ISC-Dalberg Roundtable on ''WASH & COVID-19 In India : Risks and Opportunities''

The ISC-Dalberg online roundtable was seeking to get perspectives from WASH leaders across the country around COVID-related effects within the WASH sector. The two-hour roundtable was divided into three segments:

1. Segment 1: COVID-related effects being experienced by organizations and programs and reactive measures being put in place by organizations
2. Segment 2: Anticipated scenarios of COVID over the next 1-6 months and what it might mean for the sector
3. Segment 3: Suggestions/recommendations for initiatives that could be put in place within India to make sure that essential WASH services and programming continue while minimizing health risks

Through the roundtable, we hoped to create an open space for dialogue and potential collaboration and the discussion focussed on different categories of challenges including WASH service delivery risks, financing and resource risks, operational risks, and health risks for people.

All the organizations seemed to be facing challenges due to COVID ranging from budget reallocations away from WASH for funders to programs being put on pause for implementing partners. Also, most participants agreed that the WASH-COVID connection wasn’t being given due attention and that crucial resources were being diverted away.

There were varying opinions on how COVID would impact projects long term. Participants agreed that a slowdown in WASH progress was inevitable, but the burning worry was related to the availability of resources for on-ground implementation. Participants also voiced the need to recalibrate program design for a COVID world. They also pointed to a need for greater innovative thinking and also efficiency in WASH programs.