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Published on: 06/02/2015

Of the 1300 rural water systems that have been monitored (using the SIASAR monitoring system), 69% are in category "A" (in good condition) and 30% in "B" (operating but needing minor interventions); only 1% classified as "C". This means that about 1 in 3 water systems faces operational problems of, for example, water quality or continuity of supply. In addition, only 15 % of the water committees score an "A" (good performance), 62% a "B" (regular performance), and the remaining 22% a poor or bad performance (C or D). 

I hope that 2015 will be the year in which many more of these systems and water committees score an A. Because if that were the case, two important things would have happened:

  • It would have meant that the water committees would have used the monitoring data to identify where they are scoring low and worked on addressing this. If for example a water committee currently scores a B because it doesn't carry out adequate financial management, it would have hopefully improved its book keeping and tariff setting. If a water system currently scores a B because its water quality is not good, hopefully the water committee would have started chlorinating the water.
  • It would mean that a second round of monitoring would have taken place. Knowing by end 2015 that a system that scored a B before and now an A, means that a second round of monitoring has taken place and that data of both rounds are available and are used for comparison.

And through that, the most important A's can be scored: by children who can attend school more regularly, because they are not affected by poor water quality, and can get better grades for their tests; or, by Honduras' economy, as continuous water supplies are more likely to be used for small-scale productive uses, such as vegetable gardens or coffee processing.

At IRC we are committed to contribute to getting an A. Under the umbrella of the Para Todos, Por Siempre (Everyone, Forever) initiative, we will work with over 20 municipalities to analyse how the water systems scored, and what needs to be done to make it to an A. In addition, we hope to put in place processes through which municipalities can continuously update their data on how the water systems are doing. In this way, we hope that 2015 is the year in which more rural water supplies in Honduras score an A.

 

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