About IRC
Access to safe water and adequate water is recognised as one of the most fundamental of human needs. The development of sustainable capacities to meet these needs in developing countries is one of the key challenges for the water sector as a whole.
Since its foundation in 1968, the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC) has facilitated the sharing, promotion and use of knowledge so that governments, professionals and organisations can better support poor men, women and children in developing countries to obtain water and sanitation services they will use and maintain.
Overview - About IRC
The recent past has seen a shift in IRC's operations, resulting in a new direction for IRC as an organisation centred on the dissemination of knowledge and the building of capacity in partner organisations. In view of its vision, mission, strengths and weaknesses, IRC's ambition is to build on its past achievements to become a more effective and focused knowledge dissemination and capacity building organisation.
What we do?
IRC will try to achieve the ambition to become a more effective and focused knowledge dissemination and capacity building organisation through developments in three core areas. These three core areas are the following:
Knowledge sharing
We provide accessible, high-quality information in a variety of languages and formats, geared to our clients needs. We have assembled a unique team of internationally recognised specialists who use their knowledge and experience to lobby for improved water and sanitation provision that takes into account all the social, educational, scientific and information issues.
Low-cost publishing and dissemination
We have developed a network of information outlets in developing countries, helping other institutions and networks by publishing and disseminating their information at low-cost using solidarity pricing principles.
Facilitating Resource Centres in developing countries
We help local Resource Centres develop their work and improve the skills of their staff, in order to become effective centres of knowledge in their own countries, capable of conducting outreach work, advocacy and information sharing to better support sector decision-makers, professionals and their organizations
The challenge
Knowledge and access to information play a key role in meeting the many challenges in enabling the poor and disadvantaged to meet their water needs and sanitation needs in a sustainable, efficient and affordable manner. Knowledge is power and access to relevant and reliable information can make a tremendous difference.
Children die unnecessarily from water borne diseases because their parents do not know how important a safe water supply is. Knowing, for instance about the need to wash your hands before preparing food, may make the difference between life and death. Knowing about how much water systems cost may help a community to get a fair deal from a local contractor. Where do you go for advice on a national policy to cope with arsenic contamination of water supplies, or to find out about what sanitation system works in a location with a high water table?
Helping to find answers to such questions is where we make a difference.
We do this in a changing world where the volume of (digital) information is growing fast, leading to an information overload particularly in the North. At the same time, the knowledge gap between North and South and even within the South itself is growing ever wider. It is this gap that, with our partners, we aim to bridge.
Our structure
To achieve the ambition to become a more effective and focused knowledge dissemination and capacity building organisation through developments in three core areas, IRC is divided into three different sections.
Information and Communication
The Information and Communication (INCO) section is responsible for the organisation of the validation of information done by the staff of the others sections and external experts, and it collects, validates and produces information on sector news, events, agendas, etc.
Knowledge Development and Advocacy
The Knowledge Development and Advocacy (KDA) section works in partnership with Southern organisations and individuals, through learning projects and support to thematic groups, developing new knowledge and information to fill critical gaps. It also encourages the effective use of knowledge by partner organisations, individuals, and governments through knowledge sharing and advocacy activities.
Resource Centre Development
The Resource Centre Development (RCD) section is responsible for building on networks of organisations, to develop them in the role of Resource Centres, capable of contributing to both the generation and sharing of knowledge at country level, with the aim of preventing mistakes of the past being repeated and ensuring that systems and mechanisms that have proven to be effective are scaled up.
