POUL DUE JENSEN FOUNDATION WATER Rolling out change throughout the country – leaving no-one behind Real change through sustainability and resilience is key to what Poul Due Jensen Foundation wants to achieve with water projects. However, if these projects are not combined and established in close proximity to each other, it is often a challenge to achieve such change in a sustainable and resilient way. This is why the Foundation has started to move to the neighbouring village instead of moving to another part of the country. We have started rolling out change throughout the country. In the past, the Foundation and many other philanthropists focused on creating strong lighthouse projects that could serve as a source of inspiration and as pilots for surrounding communities and the responsible authorities. The idea was that the projects would inspire others to invest in similar projects. While this approach may work in more densely populated areas, the experience of previous foundation projects in rural settings indicates that ensuring sustainability requires not only follow-up on the technical side but also close follow-up and ongoing guidance on community development and the operation of payment schemes etc. Many projects lack these close follow-up procedures, and even if they are part of the project, the distance between project sites often makes it difficult for them to be run by qualified aid workers. Having projects situated next to each other makes project follow-up not just more efficient but also less expensive. Implementation is also easier and more cost-effective if project sites are located side by side. Mobilising a drill rig to make bore holes is expensive, but it is less expensive if the rig is being moved just a few kilometres to the next village. Finally, moving from village to village contributes to the overall target of the UN Sustainable Development Goals – leaving no-one behind. Lighthouse projects do leave the neighbour behind. Having decided to approach the very last mile – the poor rural communities in the developing world that are aiming for at least basic water services as defined by the Joint Monitoring Programme for these communities – and to remain engaged until the safe water systems in these communities are economically sustainable and resilient, the Poul Due Jensen Foundation decided to take on projects which addressed neighbouring villages. We still have lots of lighthouse type projects in countries like India, Indonesia and Kenya, but having been in the area already, we can now go back and take on the neighbouring four or five villages. This will enable us to “Finally, moving from village to village contributes to the overall target of the UN Sustainable Development Goals – leaving no-one behind. Lighthouse projects do leave the neighbour behind – Christian Hartvig, Executive Director, Poul Due Jensen Foundation 18
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