Marieke is a WASH expert with over 18 years of experience in the sector. She has a special interest in small town WASH, participatory strategic planning processes and evidence-based decision making in WASH.
After graduating as an Irrigation and Water Engineer from Wageningen University, Marieke joined IRC as a Junior Professional Officer (JPO) in 2003. As JPO she was stationed with NGO Forum (Bangladesh) and with TREND Group (Ghana). In 2006, she joined the IRC team in the Netherlands.
Marieke has led and participated in action-research studies in Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe on issues like monitoring sustainable WASH service provision, small town water supply, Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM), multiple-use water services, and cost recovery and financing.
Marieke has experience in working closely with ministries (e.g. the Ministry of Water Resources, Irrigation and electricity in Ethiopia) and government agencies (e.g. Community Water and Sanitation Agency in Ghana) in identifying and addressing sector challenges. She has supported knowledge management and sector learning processes in various contexts and countries (e.g. support to the establishment and development of Learning Alliance Platforms in Ghana and Ethiopia and the Resource Centre Network Ghana).
Marieke is supporting the Accountability and Adaptation team, responsible for monitoring, with special emphasis on monitoring service level and financial indicators. She is also supporting various action research projects, with special focus on monitoring and sustainability issues. She is leading the development of a District WASH Master Planning Facility.
Harmonizing institutionalized monitoring, national benchmarks, improving the data culture and acting upon monitoring results will be essential in... Read more...
Systems approaches are ongoing processes which take time and require multiple levels of action, both at local as well as at regional and national... Read more...
In order to leave no one behind, decision makers and service providers need to examine common beliefs in measuring access to services. Read more...
Some 50 representatives from towns and regional bureaus participated in the small-town WASH symposium on 3 December at the GetFam hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They were joined online by some 30 stakeholders from national and international level during the morning session, focussed on... Read more...
This Research Review provides an overview of subsidy targeting strategies and the conditions under which they have proven successful or not, drawing... Read more...
This systematic approach to planning suits the Rwandan context and has helped to mobilise funds, but is less effective in emphasising the... Read more...
A novel public-public partnership between Uganda's national water utility and local government is part of the increasing trend of rural utilisation. Read more...
This costing and financing study report provides insight into all the necessary life-cycle costs of achieving the 2030 vision and ensuring... Read more...
A strong enabling environment, which recognizes small communities and their local services, water quality control, post-construction support and the... Read more...
This report summarises the strengths of the decentralised local systems that deliver services in two locations in Ethiopia, describing key actors,... Read more...
Using the life-cycle cost approach (LCCA) this study showed the budget gaps for the sustainability of water services. Read more...
Neither rural sustainability checks, nor urban benchmarking frameworks, are entirely suitable for monitoring small town water services. Read more...
This brief presents the lessons learnt and advocacy messages from this e-discussion for influencing sector discourse on this topic and ensuring that... Read more...
Strengthening and clarifying the capacity of local government institutions is critical to the success of SDG6 (Water) and contributes to SDG16 (... Read more...
The challenges of small town water supply and the need for systemic change: the case of Gazer town. Read more...
This paper presents findings on water and sanitation service levels from 16 small and medium towns in four regions of Ethiopia. Read more...
The global costs of achieving universal basic WASH by the year 2030 are achievable under current overall sector spending but sustained universal... Read more...
An information guide to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in schools, health care facilities, the workplace, orphanages, prisons, refugee... Read more...