SDC Backstopping Mandate in Water & Sanitation

Water-related issues have always been of central concern in development cooperation and SDC is strongly committed since more than 30 years to deal with them in it’s country programs and global initiatives. Since 1983 Skat collaborates closely with SDC in the sector and this effective collaboration has been formalized in 1996 in a “SDC backstopping mandate in W&S”. Skat has successfully implemented four 3-years phases of backstopping mandates at the services of SDC since and stands today in a fifth phase. This continuity in itself is a major achievement and reflects the unique services Skat can provide based on its established backstopping experiences, its familiarity with many of SDC’s sector programs, its extended networks and its recognition as a professional resource centre. The close interplay between consultancy and resource centre are further a strength allowing that a wealth of up-to-date knowledge enriches resource centre activities.

The backstopping mandate aims at reinforcing SDC’s internal thematic capacities and competences and promotes the implementation of SDC’s sector policy and its drive towards the realisation of the MDGs. It provides professional services in support of the core functions of SDC’s water desk in:

• Innovation and learning where the sector’s, and in particular SDC’s and its partners’, experiences and knowledge are documented, capitalized and fed back into the internal and global debate;
• Development of policies & tools where W&S specific policy and strategy documents are elaborated and tools to mainstream new concepts, approaches and principles are developed and maintained;
• Networking & knowledge sharing where influential, committed and dynamic COPs and networks at relevant levels are supported / facilitated (e.g. AGUASAN group) and efficient knowledge sharing and dissemination mechanisms are exploited;
• Advisory and support services on demand where brief counselling and day-to-day support to the SDC water desk, and to a limited extend to further SDC staff and partners in the sector are provided.