Strengthening Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Systems in Rwanda: Lessons from the Isoko y’Ubuzima Project

Strengthening Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Systems in Rwanda: Lessons from the Isoko y’Ubuzima Project, Rwanda is a learning paper by Bénigne Mugwaneza Ishimwe, IRC, that documents how the Isoko y’Ubuzima consortium (2021–2026) supported WASH systems strengthening at national and district levels to improve the sustainability of water, sanitation, and hygiene services in Rwanda. Drawing on five years of implementation experience, the paper examines how investments in governance, planning, financing, accountability, capacity development, and learning contributed to stronger WASH sector institutions and improved service sustainability, while also highlighting persistent challenges such as monitoring systems and institutional ownership. The central lesson is that lasting systems change depends less on the tools introduced and more on whether government institutions and sector actors routinely use, own, and act on the evidence those tools generate.