ኮ-ዋሽ/CO-WASH

 የኮዋሽ ፕሮጀክት በፊንላንድ እና በኢትዮጵያ መንግስት የሁለትዮሽ ስምምነት የሚተገበር ፕሮጀክት ሲሆን በማዕከላዊ ኢትዮጵያ ክልል በአራት ዞኖችና አንድ ልዩ ወረዳ በድምሩ 7 የፕሮጀክት ወረዳዎች ላይ የንጹህ መጠጥ ውሃ አቅርቦት፣ ሳኒቴሽንና ሃይጂን ተግባራትን በመሥራት ላይ ይገኛል፡፡ 

የዚህ ፕሮግራም የበጀት ምንጭ ከኢትዮጵያ እና ፊንላንድ መንግስት የሚዋጣ ማቺንግ ፈንድ ሲሆን ከአጠቃላይ በጀት 60% የሚሸፈነው በኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ሆኖ ቀሪ 40% የሚሸፈነው በፊንላንድ መንግስት ነው፡፡

በማህበረሰብ የሚመራው የተፋጠነ የንፅህና መጠበቂያ ኮዋሽ IV(COWASH IV) በኢትዮጵያ ስምንት ክልሎች የውሃ፣ ሳኒቴሽንና ንፅህና አገልግሎት ተደራሽነትን ለማሻሻል የሚሰራ የሁለትዮሽ ፕሮጀክት ነው። የገንዘብ ድጋፍ የሚደረገው በኢትዮጵያ እና በፊንላንድ መንግስታት ነው። የሚተገበረው በኢትዮጵያ ውሃና ኢነርጂ ሚኒስቴር ከትምህርት፣ ጤና እና ፋይናንስ ሚኒስቴር እንዲሁም ከክልላዊ የንጽህና አጠባበቅ አጋሮች ጋር በመተባበር ነው።

The Community-Led Accelerated WASH (COWASH) is a bilateral water, sanitation and hygiene project between the Government of Finland (GoF) and the Government of Ethiopia (GoE), led by the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity. The bilateral cooperation started in 1994 with the Rural Water Supply and Environmental Program (RWSEP) in Amhara Region. 

In 2011, it was scaled up to the national level and replicated to four more regions (Benishangul Gumuz, Oromia, SNNPR and Tigray) with the objective to reach people with safe water, and improved sanitation and hygiene services. That same year the project got its current name: COWASH

It was established with the aim to serve as a transition program towards Finland's OWNP support and with the overall objective to achieve universal access to WASH in the rural areas of Ethiopia.

The purpose of the Project was to support the acceleration of the rural water and sanitation targets attainment through the establishment of an enabling environment and implementation of Community Managed Project (CMP) interventions in selected rural areas of Ethiopia. 

The implementation strategy of COWASH is based on the CMP approach. When the CMP approach is applied, communities are fully responsible for the water supply development process, through planning, financial management, construction management and maintenance management.

The Community Managed Project (CMP) approach is one of the four service delivery models for the development and use of rural WASH infrastructure in Ethiopia. 

      1. Woreda Managed Projects (WMP); 

      2. Community Managed Projects; 

      3. NGO Managed Projects; and 

      4. Self-supply.

 

The project has passed through three phases dated from July 2011 to March 2021. COWASH Project Phase IV started in April 2021 and it will end on September 30/2026.

Until the end of  COWASH phase III, it was implemented in 76 woredas of five regions (Amhara, Tigray, Oromia, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ (SNNP) and Benishangul-Gumuz), all applying the CMP approach. 

Currently, the total number of Woredas increased from 76 to 104 and the number of the region increased to 8 including Sidama, South West Ethiopia, Central Ethiopia and South Ethiopia Regional State.

NUMBER OF WOREDAS BY REGION

Amhara= 40 Woredas

Central Ethiopia= 7 Woredas

South Ethiopia=   4 Woredas

Benshangul Gumuz=4 Woredas

Oromia= 30 Woredas 

Sidama=5 Woredas

Tigray=12 Woredas

South West Ethiopia Regional State=2

Project Zones & Woredas in Central Ethiopia

Hadiya Zone:

           Soro Woreda & Lemo Woreda

2. Gurage Zone:

           Geta & Abeshige Woreda

3. Kembata Tembaro Zone:

           Hadero Tunto Woreda & Former Tembaro Woreda

4. Former Yem Special Woreda 

How these Woredas were selected?

The Woredas were selected for the implementation of the project as they have low water supply coverage and suitable climatic condition for low-cost water supply technologies. 

As these technologies can be easily managed by the user communities, the project uses Community Managed Project (CMP) approach among the four WASH implementation modalities in the country’s WASH Implementation Framework (WIF).

THE IMPACT STATEMENT OF COWASH IV

“Improved public health and well-being, social development and climate resilience in the communities in the Project area”. 

Outcome 1: Increased & sustained access of safe climate resilient community water supply

in rural areas of Project Woredas.

Outcome 2: Increased access to & usage of improved household latrines & increased

practice of handwashing with soap in COWASH IV water supply beneficiary households of 

Project Woredas

 

Outcome 3: Improved institutional WASH by narrowing the gap in improved institutional 

latrine, climate resilient and safe water supply, and MHM

 

Outcome 4: Sustainability and inclusivity of achieved WASH outcomes enhanced

 

Outcome 5: COWASH IV implementation effectively managed, lessons learnt, documented,

 communicated & shared & put into action

The achievement of the expected outcome and impacts is built on four pillars – result 

areas defined by their respective outputs:

FOUR PILLARS

Increase of rural population in selected woredas served by safely managed water 

      supply services (additional 1,100,000 people);

 

Increased access to and usage of improved household latrines (to at least 80%) 

      and increased practice of handwashing with soap at critical moments (by 20 % units) 

      in selected woredas;

Gap in institutional water supply narrowed down in rural areas in selected woredas; 

and

Project achievements documented via learning activities and shared strategically to enhance the impact of COWASH IV on WASH sector policies and practices.

 

KEY FEATURE

The key feature of the CMP funding mechanism is that it transfers funds and project management responsibilities for physical construction or rehabilitation directly to communities. 

   SOURCE OF FUND

The source of fund for the project is from Ethiopian Government (GoE), Finland Government (GoF) and User community contribution.

Investment/Construction - (GoE).

              (Only 15% of a total GoF fund expected to be allocated for School & Health facilities water supply construction)

Physical Capacity Building - (GoF)

Human Capacity Building - (GoF)

Operational (Both GoE & GoF)

       Note: GoE refers to Government of Ethiopia

                 GoF refers to Government of Finland

Who are steering committee members at all administrative levels? 

Bureau of Water, Irrigation & Mines Dev’t

Bureau of Education

Bureau of Health

Bureau of Finance

Bureau of Women & Children Affairs