Cracking the safely managed challenge

National governments across the world face this huge challenge, the pressure of global and national targets that define having to deliver safely managed water and sanitation services for all, while having to address vastly different settings with services being provided under different service delivery models.

To support governments, service providers, regulators and users, University of Leeds and IRC, present 13 pathways for transition. A complete picture of what it takes for each actor to move from basic to safely managed services across different settings – from rural areas to urban settings and with different service delivery models as the starting point. The framework acknowledges complexity and that there is no single solution that can do it all. 

The framework is presented in the learning paper Systems Interventions for the Transition to Basic and Safely Managed Water and Sanitation Services, and is accompanied by a new Systems Academy course, which helps governments and their supporters to define the interventions to accelerate the transition to safely managed services in their specific contexts.

The paper examines the key drivers of transition, including household demand, provider incentives, and the roles of regulation, financing and institutional arrangements. It proposes three principles to accelerate progress: strong leadership with a clear vision and strategy; data‑driven identification of binding service constraints; and area‑wide planning that coordinates multiple technologies and providers.

Both paper and course bring inspiring examples from multiple countries that have seen change, and dive deeper into the factors that enabled the transition and that supported strengthening systems at scale.

Why this matters now

As countries push toward SDG 6, the gap between basic and safely managed services remains one of the biggest challenges. This paper and course aim to provide clarity, structure, and actionable guidance at a moment when governments and partners are seeking more effective ways to strengthen water and sanitation systems.