Evaluation

Richard Carter is joined by Jeremy Colin and Sue Cavill in a review of the global WASH strategy of the UK-based NGO United Purpose.  This work will involve four or five country visits, a small number of document and literature reviews, and key informant interviews.  The Inception Report was submitted in October 2018 and a first draft of the Synthesis Report is expected around April 2019.

Teaching

In the Lent Term (January to March annually) I teach a module in the Cambridge University MPhil course in Engineering for Sustainable Development.  The course was launched in October 2002.  It recruits around 35 to 40 students annually and explores the context in which engineering activity must take place. The module in International Development takes students into the context, objectives, means and outcomes of development interventions in low- and middle-income countries, and the place of engineering in those interventions.  As is appropriate to the course as a whole, a heavy emphasis is placed on outcomes which are both inclusive and sustainable. The most recent module ran from mid February to mid March 2018.

Knowledge Management

I am a member of a four-person Knowledge Broker team led by Swiss international development consultancy Skat.  Together our role is to act as intermediaries between the various research teams and the practitioners and decision-makers who determine how groundwater should be developed and managed in sub-Saharan Africa.  More information about the programme is available at http://upgro.org/about/.  There is a specific link to the Knowledge Broker activities.  I am also a member of the “Hidden Crisis” project team, led by the British Geological Survey. This UPGro Project has been investigating causes of borehole / hand pump failure and abandonment in Uganda, and has now moved into its main phase, continuing work in Uganda and extending into Ethiopia and Malawi.

Evaluation

In 2013 DFID embarked on a major initiative to bring water, sanitation and improved hygiene practices to between 9 and 15 million people in 13 countries.  The WASH Results Programme is working through three large international NGO consortia.  Oxford Policy Management (http://www.opml.co.uk) is part of a consortium led by Itad, in collaboration with IWEL and Ecorys, to undertake the MVE contract for this programme.  I act as expert adviser to OPM on sustainability and equity in the evaluation work stream.