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

About

The Department for International Development awarded a contract to The Chancellor, Masters & Scholars of the University of Oxford for the DFID 6456 Improving Water Security for Poor People Research Project (IWSP Research).

The supplier is required to manage a major new research programme responding to challenges of achieving water security at scale in different geographic contexts for the benefit of the poorest.

The programme will deliver knowledge and information needed to plan, implement and deliver water management and distribution systems that enhance water security in developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and provide information to help measure and monitor water security and the costs/benefits of investments in water resources management.

The expected impact is that efficient and sustainably managed water systems will support increased water security for between 2.5 - 5 million poor people while helping sustain and preserve water resources.

The programme will deliver robust and accessible evidence on how to ensure sustainable water services for multiple users in developing countries at scale, presented for use by municipalities, rural water suppliers, governments, DFID and other investment/policy decision-makers to improve water security for poor people and better understand costs-benefits and trade-offs associated with investment decisions.

The result will be that key policies and investment decisions (e.g., urban planning in Bangladesh and DRC; agriculture expansion in Ethiopia; or rural water supply in Sierra Leone) better take into account available water resources and impacts on other users.

The programme is expected to deliver five main outputs across a number of research areas or themes, including improved evidence on biophysical, institutional, political economy, social and economic challenges and opportunities in achieving sustainable water security at scale.

The contract value is AUD 14,992,484.