Enhancing Sustainable Access To Safe Clean Water And Gender Sensitive Sanitation Services In Epworth

·         Based on the problem-what is the purpose of this project?

The project will enhance sustainable access to safe clean water and gender sensitive sanitation services by residents of  the peri-urban area of Epworth, Harare.

 What specific aspect of the problem is the project addressing?

 Specifically, the action seeks to build the capacity of the communities in  3 wards of Epworth, the local authority and supporting NGOs and CBOS so as to secure and sustain increased access to water and sanitation services by the residents in the targeted 3 wards in Epworth, in order to reduce poverty and provide additional opportunities for improved livelihoods for these poor communities.

 Who and how do target populations benefit directly from the project?

 The action targets poor residents of the targeted 3 wards in Epworth, 70% of which earn their livelihoods from informal activities such as vending and small scale home inductries. The targeted 3 wards of Epworth  have a total population of  97 124 (48 726 males and 48 398 females) with an average household of 3,6 (2012 Zimbabwe Census Report). The health of these people is expected to improve while some will benefit from the training to be offered – transformation leadership as well as skills training as pump minders and masonry trade. Enterpreneurial skills and opportunities will also be built and provided respectively.

 How does project respond to real needs and high-priorities of the target group?

The project will have some significant impact in strengthening the currently weak capacity of civil society and local government institutions in addressing the water and sanitation needs of the poor in peri-urban areas of Zimbabwe especially in the context of the HIV and AIDS pandemic that has negatively impacted on most development indicators in Epworth. CSOs and the local authority in the targeted area will have their capacity enhanced to coordinate, plan, and support the community management of water and sanitation services thereby making the provision of the service more sustainable. Simultaneously,  the approaches successfully adopted and tested  during the project stand a better chance to be scaled up by the capacitated local authority to the other 4 wards in Epworth that are not directly participating in this pilot phase of the project. Government can  even expand these approaches outside Epworth to other municipalities in the country.

There will be improved access to and use of safe  water which meet the  needs of men, women and children in Epworth. Specifically, a total of 11500 people will have improved access to safe water supply resulting in  at least 80% access in the 3 wards. The average consumption of water per person per day will increase from  10 – 15 litres to 25 – 30 litres. In addition, 20 schools will have access to sanitation that is both ecologically friendly and gender sensitive.

 The peri-urban centres will have increased access to and the use of safe and sustainable sanitation services at household and schools, that will prevent or reduce the occurrence and spread of water and sanitation related diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera, typhoid fever and skin diseases. The health status of the communities will thus be improved. Access to sanitation will have improved by 20% in each of the targeted 3 wards covered by the project, benefiting a total of 11500 people including Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) and people living with HIV/AIDS by the end of project. Men, women and children, especially those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS will adopt improved hygiene practices, which will directly improve their health status.

Putting water and sanitation at the centre of improving people's livelihoods will ensure that the additional economic benefits such as household income from maintenance activities of artisans as well as proceeds from nutrition gardens will continue to motivate communities to maintain the results of the action. Institutional capacity building that emphasises local financial self-sufficiency and a network of technical support services and a supply line for spares, will ensure that the infrastructure continues to operate in a sustainable manner beyond the projrect. The creation of WASH budgets by the local authority is likely to motivate the central government to channel financial resources through this avenue.

School children will benefit from life skills they will acquire resulting in the adoption of  more hygienic behaviour and practices, that will be useful  to them throughout their entire lives as well as their families.

·         What and how does your project aim to change/solve in regard to the identified problem?

 The project will strengthen the capacities of civil society organisations (CSOs), community based organisations (CBOs) and the local government to manage the provision of watrer and sanitation services, and promote good hygiene practices within the communities in the 3 wards. The project will build on the lessons learned and good practices established from the implementation of two EU Funded Projects – PEOPLE UP Project   Social Accountability project on CBP for Integrated Water Resource Management. Both were implemented with UN Habitat support and developed relevant approaches that will be applied.

What are the proposed solutions for the problem and why are they the most appropriate to the problem?

The action will work with Epworth Local Board and use CFHD experience in the application of participatory approaches and tools such as Community Based Planning (CBP), Training for Transformation, Transformational Leadership. Technical training will be offered on Community Based Management (CBM) model in water and sanitation services as well as to develop the technical skills and build social structures and capacities required to locally manage water and sanitation services. A limited number of spares for water points will be provided as part of technical training but self-reliance and leveraging of community resources for provision of additional spares will be encouraged and supported to sustain the operation and maintenance of water and sanitation services. Limited water purification materials will also be provided for demonstration purposes. The action will ensure that at least 50% of the participants in both the social and technical interventions are women. Technologies such as rope and washer pumps will be promoted which take into consideration women's physical abilities and needs.These approaches are chosen to stimulate local responsibility and ownership of the water and sanitation measures for sustanability.

Who are the possible partners internal and external that will help in implementing the solution?

 The main project partners will be as follows:

·         Staff of civil society organizations and local government structures to be trained in water, sanitation and livelihood approaches.

·         Private Sector Companies engaged in the supply of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) equipment.

·         Men and women to be trained in community management of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services

·         Men and women to be trained in the maintenance of water points as Local Pump Mechanics (VPMs)

·         Men and women to be trained in building and maintenance of ecological sanitation toilets

·         Pupils and teachers in the schools in the targeted 3 wards to have increased access to water and sanitation services

·         Men, women and children in the targeted 3 wards in Epworth receive health and hygiene education and benefit from increased access to water supply and sanitation services.

·         Epworth Local Board   operating with only 5% of the budget needed for WASH interventions and interested in the  introduction of low cost technologies such as sand abstraction and rope and washer pumps

Is UN-Habitat providing knowledge services or high-level policy advisory services?

UN-Habitat in collaboration with its partners will provide knowledge to be used for training purposes as well as policy advisory services to the community, civil society and the local authority.