Dear Wash Information Consortium colleagues,

A restructuring of the Wash Information Consortium (WIC) area on the SuSanA forum has taken place, with the intention of making the area accessible to the general public, which will result in an increased amount of interest in the WIC initiative.

Here is the direct link: forum.susana.org/forum/categories/127-wa...ation-consortium-wic

You will need to log-in with your SuSanA log-in to access this area currently.
If you have forgotten your SuSanA password (susana.org/lang-en/component/user/reset) or username (susana.org/lang-en/component/user/remind) you can retrieve them via the SuSanA website.

When everyone is happy with the restructured area, then I can make it public, which will have the following consequences:
1. Google searches will be able to find the content in this area of the forum
2. Replies to future posts by the group would attract people from outside of the group to also participate in the discussion
3. The posts would appear in the larger general discussion forum digest which goes out to the over 3500 users of the forum
4. The customised WIC digest would continue to be sent out to just the group with just the recent post that have taken place in the WIC

I look forward to your feedback and the decision on whether we will make the WIC area on the forum public.

Kind regards
Trevor

The discussion concerning MoU, publications and ideas for financial proposals will continue in the forum.
Who What When

Cor/Caridad/ Binayak Call for a meeting for further discussion on proposals By mid-October (ongoing 1st meeting took place in November, 2nd planned for Jan 2014).
Trevor and Hans Explore further possibilities derived from the WASH info Consortium overview October until mid-November (still pending)

All Consortium members

All Send suggestions of publications on sanitation to be promoted during SACOSAN? asap
All Send top 5-8 sanitation publications for SACOSAN asap

Further: Post on WASH Consortium intervention during the North Carolinas event

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Note by moderators: This post was made by a former user with the login name caridad who is no longer a member of this discussion forum.

During last WASH information Consortium meeting it was agreed on changing MoU for "Letter of Agreement". We proposed more discussion before update of the letter on:
- Responsibilities (group members)
- time to be dedicated to the Consortium (mentioned 4 times year for WASH Consortium group meeting + 2 days per month)?

More ideas to be included? Rewording "funding proposals" in a way that all Consortium members could sign? Letter of Agreement for WASH info consortium's members

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Note by moderators: This post was made by a former user with the login name caridad who is no longer a member of this discussion forum.

This dual objective really makes sense: "The WASH Information Consortium has been created to optimise knowledge and information dissemination in the Water, sanitation and hygiene sector globally while promoting information literacy in developing countries."

Just want to point out that in the United States we have information literacy coupled with near total civic illiteracy regarding the technical aspects of WASH, particularly waterless toilet systems. Hope you can help us.

Hi Binayak,

Regarding your question about linking partner repositories, we have been discussing several options.

The most simple is posting weblinks to partner repositories on each of our websites.

You can think of ways to make the sharing of data between repositories easier by agreeing on common meta data tags and terminology. Look for search tools that can simultaneously interrogate all our repositories.

Or we can collaborate to further develop existing or new specialised collections for research data, images, opencourseware etc.

Welcome to the group Binayak. I am glad you started here and if you need more clarification we can continue during the meeting.

[/ul]The WASH Information Consortium has been created to optimise knowledge and information dissemination in the Water, sanitation and hygiene sector globally while promoting information literacy in developing countries. The group aims to develop and deliver joint services, through resource sharing and by submitting joint proposals for external funding.
We believe that optimisation of knowledge and information dissemination and promotion of information literacy will:

• take a broad concerted approach that recognises the range of knowledge and skills available
• apply a shared approach to working together to develop and deliver joint services
• provide Information literacy opportunities and appropriate learning challenges
• help information professionals to build, effectively utilise and evaluate the value and impact of their collections and resources.
• adopt a integrated approach to maximise utility to a diverse potential audience.

Through a shared approach to working together will develop and deliver joint services that address issues of access and the need for tools that help library and repository staff especially in developing countries. We also believe that sharing technology, processes, skills and knowledge within the sector results in the development of tools and projects that add value and efficiency.

[/ul]We don't aim at establishing an independent secretariat. IRC started the initiative last year and we will very much encourage sharing coordination of the group with others.

Repositories are a very important key to the group as it is a huge need to provide an integrated access to a wide variety of WASH resources to people in developing countries.
I hope you get a more clear idea after my answer and probably you will get more feedback from others.
We can continue during the meeting!!! please have a look at the attached document.
See you soon
Caridad

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Note by moderators: This post was made by a former user with the login name caridad who is no longer a member of this discussion forum.

As WIN will be joining new in this consortium, a few questions that might be clear to others but not us:

1. What is the rationale of this consortium?
2. Why does it want to establish a new independent secretariat?
3. How will current knowledge repositories of different partner organizations link to this?
4. Consortium principle is mentioned-what are these principles?
5. Who are the inital driving force behind this consortium?


Thanks

Binayak Das
Programme Coordinator, Knowledge & Research
WIN

This posts relates to the category "Identity" of the WASH information Consortium's group. Aspects explained here are of importance for the work of the WASH information Consortium's members:

Reasons/advantages of the Letter of Agreement:

• To raise commitment for coordinated and collaborative efforts to achieve a collaborative WASH information repository
• Enhance action-learning in the WASH sector through working with local partners to make information useful also at a local level
• To raise commitment for coordinated and collaborative efforts to achieve a collaborative WASH information repository;

These are among others reasons why this Letter of Agreement was drafted. During the meeting on the 24th September 2013 we will have more space for discussion. Let's start the discussion here and we will save time during the meeting! See updated version of the Letter here: Letter of Agreement for WASH information Consortium members

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Vision
We want everyone in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector to access, share and use relevant information to achieve universal, equitable and sustainable access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services.
Mission
We believe that unrestricted access to and informed use of essential WASH sector information is a prerequisite for delivering universal access to WASH services
As a consortium of like-minded organisations our mission is to:
• develop and deliver joint WASH information services through resource sharing and joint proposals for external funding
• jointly promote open access, information literacy and the right to information principles in the WASH sector
• promote the role of improved information services in the WASH services
Goal
The removal of access barriers to information on water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) especially through the promotion of open access and information literacy.

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Note by moderators: This post was made by a former user with the login name caridad who is no longer a member of this discussion forum.

Just an update as follow up: The WASH information Consortium will be presented (among other initiatives) at the
6th UN Water Dialogue : Improving access to water and sanitation information and knowledge from the UN system that will take place on the 17th of June in Spain.
More information: ^http://washinfo2015.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/un-water-decade-programme-on-advocacy-and-communication-unw-dpac/

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Note by moderators: This post was made by a former user with the login name caridad who is no longer a member of this discussion forum.

Here is a first stab at a vision and mission for the Consortium:

Vision

We want everyone in the WASH sector to be able to access, share and use the information they need to realise the goal of universal, equitable and sustainable access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services.

Mission

We believe that the unrestricted access to and informed use of essential WASH sector information is a prerequisite for delivering universal access to WASH services

As a consortium of like-minded organisations our mission is to:

• develop and deliver joint WASH information services, through resource sharing and by submitting joint proposals for external funding


• jointly promote open access, information literacy and the right to information principles in the WASH sector


• promote the role of improved information services in the WASH services

The K4health logic model for monitoring and evaluating information products and services, suggested by Dan, provides a good framework that could be adapted to the type of organisation you are working for. Obviously the intermediate and long-term outcomes are different for a network organisation, a research institute or an advocacy group.

Also any KM/IM monitoring system should be aligned with or feed into the M&E system of the host organisation.

Some of the lessons that IRC has learned using monitoring systems include:

• there is a tendency to use too many indicators: this can make analysis so complex and time consuming that no real learning and adaptation can take place


• large projects have their own (donor-driven) M&E systems which are not necessarily aligned with those of the rest of the organisation


• the IRC WASHCost project showed that successful communication did not depend on one communication channel or product but rather on using multiple channels and products

At IRC we are currently developing strategic communication plans for our major programmes as well as a corporate communication plan. These are helping us to focus on key messages and communication channels/products for our key audiences. At the same time we have developed a new organisation-wide monitoring framework, while for our main programmes learning & adaptive management principles are promoted. Now all we have to do is to get all three to work together.