Governance, accountability & finance

The Global Sanitation Fund is not a separate organization. It is a financing mechanism managed by the WSSCC Secretariat. Therefore the governance of the Global Sanitation Fund falls under the scope of the governance structure of WSSCC.

Accountability

The WSSCC Steering Committee, itself an elected body, makes the major programmatic decisions. WSSCC is accountable to its financial contributors through the Steering Committee, which is empowered to set up extra governance mechanisms as needed.

WSSCC is accountable to in-country stakeholders – especially to the unserved populations for whom it exists and to the governments – through robust mechanisms developed individually in each country in which WSSCC, and specifically the Global Sanitation Fund, operates.

Finance

The WSSCC Secretariat, based in Geneva, is legally and administratively hosted by the World Health Organization. Thus the legal identity of the Global Sanitation Fund is as a Trust Fund of WHO.

The Global Sanitation Fund is open to contributions from any source including governments, foundations, private sector, and individuals. Since this is a single pooled fund, the contributors agree that their funds can be used for the purpose decided by WSSCC’s Steering Committee.

WSSCC encourages donors to make multi-year commitments to this fund, in order to help long-term financial planning. Income can be received at any time of year. WSSCC positively welcomes support from donors that have not previously been supporting sanitation work – thus the Global Sanitation Fund attracts new funds into the sector.