Monitor technical quality of the WASH services delivered to beneficiaries
The quality of WASH services that are provided to the affected population must meet minimum standards agreed among partners. Partners can either refer to national standards or to the Sphere standards, depending on the context. The quality of the WASH services embraces four main areas: relevance, quantity, reliability and safety (see figure hereunder); One of the main source of technical quality indicator is the Sphere handbook (see Key tools section on top of this page).
The monitoring of the WASH service quality must be routinely done by the partner themselves for their program. It is recommended that partners report the results of their quality monitoring system to the WASH coordination platform, provided that this is stipulated in the agreed quality assurance system.
Depending on the agreed modalities, field-based monitoring of partners' activities can be:
- done by third parties, such as the government or a private company
- reported directly by the beneficiaries to an independent company or organization
- monitored through field visit by the WASH coordination team at subnationnal level etc.
A usual quality monitoring tool is the WASH Infrastructure "Spot-check", in which latrines or water points are being physically monitored using a standard check list.
Integration of key WASH quality indicators into other monitoring systems (ex: The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), Displacement tracking Matrix (DTM) etc.), and engagement with other key clusters, can also help to flag WASH quality issues.