Personal and environmental health and prosperity are linked intrinsically to people’s access to safe water and sanitation. With support from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ethiopia, SNV is implementing the five-year ILMWA consortium project along with the Water and Land Resource Centre (WLRC) of Addis Ababa University. By the end of 2024, 100% of residents will gain access to basic water supply and basic sanitation, and a minimum of 75% of residents will wash their hands with soap or a substitute.

Based on government estimates in 2020, access to water and sanitation in the North Achefer woreda was a low 27.40% and 23.90%, respectively. Good hygiene is practised by only 3% of the population. Less than a fourth of the population enjoys access to a basic water supply as half of the existing water points are not operational or are failing to provide a reliable service. It is estimated that 75% of the population is likely to draw their water from unsafe surface water and other sources should the status quo of unreliable water services remain. This, coupled with the prevalence of open defecation, heightens the risk of exposure to pathogens and sanitation-related diseases, including diarrhoea.

WLRC and SNV together for ILMWA

Together, the partners will build on their respective technical knowledge and extensive network to improve watershed residents’ access to water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). To this end, tested WASH approaches will be implemented across six rural and one urban kebele in the Kunzila area of North Achefer woreda in the Amhara region. The ILMWA project – led by WLRC – will run from March 2020 and December 2024. In addition to project management, WLRC is responsible for the project’s integrated water resource management component, with SNV leading the project’s WASH component.

Focus on SNV’s ILMWA contributions

Working with sector stakeholders in government, schools, healthcare facilities, and communities, SNV will,

• strengthen urban water supply and sanitation practice and will establish a faecal sludge management unit and solid waste management unit in Kunzila to improve liquid and solid waste management services.

• strengthen rural water supply and sanitation practice in Kunzila and improve the capacity of institutions to govern the professional delivery of safely managed water supply and sanitation.

• establish multi-stakeholder water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) platforms – at regional, woreda and watershed level – to strengthen sector coordination, enabling them to better navigate and manage the multiple uses of water.

Ultimately, SNV’s work seeks to contribute to (i) the increased functionality of the Kunzila watershed, (ii) the improved management of the multiple uses of water, and (iii) raising safe sanitation standards and hygiene practices of the Kunzila watershed kebele population (approximately 31,500 people).