On Friday, August 13, the launching event of the Rural WASH project in Oromia took place.
The initiative aims to improve drinking water and sanitation access in 3 Woredas located in the South West Shewa Zone of the Oromia region, in Ethiopia.
The project’s main components are the construction and renovation of 20 rural aqueducts and the construction of 20 sanitation facilities in as many schools.
In addition, the project includes the training of local technicians to enable them to build small hydraulic infrastructures and the related maintenance.
Sustainability is, also in this case, one of the main objectives. For this reason, it is expected a reduction in the use of electricity from fossil fuels through the installation of photovoltaic panels and the development of new gravity schemes.
AICS has allocated 2 million euros to finance the project, directly granted to the Oromia region. The Agency has also allocated a fund of 200,000 euros to the civil society organization (CSO) COOPI that will provide technical assistance to regional technicians during the implementation of the activities.
The event, organized by the Bureau of Finance and Economic Cooperation of the Oromia Region (BOFEC), was attended by: the Oromia Water and Energy Resources Development Bureau (OWERDB), representatives of the Woredas and their WASH offices, financial offices, offices for social support and public hygiene and WASH experts from the CSO COOPI.
Local representatives enthusiastically welcomed the initiative and said they are ready to actively collaborate. The rural communities of South West Shewa enjoy particularly limited access to water resources. The AICS project “Rural WASH in Oromia” will significantly support these communities by ensuring access to drinking water and involving and training local technicians, ensuring the sustainability of the works.