DFID 6456 Improving Water Security for Poor People Research Project (IWSP Research)

Actual CPV code is ‘75211200 Foreign Economic-Aid Related Services’.

The Objective

The supplier is required to manage a major new research programme which responds to the challenges of achieving water security at scale in different geographic contexts and for the benefit of the poorest. The programme will help to deliver the knowledge and information needed to plan, implement and deliver water management and, where appropriate, distribution systems that enhance water security in developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In addition it will provide information to help measure and monitor water security and the costs/benefits of investments in water resources management.

The expected impact will be that efficient and sustainably managed water systems will support increased water security for between 2.5 - 5 million poor people, whilst helping sustain and preserve water resources. It is intended that the programme will deliver robust and accessible evidence on how to ensure sustainable water services for multiple users in developing countries at scale - evidence presented in a way that municipalities, rural water suppliers, governments, DFID and other investment/policy decision-makers can use to improve water security for poor people, and to better understand the costs-benefits and trade-offs associated with investment decisions.

The result will be that as key policies and investment decisions (for example: urban planning in Bangladesh and DRC; agriculture expansion in Ethiopia; or rural water supply in Sierra Leone) are developed; they better take into account the water resources available and any impacts these decisions may have on other users. The programme is expected to deliver five main outputs across a number of research areas or themes.

• Improved evidence on the biophysical, institutional, political economy, social and economic challenges and opportunities in achieving sustainable water security at scale (e.g. evidence of how to maintain and adapt service delivery models to meet the challenges of future stresses (e.g. population growth, increased demand, climate change, pollution)); • Improved evidence on the constraints and opportunities to ensure poor people, including women and those most marginalised, benefit from initiatives to improve water security (e.g. evidence of how women, children and other marginalised groups can be targeted most effectively); • Improved metrics and tools to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of investment in water security (e.g. evidence of cost effective models for service delivery at scale; cost effective approaches, technologies and systems for delivering water security in fragile states at reduced unit costs); • Improved capacity of researchers and policy makers to develop, access and interpret evidence (e.g. urban planners for an Ethiopian municipality are able to use the tools and evidence to assess the impacts of alternative city development plans).