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The SWIFT Consortium aims to deliver sustainable access to safe water and sanitation and to encourage the adoption of basic hygiene practices in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Kenya. Led by Oxfam, the consortium includes Tearfund and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) as Global Members, and Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) as a Global Associate, along with many implementing partners in the focus countries.

The SWIFT Consortium's objective is to provide water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services to nearly 850,000 people in DRC and Kenya by December 2015, and to build capacity until March 2018 to ensure that these interventions are sustainable. This focus on sustainability will help the programme to bridge the gap between urgent humanitarian needs and a longer term developmental approach.

The SWIFT Consortium is funded with UK aid from the British people via a Payment by Results contract, under the Department for International Development's (DFID) 'WASH Results Programme'. Instead of a grant, payment is tied to outputs and outcomes: non-delivery will result in non-payment, and non-sustainability will result in reduced payment. =Background= In September 2000, at the United Nations Millennium Summit, world leaders worked together to create a blueprint for halving poverty and improving the welfare of the world's poorest people. This goal was translated into eight specific and measurable goals: the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). All the countries represented at the Summit formally agreed to these MDGs, and they were also endorsed by the world’s leading development institutions. The MDG that provided the foundation for DFID's WASH Results Programme was Goal 7 - 'Ensure Environmental Sustainability'. One of the specific targets of this goal (Target 7.C) is to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. This target was identified in order to address what has been termed a 'Sanitation Crisis'. Over a quarter of the world’s population has gained access to improved sanitation since 1990. However, in 2014, one billion people still resort to open defecation. In 2012, 748 million people remained without access to an improved source of drinking water. Despite progress, 40 per cent of the world's population (2.6 billion people) in developing countries currently lack access to improved sanitation facilities.

In 2012, DFID began a tender process for a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Results Programme. DFID manages the WASH Results Programme, and its goals are in accordance with the aims of the water and sanitation-related MDG Target 7.C. The primary geographic focus of DFID's Programme centres on low-income countries with significant water and sanitation needs, while the thematic scope focuses on activities which improve water, sanitation and hygiene service standards to the MDG target levels. DFID has specified that the suppliers who implement this Programme need to engage with a wide range of stakeholders, local governments, the private sector and communities. In this way, any improvements to services are more likely to be financially and operationally sustainable, reflecting DFID's central priority that any benefits that are achieved should continue beyond the end of the Programme. The SWIFT Consortium, with Oxfam GB as the lead agency, was appointed in 2014 as a supplier for the DFID WASH Results Programme. =Geographical Focus= The SWIFT Consortium works in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Kenya, implementing the goals of the DFID WASH Results Programme. In the DRC, SWIFT's work is focused in the east of the country, in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Maniema. SWIFT's implementation of the Programme in Kenya is taking place in Marsabit, Nairobi, Turkana and Wajir. =Implementing Partners= The SWIFT Consortium is working with a number of partners, whose work is essential in delivering the aims of the Programme. In the DRC, these implementing partners include Africa AHEAD, Centre de Promotion Socio Sanitaire (CEPROSSAN), Hyfro, and Programme de Promotion de Soins Santé Primaires (PPSSP). SWIFT is also working in collaboration with the Congolese Government. The SWIFT Programme in Kenya is implemented by partners including Arid Lands Development Focus (ALDEF), BBC Media Action, Concern Worldwide, Practical Action, Sanergy, WASDA and Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), and in collaboration with the Government of Kenya and a number of water service providers. =What the SWIFT Consortium Does=

Democratic Republic of Congo
Activities in DRC include the rehabilitation or construction of protected springs, spring-fed gravity water systems and hand-dug wells and the training of Water Users and Water Management Committees in rural and semi-urban contexts. Working with Water Management Committees is an essential factor in enhancing the sustainability of the work of the SWIFT Consortium. It is very important that any water or sanitation interventions involve the local community, and that the community is encouraged to take responsibility for the maintenance and operation of sanitation systems or water points. Another significant element of the work in DRC is the facilitation of the Villages et Ecoles Assainis (VEA) ('Healthy Villages and Schools') approach. VEA is a national programme, coordinated by the Congolese government, which aims to reduce the spread of diarrhoeal diseases. This Programme takes a participatory approach to improved sanitation and hygiene, and the SWIFT Consortium is working with Provincial Health Divisions to support the work of the VEA Programme. Further details of this community-based approach to improved hygiene and sanitation can be found at www.ecole-village-assainis.cd. Tearfund, a global member of the SWIFT Consortium, is responsible for implementing directly many of the activities within the DRC. It also receives support from Africa AHEAD for piloting Community Health Clubs (CHCs). CHCs are voluntary, community-based organisations dedicated to preventing diseases through safe hygiene.

Kenya
Activities in Kenya range from borehole drilling and the construction of shallow wells and solar pumping systems, to strengthening water utility companies and building the capacity of village-level WASH committees. SWIFT implementing partner BBC Media Action is instrumental in conducting mass media campaigns to encourage hygiene behavioural change. The SWIFT Consortium, through the award-winning Sanergy - an implementing partner - is involved in the installation of 'Fresh Life Toilets'. These toilets are provided by Sanergy and operated on a franchise model. Fresh Life Operators maintain the toilets, which are emptied daily. The waste is converted to fertilizer, which is tested to ensure it complies with World Health Organisation standards. The waste can also be processed in order to provide a source of renewable energy. 100 per cent of the waste is safely treated. Case studies show how these toilets help to address the difficulties faced by adolescent girls in particular by providing safe and hygienic sanitation in schools. Implementing partner Practical Action is training community health volunteers and working in partnership with local people to draw up Community Action Plans, which is an important step in the creation of Community Health Clubs. Practical Action have also been instrumental in providing training for water vendor enterprises. =Payment by Results= Although there is no universal definition of the term 'Payment by Results', all Payment by Results Programmes are based on the concept of sharing risk. Donors using Payment by Results are moving away from providing up-front grants, and towards a system of payment after the achievement of pre-agreed results. In this way, the risk increasingly is shared with those organisations and governments who are implementing development programmes. DFID intends that a Payment by Results methodology will become a major part of the way it delivers aid in the future. Currently, DFID is planning to develop a framework to ensure that there are independent and comparable evaluations in place for all of its Payment by Results projects. Results can be judged in terms of outputs (what is delivered in the short-term) and outcomes (the medium-term effects of the processes and activities). The ultimate aim of meeting these output and outcome targets is to achieve impact (long-term, widespread change). DFID aims to move away from output-focused programmes and towards programmes that will be judged on the basis of outcomes and impact.

The work of the SWIFT Consortium is an example of this Payment by Results approach. In consultation with DFID, the SWIFT Consortium partners have identified developmental and implementation targets and payment for the work is linked explicitly to the achievement of these targets. The work undertaken, the outputs and outcomes achieved and the targets set are independently monitored, evaluated and verified by an external supplier on behalf of DFID.

DFID accepts that Payment by Results contracts will not always be the best instrument to obtain value for money. The costs of verification and the nature of the obstacles and incentives at the heart of any development programme ought to undergo close scrutiny before it is decided that a Payment by Results approach would be appropriate. However, DFID maintains that its goal to incorporate Payment by Results as a major component of its approach to development assistance is due to the significant benefits it can bring. DFID argues that Payment by Results re-balances the accountability between donors and implementers. It also maintains that transparency and accountability are increased under such programmes, and that they are instrumental in sharpening the focus of future programmes in line with DFID's priority results.

More controversial is DIFD's argument that Payment by Results can increase innovation and flexibility in delivery. This point is strongly contested by Professor Robert Chambers (1932-), a British academic and development practitioner. Chambers argues that the nature of these programmes, with their prediction of results and detailed identification of outcomes, is simply not a good fit for the complexity inherent in many development programmes. In addition, critics of Payment by Results argue that it can encourage a focus on 'spending targets' rather than on taking the additional time needed really to listen to the recipients of aid and to develop more extended programmes that better reflect their needs. A further concern is that suppliers might avoid engaging with marginalized groups or more complex cases as the additional cost will not always be rewarded.

Bond, a UK network of international development Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), has investigated the increasing emphasis on Payment by Results. Its report Payment by Results - What it means for UK NGOs points out that Payment by Results as a methodology is not inherently positive or negative. There is a very limited evidence base for Payment by Results, and more evidence is needed before Payment by Results can be proven to provide better value for money than other aid mechanisms.

=References=

=External Links= UNDP Guide to the Millennium Development Goals

The SWIFT Consortium on Oxfam's Policy and Practice Website