René is s senior programme manager and joined IRC in 2003. He is a WASH generalist with a technical background in sanitary engineering and 35 years of experience, which ranges from developing urban infrastructure to participatory appraisals with community members; from carrying out action research to supporting knowledge management and networks for national sectors in developing countries.

René has been managing several large programmes. The country sector implementation programmes in Cambodia and India have provided René with extensive experience on the ground and an understanding of the sector realities. The long-term capacity building programmes for Resource Centre Networks and building capacities for advocacy of Civil Society Organisations have provided René with extensive experience in the area of organisational and institutional development. For two years René has been coordinating internal IRC planning, monitoring and learning processes and the development of IRC’s framework for monitoring WASH system change linked to IRC’s strategy 2017-2030.

In his programme work René’s strength is to apply IRC’s concepts on the ground. He focuses on developing methods and tools together with in-country programme partners. These tools support governments and civil society organisations in carrying out complex tasks of analysing sector challenges and developing solution strategies. Recently René has developed with the Wash Alliance International partners the Sustainability Monitoring Framework and Index, which is a tool to assess the sustainability of WASH services in a geographic area and supports decision-making by focusing and prioritising interventions. Another typical strength of René is his broad understanding and experience with almost all aspects of the WASH sector, which he applies often in consultancy services. A recent example is being the team leader of the support to the World Bank for developing a new country WASH programme in Lao People's Democratic Republic.

René is a native Dutch speaker and is fluent in English. He has a working knowledge of Spanish.

René is s senior programme manager and joined IRC in 2003. He is a WASH generalist with a technical background in sanitary engineering and 35 years of experience, which ranges from developing urban infrastructure to participatory appraisals with community members; from carrying out action research to supporting knowledge management and networks for national sectors in developing countries.

René has been managing several large programmes. The country sector implementation programmes in Cambodia and India have provided René with extensive experience on the ground and an understanding of the sector realities. The long-term capacity building programmes for Resource Centre Networks and building capacities for advocacy of Civil Society Organisations have provided René with extensive experience in the area of organisational and institutional development. For two years René has been coordinating internal IRC planning, monitoring and learning processes and the development of IRC’s framework for monitoring WASH system change linked to IRC’s strategy 2017-2030.

In his programme work René’s strength is to apply IRC’s concepts on the ground. He focuses on developing methods and tools together with in-country programme partners. These tools support governments and civil society organisations in carrying out complex tasks of analysing sector challenges and developing solution strategies. Recently René has developed with the Wash Alliance International partners the Sustainability Monitoring Framework and Index, which is a tool to assess the sustainability of WASH services in a geographic area and supports decision-making by focusing and prioritising interventions. Another typical strength of René is his broad understanding and experience with almost all aspects of the WASH sector, which he applies often in consultancy services. A recent example is being the team leader of the support to the World Bank for developing a new country WASH programme in Lao People's Democratic Republic.

René is a native Dutch speaker and is fluent in English. He has a working knowledge of Spanish.

Adding value to in-country efforts brings me the biggest satisfaction

René van Lieshout