Ru-WatSIP

Rural Water Supply, Sanitation & Irrigation Programme

Introduction

Research proves the direct correlation between the provision of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and well-being - sustainable access to clean water and effective sanitation are essential for a healthy and productive lifestyle.  According to the World Bank Poverty and Food Security Report, some 17 million rural and urban Afghans are in need of safe drinking water.  In Afghanistan, currently only 26.8% and 4.9% of the population have access to safe water and sanitation respectively.

Moreover, the lack of sustained access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation facilities is almost certainly affecting human development issues.  Statistics show that the mortality rate of children under five is approximately 161 per 1,000 live births.  Some 23% of deaths are attributed to contaminated water and poor sanitation; mainly due to fecal-oral transmission of harmful pathogens, resulting in death from preventable diseases.  Lack of access to safe water and sanitation exacerbates poverty through illness, increased medical expenses, and loss of productivity and income; there is also widespread under-nourishment and malnourishment amongst children.

Goal

Enhance the quality of life of Afghans through improved access to safe and sustainable water supplies and sanitation services and the adoption of hygienic best practices at the personal, household and community levels, resulting in (i) reduced morbidity and mortality rates (particularly for children under five years of age) and (ii) enhanced productivity and well-being.

Objectives

Increase access of the rural population to 25 liters of water per capita per day from 27 to 50% in 2014, 70% in 2016 and 100% in 2020, and improve the quality of potable water to World Health Organisation standards by 2020. 

Make all villages/rural communities in Afghanistan 100% Open Defecation Free and fully sanitized by 2020, with intermediate objectives of 50% by 2014 and 70% by 2016.  This is to be achieved by empowering communities to:

• Improve existing traditional latrines by making them safer, more hygienic and more private;
• Make new latrines as models of safe sanitation in households, schools and clinics; and
• Undertake the safe disposal of solid and liquid waste.  Provide hygiene education with appropriate follow-up activities in schools, households and communities with a view to guaranteeing permanent behavior change and consistent adoption of safe hygiene practices.

Strategy

The strategy for the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene must be fully integrated both in the planning and implementation stages.  Key elements of the strategy must include:  community empowerment, women’s empowerment, utilizing groups such as women’s shuras, institutional strengthening at various levels, behavioral changes in sanitation and hygiene issues, Community Led Total Sanitation, focusing on school sanitation, promoting hygiene education in schools, enforcing all health workers, teachers, Community Development Council members and all government staff to have and use sanitary toilets in their homes and workplaces.

Key Achievements

Since its inception in 2004, RuWatSIP has been very successful in making the following contributions to rural Afghanistan:

• 17,347 shallow wells and 51 deep wells;
• 1,733 water reservoirs;
• 154 water supply networks and 861 hand pumps;
• Hygiene and sanitation education dispensed to more than 3.6 million rural Afghans to raise awareness of the importance of safe drinking water and prevention of waterborne diseases;
• 28,212 latrines built in 34 provinces; and
• 7,868,554 beneficiaries.

A Dire Need

Despite our accomplishments, significant challenges lie ahead in achieving our stated objective of increasing access of the rural population to 25 liters of water per capita per day to 50% in 2014.  The Rural Water Supply and Sanitation and Irrigation Programme (RuWatSIP) mandate is to increase national water supply coverage from 27 to 47%, together with an increase in access to proper sanitation facilities from 6 to 25%; implementation costs are estimated at just under 128 million USD, of which only 30 million USD have been secured.

In the longer term, a Community Led Total Sanitation and capacity building plan has been prepared for the 2012-2025 timeframe, with a view to trying to attain the water and sanitation MDGs by 2020.  The plan foresees the construction of 70,000 new water points, the rehabilitation of 30,000 dysfunctional water points, the construction of 341,724 new household latrines and the upgrading of 540,074 traditional household latrines in 35,000 villages, necessitating a budget of nearly 426 million USD to implement.  This will result in the remaining 73% of Afghan rural population (13,000,000) finally reaping the benefits of clean drinking water and modest sanitation facilities.  To complete this process, however, RuWatSIP will require further financial and technical support the international community. 

Ongoing Projects

The following constitute our current, ongoing projects:

Where we want to be in 2014

By 2014, RuWatSIP wants to be able to provide access to safe drinking water to 50% of the population.  This will necessitate the construction of 32,000 new water points and the rehabilitation of 16,000 dysfunctional water points.  Building 3,600 schools with new water points, as well as fitting 1,100 hand pumps on existing wells in 1,100 schools, will provide 80% of the schools in Afghanistan with safe drinking water.

By 2014, we also want to provide access to safe sanitation to 50% of the population.  This requires making 19,425 villages Open Defecation Free and fully sanitized by creating 520,000 new household toilets and rehabilitating 700,000 traditional toilets.  Rehabilitating 3,500 old school toilets, and building 23,000 new ones, will provide 80% of the schools in Afghanistan with safe sanitation.

Emergency Response 

Every year, RuWatSIP uses water tankers to supply emergency drinking water for one million people affected by droughts – this is not a sustainable way of providing safe drinking water for rural populations. By building sustainable water points in the affected areas, RuWatSIP has reduced the number of drought-impacted provinces from 18 to 10 in the current year.

Financial Information: