Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster Working Group

1. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster Working Group

2. Global WASH Cluster Partners NGOs ACF, Oxfam, IRC, WVI, CRS Concern, CARE, NCA, RedR Red Cross IFRC, ICRC UN UNICEF, WHO, UNEP, UNHCR, OCHA Consortiums/ SCHR, InterAction, CDC Other

3. WASH Cluster Leadership Strategy • Recognition of the importance of dedicated cluster support staff • WASH Cluster Support team with NGO experience – New York and Geneva • Builds on, but does not replace, existing informal interagency group • Collective Decision Making – Shared Responsibility • Participants not members

4. Global WASH Cluster Workplan and Partnerships Key Projects • Country Cluster Leads – identification/training • Information Management (assessment, monitoring systems, indicators) • Hygiene Promotion Capacity Building • Emergency Stocks • Training for Capacity Building

5. Ways of Working inside the Cluster • Collective decision making – process for projects • Transparency – option given for direct funding to organisations • Different Cluster participants taking on project implementation • Committed partner organisations • Dedicated cluster support team, known from the sector

6. Working With Others • Building relationships with other clusters/others • Sharing experience and ways of working with others • Identification of how and what we can work on together • Working with Health and Nutrition on Standard Inter-sectoral assessment; shared meeting proposed • Shelter – link-in on NFI development • CCCM – development of MoU for roles and responsibilities at country level • Early Recovery WASH Strategy

7. Challenges At Global level • Slower pace of progress – BUT moving forward ‘together’ • Need to show change/added value quickly • Trickle down of understanding from HQ to field level (all partners) • Collecting the lessons, but are we really learning • Lack of impact indicators for cluster approach At Country Level • Understanding of the cluster approach – internal/external • Ensuring there are dedicated cluster lead positions eg Java, Lebanon • Tools still under development • Making the separation between sector and agency responsibility – trust and confidence in the lead agency • Involvement/ownership by government counterparts

8. What Difference has the Cluster Approach Made - Global Level • A formal network of the largest organisations working in water, sanitation - an information dissemination pathway that works • Institutional recognition and support of the leadership role and responsibility and hygiene in emergencies • An agreed workplan to address key gaps in the sector – and donor backing for it

9. What Difference has the Cluster Approach Made - Country Level • Dedicated Cluster Lead • Service and Support Driven • Prioritisation of the sector response • Advocating resources for the ‘sector’ • Linking cluster with government