Since 2014, the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity and stakeholders have been implementing the first phase of One Wash National Program–Consolidated Wash Account (OWNP-CWA) to increase access to improved water supply and sanitation services for the residents in 382 woredas and 144 towns.
With a total resource envelop of 485 million USD, the program has been implemented with four components of Rural Wash, Urban Wash, Institutional Wash, and Program management and capacity building approaches.
During the last five years, the program has provided improved water supply and sanitation services to 3.91 million rural and 0.5 million urban beneficiaries having constructed 10,224 Wash facilities for schools and health facilities.
In addition to direct benefit of communities, the implementation of the program has also strengthened the government’s wash capacity structures at all levels. It has also introduced a coordinated programmatic approach integrating planning, budget and reporting.
Launching the second phase of One Wash Program, Dr. Selashi Bekele, Minister of Water, Irrigation and Electricity said that protecting the health of societies through improving water access is critical as the country has encountered hazards on the quality of water and needs a lot of improvements to meet the standard. Currently, more than 25 million people have no access to potable water and sanitation services.
The second phase, a 600 million USD capital project will address the demand of more than 6.2 million people in rural and urban areas over the next five years (2019-2024), Seleshi said. Along with the federal government and development partners, States will also develop various water projects at a cost of regional expense as the task needs concerted efforts at all levels.
According to him, water supply and sanitation services are basic for the development of any country. The appropriate provision of these services should be arranged by long and short term policies and strategies.
Under the second phase, about 4.4 million people will get access to improved water supply (70 percent in rural) and the remaining 30 percent in urban areas. The program will prioritize interventions in communities and institutions with low Wash service coverage, the prevalence of high rates of Diarrhoea, stunting, drought and flood.
It is expected to have extended social-economic benefits including a reduction in the prevalence of water-borne diseases, improved productivity and wellbeing communities, reduced school dropout rates for girls and empowering women and narrowing the gender gap, it is stated.
“Water supply is a key for life, without water there is no life. Access to water supply and sanitation services are also the foundation for all developmental plans at all levels as well as to sustain ongoing reform.” Seleshi said.
Dr.Beshah Mogesse, Water development Commissioner said that OWNP is a national model for planning, financing, implementing and monitoring of the Wash sector and a breakthrough for other sectors. Over the last two decades, Ethiopia has made huge progress in increasing coverage of basic water services.
It is critical to creating an opportunity to achieve one plan, budget and report for the whole program in Ethiopia. The basis for the One WASH National Program is the WASH Implementation Framework (WIF) and the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the four Ministries (Water, Irrigation and Electricity, Health, Education and Finance).
The OWNP’s the first phase has significant achievements on the level of policy, service delivery and capacity building. The OWNP rests on three overarching pillars such as creating an enabling environment and good governance, maximizing availability and efficient use of human and financial resources to create demand for better services and capacity development for improved service delivery services at all levels, he added.
“Improving the health and well-being of rural and urban communities is essential to achieve increased coverage of improved and sustainable water supply and sanitation services. Twenty percent of child mortality is resulting due to lack of sanitation.”
Richard Speneer, Development Partners Representative on his part said that Ethiopia has made significant progress in improving access to water supply and sanitation, but remains to be done much. In addition to water supply, access to sanitation has also experienced significant progress during the first phase of the ONWP. Drought, floods, and others are making it difficult to manage.
The provision of water supply and sanitation services can significantly improve health, nutrition and education outcomes. And addressing water services is also key to ensure the sustainability and reliability of services, said, HababTaifour, World Bank Representative. To address accessibility challenges, the project aims to improve and increase access to safe water services and strengthen the capacity of water resources management.
Access to WASH is one of the basic human needs that should be prioritized in national development efforts. The Government has been working hard to ensure the provision of safe drinking water and sanitation services to all citizens in every corner of the country.
OWNP prioritizes to benefit low water service community, stunting and water-borne diseases well as floods and drought-prone areas of the country they are usually the poorest and most vulnerable to climate change, she stated.
“The project will improve the quality of potable water supply and sanitation services that will contribute to the achievement of human development in the long run.”
Creating a learning ground through sector coordination forums, conducting Joint Technical Reviews (JTRs), conducting research contributed to a better way of achieving efficient results in the first phase. Groundwater study, lifecycle cost analysis, contractual modalities for urban WASH programming and rural water supply management models contributed to its efficiency. These are inputs for the development of the second phase of the OWNP, Beshah underlined.
Challenges observed in the first phase of the implementation would be taken as a means to overcome the hurdles in the second phase of OWNP development, he noted.
According to the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) WHO/UNICEF report, Ethiopia is recognized as a country with the fastest reduction of open defecation globally. The acceleration is the consequence of a number of sectoral changes including better coordination, avoiding duplication of efforts, stimulating donors’interest, introducing relevant policies and strategies and improving capacities.
It is believed that poverty cannot be eradicated without universal access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene. To achieve the ambition, maintaining strong strategic partnerships with the government (local to national), the private sector and other development partners is critical to bring about sustainable water supply and sanitation services.
The Ethiopian Herald November7, 2019
BY TSEGAYE TILAHUN
