Humanitarian assistance and development cooperation in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector – although very diferent in nature – are inextricably linked. WASH relief eforts are usually not self-contained, stand-alone interventions and relief actors inevitably need to consider longer-term local development issues and transition elements to allow for a successful hand-over afer the relief phase to local governments or other development actors as part of their exit strategies. Development interventions, in turn, also have to play their role by putting in place sustainable structures that support either the crisis prevention or increased resilience and disaster risk reduction of potentially afected communities. In recent years the improved interconnectedness and cooperation between actors from both fields and how the transition from one to the other can be shaped best has become an ever more important issue among sector professionals.
Both the development and the relief side follow very diferent goals and principles with varying time frames, funding mechanisms and a difering set of actors and coordination mechanisms. This paper intends to foster the further understanding of each other’s field of work and provides impulses for fuelling the on-going international debate. Access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene is one of the most tangible fundamental human needs. It is indispensable for the healthy development of individuals, for survival in the initial stages of a disaster and for the sustainable development of societies as a whole and can be seen as a predestined sector to lead the international debate on how to better link relief and development.

Bibliographic information

Gensch, R., Hansen, R., Ihme, M. (2014). Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development in the WASH Sector German WASH Network

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