September 2014: The IRC has released a book, titled “Priceless! Uncovering the Real Costs of Water and Sanitation,” as part of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Cost (WASHCost) initiative. The book presents lessons learned from the WASHCost project and reflects on experiences in the four project countries: Burkina Faso; Ghana; Mozambique; and India.

The book includes chapters on: the cost of failure and the origins of WASHCost; country context, learning alliances and expectations; shaping the research agenda; service delivery ladders; collecting the data; harmonizing data from four countries; conceptual challenges in cost categories; communicating the results and messages; capacity building and training; making monitoring and learning fit for purpose; project management; the WASHCost legacy; and reflections on the WASHCost Project.

In its conclusions, the book identifies insights from the WASHCost experience, including identifying lessons from the action research approach such as that: it can uncover findings that alter the project focus; findings usually lead to new questions; the jury is still out on learning alliances; and it is crucial to identify local people who will champion new concepts.. They also explore the complex relationships between donors and projects, and the possible conflicts between national and international priorities, which can complicate multi-country initiatives, noting that such projects require strong interdisciplinary teams.

The WASHCost programme ran from 2008-2013 and aimed to identify and fill information gaps on the costs of WASH in rural and peri-urban areas in part to address information gaps that threatened progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). [Publication: Priceless! Uncovering the Real Costs of Water and Sanitation]