How does this course work?

It’s time to talk and act on financing. This eight-hour introductory course provides you with the information you need to accelerate financing for more resilient water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) systems that can provide sustainable services for all. It brings together the latest thinking from around the world and will help you understand that financing is an essential element of sustainable WASH systems. This course was created by a partnership between UNICEF, IRC and Water For People, with funding from the Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS) of the Government of the Netherlands.


Learning objectives

The learning objectives of this course are:

  • how finance is essential for achieving universal and sustainable WASH services
  • what finance for universal and sustainable WASH services entails
  • the status of finance for universal WASH services
  • what a finance strategy is and the most important elements in it
  • why finance strategies are the foundation for financing sustainable WASH systems.


Targeted audience

This course is developed for UNICEF personnel and partners that want to learn more about WASH systems strengthening. 

No prior knowledge of WASH service delivery is required. The course is for professionals working for:

  • Regional and national governments
  • Non-Governmental Organisations, Civil Society Organisations, multilaterals, bilaterals, private organisations
  • Training institutes, consultants and experts working on systems strengthening.


Structure  

The online course consists of five sessions.

  • Welcome
  • Session 1: Introducing finance in the WASH sector
  • Session 2: The life-cycle costs of sustainable WASH services
  • Session 3: Funding the life-cycle costs of sustainable WASH services
  • Session 4: Status of WASH finance
  • Session 5: Finance strategies for sustainable WASH systems
  • Test on sessions 1 to 5, feedback survey and certificate

Complete all the sessions in consecutive order (i.e., from sessions 1 to 5).


Lenght

Each session takes around one hour to complete. The total course duration is estimated at maximum eight hours. 


Language

This course is available in English and French.


Course contact

Anu Paudyal Gautam: apgautam@unicef.org


What we have on offer 

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 is about ‘ensuring the availability and sustainable management of WASH services for all. Realizing SDG 6 and thus improving standards of life for all is one of the main objectives of systems strengthening. These three online courses are here to help you drive positive change as a systems leader:

  • Introducing water, sanitation, and hygiene systems strengthening.
  • Introducing finance for sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene systems.
  • Advanced course: Approaches to finance for sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene systems.

For more details see the table below.

Course Details  

Introducing water, sanitation, and hygiene systems strengthening

Description: This course is designed to equip all UNICEF personnel and partners with a better understanding of what WASH systems strengthening entails and your role in it.

Format: Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) - Self-paced and self-guided [partly available offline]  

ProviderWASH Systems Academy and UNICEF’s Agora platform 

Duration: 5 sessions/8 hours  

Language: English/French 

Created by a partnership of UNICEF, IRC, Water For People and the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)

Introducing finance for sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene systems  

Description: This eight-hour introductory course provides the insights to accelerate finance for more resilient water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) systems that can deliver sustainable services to all.

Format: Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) - Self-paced and self-guided [partly available offline]  

ProviderWASH Systems Academy and UNICEF’s Agora platform 

Duration: 5 sessions/8 hours  

Language: English/French 

Created by a partnership of UNICEF, IRC and Water For People.

Advanced course

Approaches to finance for sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene systems

Description: This course provides approaches to strengthening finance for more resilient WASH systems that can deliver sustainable services to all. From maximizing the use of existing funding, to raising more funding through tariffs or taxes to innovative means as climate finance or blended finance.

Format: Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) - Self-paced and self-guided [partly available offline]  

ProviderWASH Systems Academy and UNICEF’s Agora platform 

Duration: 8 sessions/16 hours  

Language: English/French 

Created by a partnership of UNICEF, IRC and Water For People.



Check out the flyer to learn more about the partnership for WASH systems in Africa