Harnessing collaboration to solve WASH challenges

The issues surrounding Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) are as urgent as ever. The solutions we need to address these challenges are complex, deeply interconnected, and require the concerted efforts of a diverse array of players. The WASH sector demands not just technical expertise or governmental mandates, but a shift in the way we work together. The answer lies in embracing the philosophy of collaboration—a model that champions working together, documenting successes, sharing best practices, and galvanising both the private sector and society around WASH issues.

 

At the core of collaboration is the ability to connect various stakeholders—governments, communities, non-governmental organizations, and businesses—towards a common purpose. These collaborative efforts don't merely manage systems; they reshape them by driving new paradigms, fostering cooperation, and creating shared value that scales across sectors and communities and ensures they are sustainable over time.

 

One of the most powerful lessons we can draw from collaboration comes from the Robbers Cave Experiment conducted by psychologists Muzafer and Carolyn Sherif in the 1950s. This study involved 22 young boys, divided into two groups. Initially, the groups were kept separate and engaged in competitive activities, which led to rivalry and hostility. However, when the groups were tasked with a superordinate goal—such as fixing a broken water supply system—something they could not achieve alone, cooperation became necessary.