SPLASH

SPLASH
Name	SPLASH
Established	2010
Type	Nonprofit / Initiative
Headquarters	New York City
Region served	Global
Leader title	Director
Leader name	Maria Chen

SPLASH

SPLASH is an international initiative formed in 2010 to coordinate water, sanitation, and public health interventions in urban informal settlements and refugee contexts. It operates through partnerships with municipal authorities, international agencies, and academic institutions to deliver technical assistance, capacity building, and monitoring. The initiative emphasizes evidence-based planning, cross-sectoral coordination, and scalable models that link humanitarian response with long-term urban development.

Overview

SPLASH brings together a consortium of actors including the United Nations agencies, World Health Organization, United Nations Children's Fund, World Bank, and bilateral partners such as the United States Agency for International Development and the Department for International Development. Its model connects municipal governments like the Government of Kenya and the Government of Bangladesh with academic partners such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and Columbia University to pilot interventions in cities including Nairobi, Dhaka, Cairo, Lagos, and Karachi. Donor and philanthropic involvement has included the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. SPLASH projects often align with global frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the Paris Agreement when climate resilience features in program design.

History

SPLASH originated from coordinated responses to urban water crises following large-scale emergencies and protracted displacement in the late 2000s, influenced by lessons from operations by Médecins Sans Frontières, International Committee of the Red Cross, and Save the Children. Early pilots drew on methodologies tested in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the 2011 East Africa drought, with technical leadership from research centers at University of California, Berkeley and Imperial College London. Between 2012 and 2016 SPLASH expanded from pilot neighborhoods to city-level programs, establishing memoranda of understanding with municipal bodies such as the Nairobi City County and partnering with utilities like K-Electric and Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority. From 2017 onward the initiative scaled through multilateral financing from the African Development Bank and programmatic integration with UN-Habitat urban planning efforts.

Objectives and Scope

SPLASH aims to improve access to safe water and sanitation in densely populated settlements while reducing disease burden from enteric and vector-borne illnesses. Objectives include strengthening service delivery with utility partners such as Water and Sewerage Company (Jordan), enhancing surveillance systems linked to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protocols, and supporting behavior-change campaigns inspired by programs from PATH and Population Services International. Scope spans emergency response, transitional shelter settings associated with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees operations, and municipal upgrading linked to lenders like the European Investment Bank and Asian Development Bank. The initiative targets operational outcomes measurable against indicators used by Global Water Partnership and health metrics promoted by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Activities and Programs

Typical SPLASH activities include rapid needs assessments modeled on tools from Sphere Project, decentralized water treatment pilots echoing innovations promoted by Practical Action, and community-led total sanitation campaigns adapted from WaterAid practice. Programs have included installation of communal water kiosks in partnership with utilities, desludging and fecal sludge management contracts co-designed with private operators such as Veolia, and mobile laboratory networks linked to research partners like Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Capacity-building encompasses training for local cadres drawing curricula from Red Cross and CARE International modules, while monitoring and evaluation uses data platforms influenced by Palantir-style analytics and open-data approaches advocated by Open Knowledge Foundation. SPLASH also runs policy dialogues that convene stakeholders from ministries such as Ministry of Health (Kenya) and Ministry of Local Government (Bangladesh) alongside donors and civil society organizations including BRAC and Akvo.

Organization and Governance

SPLASH is governed by a steering committee composed of representatives from founding agencies including the United Nations Development Programme, regional development banks, and major philanthropic funders. Operational leadership is provided by a secretariat hosted at an academic center with technical advisory panels featuring experts from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, ETH Zurich, and Australian National University. Financial oversight follows standards recommended by the International Monetary Fund for donor-funded programs and employs external audits by firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers or KPMG. Country-level implementation typically uses memoranda with municipal authorities and service contracts with local NGOs, private operators, and utilities like Lagos Water Corporation.

Impact and Reception

Evaluations of SPLASH cite reductions in reported diarrheal disease in targeted neighborhoods in case studies from Kibera and Cox's Bazar, improvements in service continuity where utilities adopted SPLASH-supported interventions, and contributions to policy reforms that mirror recommendations from UNICEF sanitation strategies. Academic assessments published by partners including The Lancet and journals affiliated with Royal Society reviewers have highlighted both successes in scalable engineering solutions and challenges in sustainability, governance, and financing. Critics from some civil society groups such as Jubilee South and policy analysts at Overseas Development Institute have raised concerns about reliance on short-term donor funding and the roles of private operators. SPLASH continues to adapt its model through iterative learning with stakeholders like ICLEI and Cities Alliance to address urban inequities and resilience.

Category:International development organizations