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Since December 2024, BASEflow has been partnering with ETH Zurich on an Open WASH Data Project designed to promote open-data practices in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. This initiative aims to address a common but damaging challenge: data silos.
In the WASH sector, organizations often hold on tightly to their own data—sometimes to maintain influence or power. This “data ego” culture limits sharing and collaboration, leading to major problems:
- Duplication of efforts, as organizations unknowingly do the same work in the same places.
- Gaps in intervention, where urgent needs go unnoticed because information isn’t shared.
- Poor coordination, making partnerships less effective.
- Suboptimal outcomes and wasted resources, ultimately undermining sustainability.
Through the Open WASH Data Project, BASEflow and ETH Zurich are working to change this. BASEflow is not just advocating for openness—it’s demonstrating it. As part of the project, ETH Zurich has embedded a dedicated data steward within BASEflow, whose core role is to digitize and share WASH data for public use, setting an example for other organizations in the sector.
Since January 2025, that role has been filled by Emmanuel Mhango, whose impact has been both quick and significant. In just six months, Emmanuel has published several high-quality, well-documented WASH datasets from within BASEflow’s own operations. These datasets meet strong standards of completeness, accessibility, and reusability—enabling other practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to use them freely to improve coordination and planning.
For these efforts, ETH Zurich has named Emmanuel Mhango their Contributor of the Month. Emmanuel has published five WASH datasets so far and has six more in the review pipeline. His work through BASEflow Malawi has substantially strengthened WASH data coverage for the African region. Read more here: https://buttondown.com/openwashdata/archive/openwashdata-news-18-new-faces/
At BASEflow, we’re proud of Emmanuel’s dedication and of our partnership with ETH Zurich. Together, we’re working to make open data not just an ideal but a standard practice in the WASH sector—because better sharing means better outcomes for communities.