WASH SDG

EWA (Ethiopia WASH Alliance) is a consortium of NGOs and private organizations working on the enhancement of the well-being of people living in rural, pastoral and urban areas of the country. EWA’s partners are operating different districts in Afar and Oromia Regional State and Dire Dawa City Administration and National Level. Since 2011, EWA has created access to improved WASH services for more than 100,000 people. It works in rural and urban WASH along with improving access at institutions (schools and health centers). The result for sanitation has been reached applying Community Led Total Sanitation and Hygiene (CLTSH), Eco-san technology demonstration and hygiene and sanitation education. These made people aware of the benefits of sanitation and stimulated them to construct sanitation facilities at their household. In 2014 for example, as a result of CLTSH more than 8000 households built their own traditional latrines using their own materials. In our intervention areas results showed that there are increased menstrual hygienic behavior led to higher school enrolment of girls at schools. Combining sanitation and hygiene awareness with the provision of hardware facilities lead to the installment of separate toilet blocks for girls and boys. Also sanitation and hygiene education in the schools using School WASH clubs contributed to better management of the facilities. Realizing access and use of improved drinking water was stimulated through the establishment of Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene committees (WASHCOs). In these committees, representation of women is mandatory. More than 50% of the Water Committee members that received training mainly in operation and management of the schemes, financial management, preparing community WASH plans and bookkeeping were women. With regard to capacity building on using waste, efforts were undertaken to improve the solid waste management systems of small towns as well as turning WASH services into an economic opportunity for unemployed youths. EWA has raised awareness among decision makers and the public, and supported business development along the sanitation service and value chain in Dire Dawa, while linkages were made to similar experiences in Addis Ababa and other cities. As a result an increase in the cooperation of local governments with the private sector can be observed.