Eng. Fanuel is a seasoned WASH professional who is passionate about sustainable development. He believes that it is possible to address development challenges with simple solutions, utilizing what communities already have. Fanuel has held senior managerial roles at SNV where he designed and managed large and complex projects that have required innovative approaches for the unique developmental challenges in different contexts incorporating action research, monitoring and evaluation to support learning.

He has been instrumental in contributing to collaborative initiatives with the government, development partners and the private sector resulting in sectoral learning, evidence-based policy formulation and strengthened sector steering. Fanuel was part of the team that helped set up the WASH Hub at the Ministry of Health and also made significant contributions to the development of national-level policies such as the ESH Policy, Strategic Framework and ODF Roadmap for Kenya.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fanuel was the multi-country programme manager for 2 projects (HBCC & WASH First) covering 5 countries (Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda and Uganda). The projects focused on increasing access to water and sanitation and promotion of preventive behaviours (wearing a mask, handwashing and social distancing) as the first line of defence in limiting the spread of Covid-19.

Prior to this Fanuel was the Country project leader, in Kenya and acting multi-country programme manager (Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nepal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia) in the SSH4A results programme which focused on increased access to rural sanitation-integrating demand creation, behaviour change communication and market interventions under a results-based financing model. Fanuel also provided team leadership in the action research that looked into value addition at the end of the urban sanitation value chain and market-based solutions for rural sanitation that resulted in briquette production (NAWASSCOAL) and the development of the SAFI Latrine.

Over the years, Fanuel has built a strong understanding of the need for market-based solutions for sustainable development. He is well versed in the various approaches for achieving this having led collaborative interventions through the full project life cycle effectively engaging with government agencies, civil society groups, private sector entities and the community. Fanuel has a background in Water Resources Engineering and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). He is currently an independent consultant.