Supporting institutional development for WASH action research with practioners in four countries

The Action Research for Learning programme was a three-year initiative (2013–2015), led by IRC, to improve the effectiveness of existing hygiene promotion and community empowerment programmes of selected local Dutch WASH Alliance partners in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana and Uganda. In Ethiopia and Bangladesh, the focus was on hygiene promotion, while in Ghana and Uganda the focus was on community empowerment interventions. The objective of this paper is to give an understanding of how this Action Research for Learning took place and helped in strengthening the capacities of the selected partners for action research, analysis, reporting and learning; to enhance community-based monitoring of WASH services; and to promote understanding, harmonisation and coordination among district and local governments and local NGOs for effective community empowerment in WASH.