1. WASH Enabling Environment Planning
Show slides to the participants
Facilitator notes and instructions are in the Notes section of the PPT
Additional content for the facilitator to share includes:
Instructions for group work
Questions to ask the group

2. Outline
Learning Objectives
Purpose
Context
Activities
Group Work
WASH EE Support process
Scoring

3. By the end of this session you will be able to
Learning Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to
Explain the importance of planning to strengthen the WASH EE
Define and describe the guiding principles for planning
Identify actions and steps to strengthen the WASH EE through planning
Notes to Facilitator:
For this module we will
Describe the importance of planning to strengthen the enabling environment
Be able to assess and identify planning needs across WASH sub-sectors to strengthen the enabling environment
Identify actions and steps UNICEF project officers can take to strengthen the enabling environment through Planning
Ask the participants: Are there any concerns or questions about the learning outcomes for this module?

4. Purpose ASK PARTICIPANTS WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF PLANNING?
Planning is process of developing a time-bound roadmap with identified resources (human and financial) in place.
WHY IS PLANNING NECESSARY? What does this picture tell us about planning?
If you can’t plan, you can’t achieve your goals
If you don’t have an organizational mandate to plan, then you won’t plan
Aim before you shoot

5. Activities
Secure organizational support to strengthen and sustain links among actors
Support planning and decision-making at the local government level based on evidence
Plan for developing capacity if required
Identify long term funding commitments

6. Diagram UNICEF’s planning cycle
Group Work
Diagram UNICEF’s planning cycle
List what goes into a UNICEF sector WASH plan
List the key characteristics of the planning process
As you think about the WASH EE planning process … list
Activities you would engage in to support government in its planning process
Expected outcomes
Indicators you would use to measure the outcomes
Ask participants to get into groups of four people…make sure different people are together. Answer the following questions….
Answer to Question 1 can be viewed on slide 7: Planning Cycle
Answer to Question 2
For UNICEF, sector planning should include:
Prioritizing issues for UNICEF action
Identifying the bottlenecks that UNICEF will address
Establishing a plan
Preparing a Results Framework Matrix
Budgeting for Results
Answer to Question 3:
Must be systematic & inclusive to ensure the most effective route to achieve goals
Include mid- & long-term sector performance review
Incorporate multi-stakeholder & sector dialogue through multi-stakeholder platforms and mechanisms for sector dialogue and learning
Bottom-up participation
Define accountability mechanisms
Answer to Question 4 – Activities
Note that these are illustrative activities
Support government-led efforts to conduct a WASH sector analysis to identify gaps and needs.
Support a process to develop goals and targets.
Support a sector planning process.
Help to develop an effective communication campaign to inform all stakeholders about the planning process. Use clear and simple language.
Answer to Question 5 – Expected Outcomes
National roadmap and investment for WASH is validated by stakeholders and is operational
National WASH Sector Plan
National WASH Sector Strategy
Answer to Question 6 – Indicators
Note that these are illustrative indicators drawn from the Guidance Note
National WASH program owned by govt. & endorsed by stakeholders
Strategic plan with clear targets, timeline, milestones
Proof of concept (options/solutions, approaches) for scaling up with financing & human resource needs
Community leaders engaged in planning process
Annual (or multi-year) work plans for rural and urban sanitation and water and hygiene are developed, reviewed, implemented, and evaluated based on the available budget.
An annual JSR monitors rural and urban WASH service delivery performance and activities completed, with participation from stakeholders, to enable setting of new targets and undertakings.
National investment plan for rural and urban water and sanitation and hygiene is operational, realistic, pro-poor, and based on a needs-assessment. The plan considers a range of options and has been validated by range of stakeholders.
Monitoring systems regularly measure service levels, use and functionality, reflecting international (WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme) as well as national coverage definitions.

7. WASH EE Support Process
As we have seen, this graphic provides an overview of the steps in the WASH EE Support process.
The dotted circles represent the overlap of this process with the UNICEF program cycle.

8. Support Process Step 1: Agree
Who should be involved in the WASH EE Sector Planning?
Will the actors be different in an emergency or humanitarian context?
In emergency countries, who would need to sit at the table to agree on future WASH EE activities?
What happens if stakeholders in one given country context are more familiar with one WASH topic and not others?
Answer 1
political counterparts
technical counterparts in ministry of planning, financing, and & other ministries involved in WASH sector
donors
development partners
sector actors
Plan should ensure that:
partners commit to support govt. planning processes
donors are aligned with sector goals & access targets
Answer 2
In a non-island country such as Liberia not responding to a given emergency, WASH planning is done using a wide range of Government & external institutions:
Ministry of Lands, Mines & Energy
Ministry of Public Works
Ministry of Health & Social Welfare
Ministry of Education
EPA
Ministry of Planning & Economic Affairs
Ministry of Finance
County Health Team Structure
Bi-lateral & Multi-lateral Development Partners
Key UN Agencies
NGOs
CBOs
Answer 3
In the case of Fiji, the country faces floods and droughts. In this country, water is considered to be a mineral thus it is managed by the Ministry of Mines and Geology, and it is this ministry which set up a water management committee. The committee had been dormant for ten years, and none of its members was familiar with sanitation.
UNICEF’s approach in Fiji was to strengthen national cluster coordination. In so doing, it engaged all ministries involved, but also water suppliers and regulators. Once activated, it became one of better functioning cluster coordination mechanisms. Activated in response to disaster planning, it was converted into a sector strengthening platform. It in specific context of Fiji, one option is to seek that the committee be placed under the Prime Minister’s level, thus raising its importance and role.
Similar examples have occurred in other island countries in the EAPRO region, including the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu where an emergency response coordinating body was converted into a sector coordination platform where sector planning may occur. Even though national mechanisms should be used more typically for sectoral coordination, cluster coordination may represent a step in the right direction.
Answer 4
You may need to identify specific actors who are familiar with other aspects of WASH (e.g. hygiene, CLTS, school WASH) to sit at the table

9. Support Process Step 2: Assess
How do you assess planning in the enabling environment?
As a team, decide on the Assessment Tool and processes.
We have discussed several assessment tools available, including the WASH-BAT. You can assess planning in the enabling environment with an overall assessment tool.
Establish outcomes – what do you want to come out of the assessment? This will allow you to focus and make the best use of your time and resources.
An important part of this step is to build consensus on priorities and actions. Start early in the process so that this teamwork flows throughout.
Identify & analyze planning bottlenecks
Decide on assessment tool and processes
Establish outcomes
Prioritize actions

10. What tools exist to assess the WASH EE planning process?
Assessment
What tools exist to assess the WASH EE planning process?
Develop a check list of questions to ask to assess the WASH EE planning process
Questions to ask in the assessment process:
Is there an identified lead ministry, ensuring that all line ministries and government agencies responsible for WASH are involved in shaping the national plan and targets?
Does the national WASH plan reflects national targets and priorities?
Is there coherence among sector plans at all levels (national and decentralized levels)?
Is there an inclusive environment at national and decentralized levels to guarantee consultative development and review of sector plan?
Do capacities exist for planning, monitoring, joint systematic review, and analysis at both national and local levels, to ensure the sector is supported by a sound system that closes the loop between analysis and planning?
Is there full alignment of donors and partners to the sector plan for effectively delivering development assistance?
Are line ministries responsible for WASH ensuring coordinating, harmonizing and aligning aid for infrastructure, Technical Assistance (TA) and training with the national WASH plan?
Do donors ensure that their infrastructure investments build, not undermine, the capacity of the line ministries to oversee planning of sector investment?
Do donors follow and support the national governments’ efforts to lead the development and review of sector strategies, and work with the government to build or strengthen national and decentralized planning processes and capacities?
Do donors support the national government in developing and implementing strategies and programs of decentralization and capacity building of local governments and service providers?

11. Example: Liberia Assessment Results
Current WASH coverage low
Decisive action needed on all fronts:
completing institutional set-up
building capacity development at all levels
increased funding
Urban services need planning & investment to achieve full cost recovery
An assessment of WASH sector planning in Liberia revealed that:
Current WASH coverage is low
Decisive action needed on all fronts:
completing institutional set-up
building capacity development at all levels
increased funding
Urban services need planning & investment to achieve full cost recovery

12. Support Process Step 3: Plan
What are the key elements of a WASH EE Strategic Plan?
Answer: key elements of a WASH EE Strategic Plan
Country-owned
Agency-led
Participatory, inclusive, transparent
Aligned with stakeholders & partners
Factors in capacity building of lead agency & planners
There will be different roles played in planning. Certain roles for planning can only happen at the central level. Yet, lower levels of government should also have their own plans. And the WASH sector should be included in the planning process at different government levels. Especially when the needs can and should be determined at the local level.
Consequently, one important aspect of planning is how to engage local participation in the planning process. Good WASH governance requires participation from the bottom. Communities need to be included, and any person involved in planning has to find mechanisms to channel the voices from the bottom into the process.

13. Support Process Step 4: Invest
Describe how to mobilize financial resources for developing a WASH Sector Investment Plan?
From whom will the government get financing?
What is the role that UNICEF can play in this process for strengthening the WASH EE?
Advocate for funding from govt.
Encourage govt. to prioritize WASH in budget
Disaggregate WASH budget
Identify expenditure (National/State/Local)
Develop sector investment plan w/ priority areas
Investigate alternative funding strategies
Establish WASH pooled fund mechanism
Report on sector finances
UNICEF can help to improve access to finances to increase access for WASH
Illustrative ways UNICEF can engage
Make sure plan is operational and realistic
Plan is based on existing needs (needs assessment conducted)
Includes equity – pro-poor strategies
Sustainability
Identify gaps in financing and help countries fill those gaps
Plan is validated by stakeholders

14. Support Process Step 5: Implement Group Work
What are the key WASH EE actions UNICEF staff can take to help the country implement is National WASH plan?
Identify the WASH EE functions that UNICEF has agreed to support in your country, outline a UNICEF implementation plan to support these efforts. Identify short-, medium- and long-term milestones and budgets
Answer to Question 1
Examining the 9 WASH EE functions, UNICEF will determine how to support WASH EE depending on the country typology.
Answer to Question 2
Participants will choose a country and identify which elements of WASH EE they will support. The participants will develop an outline of the activities, and include milestones and budgets.

15. Support Process Step 6: Monitor & Evaluate
What will be included in the M & E plan for the country?
What should UNICEF monitor and evaluate? Is this different from what the country is monitoring and evaluating?
Answer to Question 1:
UNICEF supports the Country in monitoring and tracking the country’s commitments to the SDGs. A national M&E plan would include the following elements:
M&E framework developed
Harmonized indicators
De/centralized data collection
Monitoring and Information System (MIS) established
Data is shared internally and externally
Answer to Question 2:
The UNICEF WASH EE Plan will include a monitoring plan to track progress and achievements toward reaching those WASH EE targets.

16. Scoring Country Indicator Status Comments
National investment plan for rural/urban WASH is operational, realistic, pro-poor, based on needs assessment; considers options and validated by stakeholders
Annual/multi-year work plans for rural/urban WASH developed, reviewed, implemented, and evaluated based on available budget
Cambodia
Final draft national investment plan mentioned WASH in rural, but not urban areas.
Lao
National Strategy for Rural WASH costed action plan, but not fully funded. Gov’t partners & INGOs support working groups & planning processes. No sector work plan underlining partner contributions for improved coordination.
Myanmar
National Investment Plan for Rural WASH, WASH in Schools and Health Facilities being developed in Annual/multi-year work plans for rural WASH TBD once National Strategy and Investment Plan endorsed by government. Urban WASH not covered by the National Strategy and Investment Plan = gap.
Vietnam
National investment plans for WASH are pro-poor and based on needs assessment. Scope available to increase technical options. Plans often unrealistic with low financial resource.
Weak / Gaps
Moderate
Progress
Good
This table shows how much progress has been made in countries.
Red – weak
Yellow – moderate
Green – good

17. For more information, please contact
David Tsetse, Ph.D.
WASH Specialist, Planning Monitoring and Capacity Building Programme Division
Tel:
© United Nations Children’s Fund
June 2016
Cover photo © UNICEF