PROJECT: GOVERNANCE, ADVOCACY AND LEADERSHIP IN WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (GOAL WASH)Niger

The project focuses on strengthening the institutional, human and technical capacities of stakeholders at all levels in the water and sanitation service delivery framework.

An outstretched hand feels the rain water splash on the palm of an african hand. Green foliage in the background adds to the feeling of relief from rain. — no caption

2009 - 2019. Now inactive

Global

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Alejandro Jiménez, PhD

Director

Water and Sanitation

alejandro.jimenez@siwi.org

+46 7 20 50 60 41

Goal

The goal of this project, more specifically, is to operationalize the national Water Guidelines at local level. A similar guide for sanitation was developed with the support of the project.

Challenge

Access to safe water and sanitation is low in Niger and rural populations are the worst affected. According to 2012 figures, 46 percent of the population did not have access to safe drinking water. In rural areas, where over 82 percent of the population lives, less than one in two persons had access to potable water. Similarly, official figures from 2011-2012 show that less than 20 percent of the total population had access to improved sanitation facilities, 68 percent for urban residents and only seven percent of rural dwellers.

Opportunity

In 2010, Niger updated its water and sanitation policy with the enactment of the Water Code, which, together with the Operational Strategy for the Promotion of Hygiene and Basic Sanitation (2014) form a strong legal, institutional and governance framework for water and sanitation service delivery in Niger. The Government has embarked on a process to decentralise the management of WASH service provision to the municipal level. Local towns, central authorities and service providers need technical support to manage the new arrangements in service provision.

Strategy

GoAL WaSH will provide the Ministry of Water and Sanitation (MHA) with human, financial and organizational support. The project will be implemented by MHA in partnership with the UNDP project “Implementing NAPA priority interventions to build resilience and adaptation sectors of the agriculture and water to climate change in Niger”. The project will involve the regional and departmental directorates of Water and Sanitation Services and communal focal points in charge of Water and Sanitation in the pilot areas and technical training partners.

Achievements

The substantial impact of this project was the enthusiasm generated among each of the 18 municipalities to develop a local action plan as a planning and advocacy tool.

Stakeholders working in the sanitation sub-sector also now have a sanitation guide, which has become the ‘go-to’ reference document. This has been complemented with a USD 50,000 UNICEF initiative to produce guidelines on CLTS. These guides can be used in future to harmonize approaches for the implementation of sanitation projects in the field. The local planning guide developed by GoAL WaSH is being used by the Ministry of Hydraulics and Sanitation to implement the national programme for water and sanitation in all eight regions of the country, as well as to streamline investment planning for water and sanitation needs at national level. A budget of USD 1.1 million has been set aside by the government for developing 80 local plans in all regions.

The activities carried out will contribute to the achievement of the national development programme, which is aligned with the SDGs and in keeping with the logic of ensuring universal and equitable access to affordable water, equitable access for all to adequate sanitation and hygiene services, and an end to open defecation, with special attention paid to the needs of women and children. Further aims are to reduce by half the proportion of untreated wastewater and develop a local action plan for each municipality in Niger.