Partnership Improves Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in Ethiopia

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2009  Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation today announced the completion of several water facilities in Ethiopia, which provide safe drinking water to over 46,000 Ethiopians.

The project -- executed under the Water and Development Alliance (WADA) initiative by the Millennium Water Alliance -- included the rehabilitation and construction of water systems and improved pit latrines fit with hand washing facilities.  To enhance the health impact of the project and to multiply the use of water, cattle troughs, public showers and clothes washing basins were also constructed.  Educational materials on hygiene were developed and distributed to schools and communities.  Hygiene and sanitation training was also provided for beneficiaries, local government staff, and school teachers in communities within the project area.  Moreover, to ensure sustainability, capacity building training was provided to local government community health extension agents and development agents, Water and Sanitation Committee members, and Watershed Management Committee members.

“This public-private partnership has been tremendously successful.  Now, tens of thousands of Ethiopians in the Amhara region have access to safe drinking water,” Thomas H. Staal, USAID Mission Director stated.  “It is now up to the communities to take ownership and sustain these efforts.”

WADA is a joint initiative between USAID and The Coca-Cola Company that currently operates in 23 countries worldwide (19 of these in Africa) to protect and improve the sustainability of watersheds, increase access to water supply and sanitation services for the world’s poor, and enhance productive uses of water.  In Ethiopia, WADA, through Millennium Water Alliance and its implementing partners, Catholic Relief Service, Food for the Hungry, and World Vision International, expanded sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation services to more than 46,000 Ethiopians in the Amhara region.  All the water supply and sanitation systems are technologically simple, low cost and able to be managed by the community.

The completed water facilities were formally entrusted to beneficiary communities in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia at a ceremony conducted by the Regional Water and Health Bureau.  Officials from USAID/Ethiopia, the East African Bottling S.C. based in Addis Ababa, local government authorities, traditional rulers, and other dignitaries participated in the event.

Dasash Bililgn, a 13 year-old grade 5 student of Danbola School in Amhara, explained how the project has made an impact on her life:  “I am at school regularly because of the private toilets we girls have.  The boys do not come to our side of the toilets and we are not afraid to use our toilets any time of the day.” 

These water and sanitation projects will also reduce incidences of related diseases in the communities and improve environmental conditions by creating access to a safe water supply year-round.  To ensure sustainability, Water and Sanitation Committees have been created and partnerships among water sector institutions have been promoted in the communities.

Since March 2004, the Millennium Water Alliance and its partners have implemented more than 800 safe water supply systems in Ethiopia.  More than 421,000 Ethiopians now have access to clean water due to these efforts.  The Alliance has also constructed ventilated improved pit latrines in schools and public institutions and taught households how to construct their own latrines.  Additionally, 458,000 Ethiopians have received hygiene and sanitation education.

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