Big thanks to Water Alliance and NWP (Netherlands Water Partnership) (including host Folkert Tempelman) for giving Akvo a platform to discuss the opportunities and risks of AI in the international water sector - from how we are applying AI in our own projects, to the importance of reducing cultural data bias.

At WWW 2024, we explored how open WASH data can break down barriers and improve decision-making in the sector along with a group of excellent cross-sectoral WASH experts.

• Taking a siloed approach to decentralized water treatment will not lead to long-term access to improved water services

• Our systems analysis reveals the broader socioenvironmental factors and feedback loops that determine the sustainability of water treatment implementation. We are able to identify leverage points: processes wherein a discrete intervention could influence wider system behavior. In other words, quick(er) wins!

• We encourage a fit-for-purpose approach to intervention design that is reinforced through hybrid water service delivery models

• Collaboration between facilitating actors and water users can strengthen information flows, access to financing, and management arrangements

• Future work should prioritize health impact evidence, water quality reporting guidance, and technological capabilities that optimize trade-offs in fit-for-purpose treatment design

This learning note summarizes the findings of USAID Transform WASH's activities to explore progress towards universal sanitation coverage achieved through market-based sanitation.

The Transform WASH team knows a lot about its customers and the performance of its business partners. However, only limited information is available about non-customers. This assessment, in line with the AWS framework, aims to describe progress towards universal coverage achieved through market-based sanitation and to identify population groups that may have been left out and remain without adequate sanitation services.

WASHWeb and openwashdata have formed a strategic partnership to facilitate improvements in access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) data. The openwashdata community empowers WASH professionals to engage with tools and workflows for open data and code by increasing the reuse potential of existing data and providing courses to build the required competencies.

This paper is a global literature review of anticipatory action approaches in communities hosting forcibly displaced persons. Anticipatory action, or a set of actions taken to prevent or mitigate a potential disaster before acute impacts are felt, is an essential strategy to reduce the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events. However, due to the complexity and diversity of host community environments, it has proven challenging to incorporate this approach into these contexts. This paper provides a review of the available data on water- and climate-related vulnerabilities in host communities to inform and strengthen anticipatory action approaches and climate adaptation initiatives.

As part of my consultancy for the International Water Management Institute's "Fragility, Conflict & Migration" initiative, I wrote the following blogpost on the use of Anticipatory Action to build resilience in fragile settings.

Recent years have seen a rise in hand hygiene commitment and action. While great strides have been made, we must triple our current efforts to achieve global hand hygiene targets. Through strong leadership and collective efforts, we can close gaps in access and practice to achieve hand hygiene for all. Everyone has a role to play to ensure clean hands are within reach.

I had a lovely chat with Devika Vanjani, Founder of thecareersproject, on my career journey from Shanghai American School, to graduating from the University of Oxford, to working on a water testing startup (Segura).

I have just begun working closely with Nicolas Dickinson (WASHNote) on several monitoring & evaluation projects for One for All, a coalition of WASH NGOs.

At the annual Water & Health Conference at UNC Chapel Hill, I received the opportunity to co-host a session titled, “‍Implementing passive chlorination at scale: strategies for climate resilience, service delivery, and financing”, together with researchers Saskia Nowicki (University of Oxford), Katya Cherukumilli (UC Berkeley), Megan Lindmark (University of Iowa), and organizations Aquaya, EOS International and Evidence Action.

This blogpost allows you to access my full MSc dissertation research, which analyzes the implementation of passive chlorination and ultraviolet (UV) disinfection for water treatment. Stay tuned for the publication!

This paper explores the tensions between Israel and Palestine in their ongoing water conflict, and assesses the use of international law as a remedy for peacebuilding.