Access to safe water for semi-urban and rural communities

Through a three-year WASH project Habitat for Humanity Ethiopia reaches communities who have been suffering from lack of safe water and sanitation facilities. The project is now in its third phase and aims at serving more than 76,500 people in seven rural Kebeles (localities) of the rift valley and the adjacent highland. In the project lifetime and beyond, Habitat for Humanity Ethiopia works with local, national, and international partners to build improved resilience to water-borne diseases through increased access to clean water, adequate sanitation, and enhanced awareness on hygiene for communities.

The project activities include construction of water infrastructures: construction of water reservoirs with the capacity of 300 cubic meter, installation of 52 km distribution lines, construction of 24 new water points, rehabilitation of existing water points and creating sustainable governance structure for water services. The work also consists of other key activities, most importantly capacity building for community members through water-borne disease reduction training and monitoring of water facilities in coordination with WASH Committees.

The other key component of the project is sanitation marketing. The main focus is creating open defecation free community (ODF) through improving toilets by their own capacity, and assisting Small and Micro-Enterprises (SME) in production, promotion, selling and installation of sanitation products such as Sato Pans and  pre-fabricated Slabs.

The town of Shewa Robit is located 223 km north of Addis Ababa in North Shewa Zone of Amhara Regional National State. The town has five urban and four rural administrative sub-divisions (kebeles). The town with ragged mountainous topography and frequently affected by flood during has more than 58,000 inhabitants.  Shewa Robit is among the towns with high poverty rate where most of the urban population is dependent on petty trading and the rural localities draw their livelihood from agriculture; crop and livestock.

The residents of Shewa Robit town suffer from lack of water sanitation services; 44% of the residents have no access to potable water and 46% have no improved latrines. Thousands of people use wasteland or the wide riverbank that flows through the town. Lack of clean and adequate water supply causes bacterial and viral infections and infestations of worms and other parasites.

The three-year project aims to improve access to safe water and sanitation for more than 41,000 people, most of them are affected by various forms of vulnerabilities. The project also helps Improve knowledge and awareness of community members on water, sanitation and hygiene.

The project contributes to Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aims to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030”.