Water Communications and Knowledge Management (CKM) Project Bi-Annual Progress Report for the Period October 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019

The project's primary objective is to provide a centralized platform for sharing knowledge, best practices, and lessons learned across the water sector. The project's scope encompasses several key components, including knowledge management, communications, and cross-cutting project management tasks. The knowledge management component focuses on capturing, creating, and sharing knowledge and data related to water programming. This involves developing and maintaining a database and tracking system for agency water projects, providing technical support for analysis and reporting, and facilitating access to water sector news and information. The communications component involves developing and maintaining the Globalwaters.org website, which serves as a central hub for water-related information and resources. This includes creating and publishing content, such as the Global Water and Development Annual Report of Water Sector Activities and the Water and Development Implementation Plan. The project also engages in social media outreach and utilizes multimedia tools to promote water-related initiatives and events. During the reporting period of October 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019, the project made significant progress in various areas. The team launched new pages on the Globalwaters.org website promoting interagency work on the U.S. Government Global Water Strategy, which resulted in a spike in page views. The project also concluded work on the WASH Needs and Opportunities scorecard, including finalizing the scorecard and associated database, preparing a report documenting the process, and conducting a joint "murder board" with E3's Water Office (E3/W). The project hosted and facilitated three webinars with 259 participants, and more than 70 percent of respondents to the Globalwaters.org user survey indicated that the website helps them do their job more effectively. Global Waters published three editions, featuring 10 new pieces of feature content and registering more than 14,310 total views and 14,950 total minutes read. The project also achieved significant growth on social media platforms, with @USAIDWater topping 7,000 followers on Twitter and creating 122 original tweets and 53 original LinkedIn/Facebook posts to promote content. In addition, the project created a utility to import data from the Google sheet into Globalwaters.org and finalized updates and conducted quality checks on 50 active projects in priority and strategy-aligned countries. The team also began prototyping a utility to import data from the Google sheet into Globalwaters.org and conducted research and analysis on the fifth evaluation of Senegal's Millennium Water and Sanitation (PEPAM) activity. The project's highlights during this reporting period include launching new pages on the Globalwaters.org website promoting interagency work on the U.S. Government Global Water Strategy, concluding work on the WASH Needs and Opportunities scorecard, hosting and facilitating three webinars, and achieving significant growth on social media platforms. The project's continued efforts aim to enhance the effectiveness of USAID's water programming through improved knowledge management and communications.