Dear Dan,

You said:

I believe USAID uses Water Portal rather than WASH because USAID also is involved in agricultural water management and integrated water resources management in addition to WASH.

This made me aware that in my mind, the term "water" in WASH was not necessarily restricted to water supply but I guess officially it is.

So such a USAID "Water Portal" could perhaps simply be renamed "Water and Sanitation Portal", in which case it could include water supply, agricultural water management and integrated water resources management - and also sanitation.

Subsuming "sanitation" under a "Water Portal" is in my opinion misleading and negates the progress we've achieved in recent years to raise the profile of sanitation to a similar or at least closer level to the profile of water (in development cooperation).

Have you had any feedback from your USAID colleagues about the naming of the portal?

Regards,
Elisabeth

P.S. You comment prompted me to add this information also to the Wikipedia article on WASH, where I've now added (see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WASH#History):

The term "water" in this acronym is generally understood to refer to water supply only, not e.g. to integrated water resources management (IWRM) or water resource management in agriculture .

Hi Elisabeth

Thanks for your comments and I will share them with USAID. I believe USAID uses Water Portal rather than WASH because USAID also is involved in agricultural water management and integrated water resources management in addition to WASH.

Best regards,
Dan

Hi Dan,

I took the survey the other day. It was short and painless. However, I find it odd that they speak of "water portal", "water program" etc. and expect people to know that sanitation falls under water with USAID. Obviously, there are lots of connections, but some things are also different. E.g. things like soil-transmitted helminths, reuse of excreta in agriculture, open defecation behavior change, CLTS, faecal sludge management, pit latrines, other types of dry toilets, composting etc., are not really "water issues" but sanitation issues in their own right.

Has there ever been any talk at USAID to change the title of the portal to a "WASH portal" or a "water, sanitation, hygiene portal"?

By the way, this call for proposals by USAID looks terrible interesting:
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/95-cal...han-february-10-2016
The thread is called: "USAID solicitation – Sustainable WASH Systems - submit Expressions of Interest no later than February 10, 2016"

Regards,
Elisabeth

P.S. I had to chuckle at the term of "voluntary survey" in your post. Is there also such a thing as a compulsory survey?

Dear Colleagues:

I received the note below from a member of the USAID Water Team. Please respond to the survey to contribute your ideas and suggestions to USAID for a Water/WASH web portal.

USAID is developing a new web portal that could potentially serve as a centralized resource for Agency staff, partners and the public on global water issues. The portal is being designed as a hub for news, technical content, program and country information and data on Agency-wide water sector activities.

The below brief and voluntary survey will help USAID determine what content and features would be of greatest use to the water and development community. The entire survey should take less than 5 minutes for you to complete.

For more information please contact the E3/Water Office – Communications and Knowledge Management team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Link to the survey: ow.ly/XC1Xq