On 6th December 2019 the closing ceremony of the project “Improved access to sanitation and hygiene services in Addis Ababa” was held in Addis Ababa. The project was financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and implemented in six schools of the Sub-city Nefas Silk by the Italian NGOs Comitato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo dei Popoli (CISP), Comitato Collaborazione Medica (CCM), and Centro Italiano Aiuti all’Infanzia (CIAI). The intervention of CISP, CCM and CIAI focused on the following expected outcomes:
- CISP
- Improving access to water. The project benefited from the collaboration of the Parents, Students and Teachers Associations – PSTA which were trained, and informed about the interdependence of health, hygiene and health, the importance of a balanced diet rich in fresh products (school gardens) and the sustainability of the activities carried out. The water- and sanitation-related activities were attended by well-trained groups of people from the PSTA, as well as by youth clubs thus contributing to raising the awareness and sense of ownership of the young people.
- CCM
- Improving environmental health and the personal hygiene practices of students and families, with a view to promoting sexual and reproductive health and menstrual hygiene and to broadening the knowledge and sharing information among teachers, students and community on these topics.
- CIAI
- Improving environmental health, personal hygiene practices of students and the nutrition condition at institutional level, in favor of students and families; as well as improving the functioning and management of school infrastructures.
Moreover, workshops on income generating activities such as the production of soaps and reusable pads were carried out and school gardens were set up within the scope of the project.
The project was run jointly with the Embassy of France in Ethiopia- Development Cooperation Office (AF-DCO) which contributed by building infrastructures such as toilets and showers and spaces used as canteens in selected schools, by involving Parents, Students and Teachers Associations – PSTA already present and active within the school administrations. The infrastructures were built by using recycled materials (tires and plastic bottles) following an innovative technique invented in France and already applied in Senegal and Morocco. Six students of vocational training colleges were involved in the realization of the infrastructures with the aim to teach state-of-the-art sustainable and innovative construction techniques to young students.
The best practices of the project will be replicated in ten schools of the Sub-city Nefas Silk-Lafto through an initiative financed by AICS and implemented by UNOPS. The initiative is currently in progress and aims to create sanitation and hygiene facilities applying sustainable construction techniques and involving six students of the vocational training colleges.
