Project profile — Water and Sanitation in Bonke, Ethiopia

• Ethiopia (100.00%)

• Basic drinking water supply:
Basic drinking water supply (14031) (40.00%)
Basic sanitation (14032) (40.00%)
Education and training in water supply and sanitation (14081) (20.00%)

• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (significant objective)
• Participatory development and good governance (significant objective)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (significant objective)
• Youth Issues (significant objective)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)

The objective of this project is to improve the general health of the populations of the Bonke district, in Ethiopia, benefitting 11,000 people (46% of the beneficiaries are under 14 years of age), through sustainable supply of potable water. It also aims to create effective local organizations that are able to sustain and manage local water systems, and to provide improved health and environmental sustainability through community education. The project is implemented in an area where only 14 percent of the population in Bonke district has access to potable water. HOPE International Development Agency and its local partner, HOPE Ethiopia, utilize and protect 10 naturally occurring springs, and provide a gravity-fed system which provides clean water to 18 villages. Basic education on environmental issues, environmentally friendly management practices, and the establishment of a tree nursery to promote tree-planting and improved watersheds contribute to the project's environmental sustainability. The project also promotes gender equality as a major theme throughout the activities. All project activities are undertaken in compliance with environmental protection regulations and guidelines stipulated by the Government of Ethiopia, and regional and local district and Water Bureau authorities. This project is part of a larger program led by HOPE aimed at providing potable water to rural Ethiopia. To ensure project sustainability, it is expected that HOPE Ethiopia runs this project and continues to support the targeted communities for at least five years after CIDA's funding ends.

N/A

Results achieved as of the end of the project (June 2012) include : over 125,000 people in 21 communities of Bonke Woreda in Ethiopia are in better health because they have improved access to potable water, often within 500 metres of their homes. The potable water comes from 11 spring-fed water systems that go to each community. Since the access to potable water has increased, there has been a 59% decrease in the incidence of waterborne diseases, such as diarrhea, and a 68% decrease in the incidence of trachoma in children under five. Committees were set up and trained at each spring to ensure the long-term sustainability of: the water infrastructure, the health and sanitation by-laws developed by the community, and environmental activities, such as reforestation. Young girls and boys, women and men also know more about health, hygiene, and sanitation because of a door-to-door education program and community-level training. This training has led people to increase their daily use of clean drinking water from newly constructed water and sanitation facilities. People now have safer personal hygiene habits leading to health improvements: they use pit latrines and hand-washing stations, and separate animals from their sleeping areas. Nine community-based organizations involving women were set up in 11 communities and women have expressed an increased sense of dignity as it is the first time they are participating in public leadership roles, have water infrastructure in their communities, and the knowledge to maintain and repair it, as needed.

• Proactive disclosure