Aquaya in Consortium Awarded $22.4 Million USAID Contract – URBAN WASH

Urban Resilience by Building partnerships and Applying New evidence in WASH – (URBAN WASH) to generate and promote evidence for more sustainable, equitable, and climate-resilient WASH and WRM policy and programming in urban and peri-urban areas

The Aquaya Institute is a member of a consortium led by Tetra Tech that has been awarded a five-year,$22.4 million contract from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the Urban Resilience by Building partnerships and Applying New evidence in WASH – (URBAN WASH) Program. URBAN WASH will generate evidence for more impactful, sustainable, equitable, and climate-resilient WASH and WRM policy and programming in urban and peri-urban areas as well as support high-impact WASH and WRM interventions through collaboration with researchers, the private sector, civil society groups, government bodies, and multilateral institutions.

As global urbanization continues to accelerate, a growing majority of the world’s population is living in metropolitan areas, secondary cities, and peri-urban areas. As a result, rapidly growing cities, and especially unplanned, informal settlements, increasingly lack reliable and affordable water and sanitation services, undermining urban economic growth, health, and resilience. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030 requires a thorough understanding of urban water security challenges to inform effective and sustainable solutions.

The program will conduct research on three primary topics:

1. Partner and engage strategically for research, peer learning, and uptake of evidence
2. Generate high-quality evidence focusing on the enabling environment for water and sanitation policies and regulation, small and informal service providers, and source water protection and diversification for resilient urban water supplies.
3. Provide technical assistance to USAID Missions on WASH and WRM research, assessments, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning.

Lessons learned from evidence partnerships, implementation research, and technical assistance activities will inform strategic decisions and best practices for improved urban water security. URBAN WASH will also coordinate with other USAID programs contributing to a growing knowledge base informed by the USAID Water for the World Implementation Research Agenda.

URBAN WASH is an initiative of the Center for Water Security, Sanitation and Hygiene in USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security.

Partners include:

1. Aquaya Institute, USA
2. FSG, India
3. Iris Group, USA
4. Stockholm Environment Institute, USA
5. Segura, USA
6. WaterAid, USA