How to build career expertise in water, sanitation, and hygiene

The water, sanitation, and hygiene, or WASH, sector, just like many others, has changed over the years and today grapples with new and emerging challenges alongside existing ones. According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 3 people still lack access to safe drinking water with around 2 billion using a water source contaminated with feces. In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the deficits in water and sanitation facilities and gaps in hygiene practices; climate change threatens to roll back gains made in terms of access to clean water, and new conflicts amid a cost of living crisis are putting strains on already weak WASH budgets. Against this backdrop, what’s required of those working in this space is shifting. Historically, WASH sector professionals have been good “at adapting, upgrading, and changing their skill sets to adapt to different issues,” said Tommy Ngai, head of WASH at WaterAid UK. For example, in the early 2000s, there was a realization that sanitation was lagging behind. “Many of my colleagues who used to be WASH engineers started to learn about sanitation and do work in that space,” he said. Addressing a new set of challenges, Ngai said he sees “people broadening their skills.” Devex asked various professionals how WASH workers can do just that in a practical way and how they can continue to build their expertise. Pick up specific technical experience As someone who is currently hiring, Zoe Pacciani, the director of operations of Freshwater Project International, shared that she’s looking for candidates with more than a WASH degree but with specific skills. For example, the water space has long implemented boreholes in communities as a way of enhancing access to clean water, but today there’s more of a focus on installing piped water systems, Pacciani said. With that in mind, knowledge in designing and building sustainability and climate-resilient piped water systems is desirable. Additionally, experience in designing solar water systems or certain software would be helpful, she said. EPANET, a water distribution system modeling software developed by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency's water supply and water resources division, and mWater, a water data collection and analytics platform, are common systems used in the space that individuals could become familiar with to make themselves more employable. Alex Knezovich, the managing director of engagement at The Toilet Board Coalition, said any skills pertaining to climate or data are also in demand right now. Several jobs currently posted on Devex’s job board — such as that of WASH coordinator with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies — mention an element of climate in the role. Keep abreast of the latest trends Whether it’s the use of drones to disinfect Ghana’s open-air markets, robots that can detect pipe leaks in South Korea, or artificial intelligence to identify water meter malfunctions in India, technology is changing the way WASH works and those in space need to be up-to-date with the latest trends. Conferences are a good place to glean this information, Pacciani said, while her colleague Heidi Rickels, the executive director of Freshwater Project International, recommended joining the Global Water Works community. This is a social platform that allows WASH professionals to share solutions, case studies, and data. “It focuses primarily on innovative technologies and climate resilience,” she said. On LinkedIn, professionals listed the World Health Organization and UNICEF’s annual Joint Monitoring Program report and Global Waters’ technical briefs as good resources for the latest information while Lindsay Denny, program associate at Emory University and WASH and health consultant with IRC WASH, suggested online courses such as those by UNICEF, CDC Train, and IRC WASH’s WASH Systems Academy for upskilling. “If you are looking to gain more formal or certified experience, the next level up would be the Delft Institute for Water Education, which offers a wider variety of online classes,” she said, adding that this is a good option for someone who is mid-career. Invest in non-WASH-specific skills Denny suggested other capabilities might help complement a WASH skillset. “This could be around behavior change communication, for example, as it relates to WASH,” she said, while Rickels suggested that general communication skills can be valuable when it comes to communicating impact to donors and partners. “One of our staff members has become this incredible photographer [and] videographer in addition to having technical expertise. If you have those skills and are able to liaise between cultures and provide the information to demonstrate impact, that’s just vital,” she said. “That’s from many years of getting pictures of pipes and blurry pictures of latrines from far away that don’t tell a story and now getting these wonderful photos and videos I can share. … That’s like gold to me.” For Dominic O’Neill, the executive director of the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund, anybody hoping to make a transformational change in the space must also be able to “talk finance.” “We’re talking about investable propositions, SME incubators,” he said, calling it a different language that other sectors are already fluent in. “We need to learn how to do that in water,” he said, otherwise it will struggle to find ways of sustainably financing the work. According to new research by Action Against Hunger, there is a 70.3% funding gap for WASH-related programs across 42 countries. This is why SHF sees value in putting its team members through online courses on development finance. A current WASH project officer job posting with Osprey Foundation states that coordinating impact investments will be part of the responsibilities alongside cultivating relationships with funders. Think creatively and contextually Some solutions to access to water and sanitation are traditional and have long been implemented: wells and water pumps, toilets, and filtration technology. But those solutions aren’t reaching the scale they need to. “We’re punching boreholes all over the place but we’re still not reaching that critical mass of above 90% having access to water, and I don’t know if we’ll be able to do so with boreholes,” Pacciani said. With that in mind, she wants to work with people who think outside the traditional NGO perspective. “I want someone who is going to be creative in water supply and design … and not stuck in this traditional NGO pattern of ‘We do things one way,’” she said. More innovative approaches that have been rolled out in recent years include the Warka Tower in parts of Africa, which filter rain and fog; water ATMs in Uganda that purify rainwater and supply it at an affordable price; and fog catchers in Morocco that catch condensation. Ngai also stressed the notion of not learning from behind a computer. “You have to be engaged in programs and working alongside local governments and local groups so that you can see firsthand and understand the situation,” he said, rather than dreaming up ideas that aren’t relevant. Unfortunately, right now, it’s difficult, he said, to find people who have specialized technical knowledge, a good understanding of local context, and management skills.