The IWSD aims to assist in the achievement of sustainable development of water resources and waste management, environmental integrity, poverty reduction and gender equity through the provision of, and support to, development agencies in Zimbabwe and the Africa region. In particular, the IWSD addresses issues hindering access of the poor to services and the sustainability of the services. The IWSD focuses on four main areas, namely: • Building capacity through training and education programmes. • Supporting and carrying out a strong applied research programme to support decision-making and policy formulation in the water and sanitation sector • Providing technical and advisory support to agencies and development institutions. • Providing state of the art water and sanitation Library and Information Resource Centre.