflict of interest.

• receives funds from WSSCC
• selects and contracts with Sub-Grantees to implement GSF work programmes
• supervises, trains and helps Sub-Grantees implement work programmes
• monitors and evaluates the work of Sub-Grantees
• participates in the Coordinating Mechanism
• reports to WSSCC and to the Coordinating Mechanism

17. How, and to whom, are GSF applications submitted?

Potential Executing Agencies should respond to the Request for Expression of Interest (applications) directly to WSSCC and UNOPS in Geneva. Once the Executing Agency for any given country is selected, its contact details will be posted on the WSSCC website and the potential Sub-Grantees in that country should direct their expression of interest to the Executing Agency itself and not to the WSSCC Secretariat in Geneva or to UNOPS.

The Global Sanitation Fund does not accept spontaneous expressions of interest/applications from individuals or organisations.

18.    Can a consortium of different organisations become an Executing Agency?

Yes.

19. What criteria exist for Sub-Grantees?

Each Sub-Grantee must be a legal entity registered in the country. The common underlying principle governing Sub-Grantee selection is that the Sub-Grantee's operations must be equitable, open and transparent. There is no limit to the number of Sub-Grantees in each country. Each selected Sub-Grantee receives funds from the Executing Agency to implement GSF work programmes according to agreed criteria and reports to the Executing Agency.

20. What is the timeline for accepting GSF applications, selecting Executing Agencies and starting GSF work in countries?

• Round 1 GSF countries are: Madagascar, Nepal, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Senegal, India and Pakistan.
• Round 2 GSF countries are: Ethiopia, Kenya, Cambodia, Mali, Malawi, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Nigeria, Togo, Benin.
• Procurement activities for Executing Agencies and Country Programme Monitors have begun in several countries. Current notices are always found on the WSSCC home page and at the UNOPS home page found here (click on link). 
• When selected, the names and contact details for Executing Agencies are published on the WSSCC website on the relevant country page.

 

This section has been developed to give you simple answers to questions that frequently arise regarding the Global Sanitation Fund and we will do our best to keep it up-to-date. Shall you have further questions or feel the need for more clarifications, please direct your queries to wsscc@wsscc.org.