Rural Evidence and Learning for Water (REAL Water)

Water testing at Kabarole, Uganda. Credits: The Aquaya Institute.

Description of the Project

REAL-Water is an implementation research program dedicated to three important and interrelated aspects of rural water supply development: Water Provider Performance, Water Safety, and Water Resources. The initiative is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and it aims to develop and evaluate strategies for expanding access to safe, equitable, and sustainable rural water services.

Skat Foundation, through the Rural Water Supply Network, is member of this consortium and has the main role of facilitating the stakeholder engagement at global level and in the countries and plays the role of knowledge broker.

Panelist at the World Water Week session entitled: Driving rural water innovation: from concept to scale-up. Credits: (RWSN Secretariat, 2023)

Project Period: 2021 – 2026

Thematic Focus:
  • Implementation Research 
  • Use of evidence to support decision-making 
  • Coordination and collaboration with related programs contributing to the WASH knowledge base. 
  • Knowledge Brokering 

Name of Staff involved and functions performed:

Sean Furey, RWSN Director

Aline Okello Network Manager

Daniela Marko, Communications Intern

Rena Salzmann, Junior Programm Officer

Andrea Güpfert, Head of Administration and Finances

Bertha Camacho, Senior Knowledge Management Specialist. 

REAL Water Website
Podcast
Research and other resources

Main activities:

Skat Foundation is responsible for the following activities: 

  1. Facilitating Global Engagement through awareness raising activities; face-to-face events, conferences and online communication; and relationship management with global stakeholders. 
  2. Facilitating regional and local engagement among researchers and decision-makers in Ghana, India, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda and making connections with headquarters counter-parts of global organisations. 

Products:  

 Events: 

Knowledge and research: 

  • Collaboration on the research for technical reports. 

REAL Water Session at the IRC All Systems Connect Symposium. The Hague, the Netherlands, May 2023.

Donor:

USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security with support from the Office for Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition in USAID’s Bureau for Global Health 

REAL-Water partners