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What is BPD?
BPD is a non-profit charity that improves water and sanitation for poor urban communities in developing countries by strengthening partnerships.
To see poor urban communities in developing countries successfully provided with safe water and sanitation through effective stakeholder relationships. BPD improves the provision of safe water and sanitation for poor urban communities in developing countries. We achieve this by supporting both formal and informal partnerships between the various water and sanitation stakeholders at local, national and international levels, including investors, policymakers, providers and users. Through all its activities BPD seeks to learn and facilitate learning, to increase sector effectiveness. Evidence has shown that the challenges of water and sanitation delivery in developing countries are not always technical or financial, but often involve relationships between stakeholders. Partnerships are particularly necessary in the water and sanitation sectors because:
- No single organisation has control over all the economic, environmental, technical and social factors affecting demand and supply for water and sanitation
- Organisations often lack sufficient skills and resources to act alone and therefore benefit from pooling these and sharing risk
- Scaling up services requires a range of stakeholders, and progress cannot be sustained without collaboration
- A complex network of relationships and interests and numerous stakeholders (technical, political etc.) can lead to overlap and lack of cohesion and accountability
BPD’s many years of experience researching and working with water and sanitation partnerships aimed at expanding services to poor communities have shown that, like any relationship, they are difficult and often fail to reach their potential, or even break down, due to any number of internal and external factors.
Difficulties or breakdowns in partnerships can, however, be resolved and their effectiveness increased through expert interventions. Since 1998, BPD has provided guidance in the design, maintenance and assessment of multi-stakeholder water and sanitation partnerships through three key interrelated activities: Action Research
BPD carries out 'action research', working with organisations on the ground, to make partnerships more innovative and effective in serving poor communities. Learning and tools are documented through printed and online publications. Direct Support to Organisations & Partnerships
BPD provides direct support to water and sanitation organisations and partnerships, to build stronger relationships through the application of our tried and tested tools and frameworks (e.g. contextual analysis, facilitation, conflict resolution, organisational development guidance and governance support). This support challenges people to reach common understanding through, for example, more communication, transparency and empathy. Learning Events and Activities
BPD regularly holds learning events and activities for individuals and organisations across the international water and sanitation sector, to share and facilitate learning around partnerships and promote dialogue and networking (e.g. training courses, workshops and discussion days).
Our Impact and Track Record
BPD is the only non-profit organisation solely specialising in improving relationships between partners in the water and sanitation sector and offering, tailored, cross-sector (public, private and civil society) partnership guidance. BPD is known and trusted internationally in the water and sanitation sector, after more than a decade working with more than 50 partnerships, including key sector actors. This enables the organisation to exert considerable influence disproportionate to its size. It also has a knowledgeable, experienced and highly regarded team and Board of Directors. |
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Photo credit: WaterAid
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