Building Rural Sanitation Markets in Rwanda: Lessons from the Isoko y’Ubuzima Project
This learning paper from the Isoko y’Ubuzima consortium, led by Water For People and CARE in Rwanda, documents five years of testing a Market-Based Sanitation approach across ten rural districts and what the team learned when their assumptions were wrong. The central finding is that sanitation uptake is a systems problem: households already understood the…
Read MoreStrengthening 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…
Read MoreTurning Water Losses into Service Gains: Lessons from Rwanda’s Rural Water Operators
This learning paper from the Isoko y’Ubuzima project documents how Rwanda’s rural water operators significantly reduced non-revenue water and improved service sustainability by combining technical solutions with strengthened capacity, incentives, and accountability. Authors: C. Ndungutse, L.P. Habimpano, S. Mugabo, I. Ndagijimana, and A. Libey. Version: June 2026
Read MoreStrengthening Rwanda’s WASH Systems: Lessons in Governance, Innovation, and Scale
This blog depicts how Isoko y’Ubuzima’s work in Rwanda has demonstrated that WASH system-wide change is possible, and calls for partners to sustain investment, partnerships, and commitment.
Read MoreHow Vandalism Undermines WASH Sustainability
This article documents the scale, types, and effects of vandalism on WASH infrastructure in the ten Isoko y’Ubuzima districts, and draws practical lessons on how district systems, service providers, communities, and security actors can work together to prevent and respond to vandalism.
Read MoreBreaking barriers to access to basic sanitation: How Finance and Innovation Empower Rwandan Families
This blog highlights how Rwanda’s Isoko y’Ubuzima project is transforming access to basic sanitation by combining financial inclusion, market-based approaches, and behavior change.
Read MoreExpanding the Supply of Sanitation and Hygiene Products and Services in Rwanda
This article describes how the Isoko y’Ubuzima project left behind a legacy of a sustainable market of sanitation and hygiene products and services, embedded in Rwanda’s administrative and community structures.
Read MoreViable and Scalable Business Models for Sanitation Entrepreneurs in Rwanda: Evidence from the Isoko y’Ubuzima Project
Isoko y’Ubuzima findings from comprehensive business viability assessments, financial landscape analysis, and capacity building initiatives. We highlight two viable business models: micro-franchising for DSCs and integrated models for pit emptying, transport, and treatment services.
Read MoreBenchmarking Rural Water Service Provision in Rwanda
Isoko y’Ubuzima project technical note from VEI on benchmarking rural water service delivery performance of operators.
Read MoreSupply chain solutions for Sanitation and Hygiene Products in Rwanda
This paper explores how market-based supply chain strategies in Rwanda are strengthening access to sanitation and hygiene products by improving distribution systems, engaging local businesses, and addressing barriers to affordability and demand.
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