Implementation principles
The Global Sanitation Fund is a financing mechanism that aims to boost expenditure on sanitation and hygiene in accordance with national sanitation and hygiene policies. The Global Sanitation Fund is not a new organization or parallel system and forms one of the key pillars of WSSCC's work.
- The Global Sanitation Fund is people-centred, community-managed and demand driven
The Global Sanitation Fund supports work programmes that have been developed through participatory decision making processes involving the communities. The work should be designed to achieve community level health benefits and respond to the needs and wishes of the people. Global Sanitation Fund-supported work should concentrate on hygiene education, raising awareness and creating demand rather than on constructing or rehabilitating sanitation facilities – because that is done by the householders themselves once they are aware and motivated.
- The Global Sanitation Fund targets poor and unserved communities
All funds originating from the Global Sanitation Fund must contribute to improved sanitation and hygiene for people who currently lack basic sanitation. The Global Sanitation Fund focuses particularly on groups whose needs are not adequately met by existing funding mechanisms, especially the poor in rural and peri-urban areas.
- The Global Sanitation Fund incorporates gender considerations
Sanitation and hygiene have very strong gender links, especially in respect of the privacy, dignity and equity of opportunity of women and girls. The Global Sanitation Fund requires that all supported work gives due consideration to gender.
- The Global Sanitation Fund expands coverage
While open to innovation, the Global Sanitation Fund's main function is to increase the number of people with improved sanitation and hygiene. It therefore supports scaling up and replication of proven techniques rather than development and testing of new ones.
- The Global Sanitation Fund respects national leadership
The Global Sanitation Fund only operates in countries with the explicit agreement and welcome of the national government. All Global Sanitation Fund-supported work programmes must fulfil the national sanitation policy aims and be part of well-coordinated national or local strategies owned by the people and their governments.
- The Global Sanitation Fund promotes sustainable services
The Global Sanitation Fund aims to support safe and sustainable services, meaning those that protect and promote human health and at the same time do not induce environmental degradation or depletion of the resource base, are technically and institutionally appropriate, economically viable and socially acceptable. In keeping with its demand-driven approach, the Global Sanitation Fund does not prescribe specific technologies or methodologies to attain these sustainability criteria. Instead of deciding what work to fund, the Global Sanitation Fund evaluates proposals in terms of these sustainability criteria.
Management principles
- The Global Sanitation Fund pools funds
The Global Sanitation Fund is a single pooled fund, open to contributions from any source, including governments, foundations, private sector and individuals, subject to WHO guidelines regarding interaction with commercial enterprises. Contributors agree that their funds can be used for the purpose decided by WSSCC's Steering Committee and do not impose operational restrictions on their use. In return WSSCC's Steering Committee is accountable to all the contributors for the use of their funds.
- The Global Sanitation Fund seeks additionality
Since the Global Sanitation Fund's purpose is to boost expenditure on sanitation and hygiene in particular countries, funds provided by the Global Sanitation Fund should be additional to other sources of funding for sanitation and hygiene in those same countries and must not be used to replace funding from existing sources. The Global Sanitation Fund also achieves additionality by putting some of its resources into improving the capacity of local organisations to do more work, and by generating material for WSSCC's own advocacy work.
- The Global Sanitation Fund uses results-based management
Each work programme funded by the Global Sanitation Fund must have a clearly-defined target group, methodology and timescale. Results-based management enhances accountability, encourages strong performance and creates opportunities for innovation. The WSSCC Secretariat uses the WHO framework for results-based management and its information and support systems. The contracts written by WHO on behalf of the Global Sanitation Fund incorporate results-based management.
- The Global Sanitation Fund has a zero-tolerance policy in respect of fraud and corruption
Fraud and corruption are incompatible with integrity and efficiency. The effectiveness of the WSSCC as well as that of its host WHO depend largely on the strength of their reputations for integrity built over many years. To protect these assets and ensure that funds are used for their intended purpose, the Global Sanitation Fund rigorously applies the WHO Fraud Prevention Policy and Fraud Awareness Guidelines as well as WHO policies and procedures in the areas of human resource management, financial management, contracting and procurement that are specifically designed to reduce the risk of fraud. The Global Sanitation Fund is included in the WHO systems for external and internal audit.
- The Global Sanitation Fund works transparently
All procedures, processes and decisions relating to grants management are publicly available both in written form and in the Global Sanitation Fund section of WSSCC’s website.
- The Global Sanitation Fund aspires to achieve best practice
WSSCC adheres to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness in all its work including the Global Sanitation Fund. WSSCC also aims to manage the Global Sanitation Fund in accordance with currently-agreed best practice for global funds that covers many aspects of global funds' work, notably to ensure that global funds do not distort or circumvent national leadership.