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Published on: 03/01/2023

IRC WASH Ethiopia's country director, Lemessa Mekonta, introducing the new project  |   Photo by: Tsegaye Yeshiwas

IRC WASH Ethiopia in collaboration with regional Government Bureaus has launched a project to strengthen WASH systems in the Amhara region which will complement the Sustainable WASH Program (SWP) implementation through the Millennium Water Alliance (MWA) in Farta, Dera and North Mecha woredas. It is funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation (CNHF) and will run till the end of 2024. The launch of the project took place in Bahir Dar on December 28, 2022.  

In his opening remark, the representative of the Amhara Region Bureau of Water and Energy Ato Arega Kassa acknowledged what IRC and its MWA partners have been doing to strengthen the WASH systems in the region and the three woredas under the Sustainable WASH Program (SWP). According to Ato Arega, the coming of this additional funding for the WASH system strengthening support to the region is an opportunity to scale up the results that have evolved from the SWP project since 2019. He requested all stakeholders (including government and non-government) to contribute to the project implementation and sustainable WASH services in the region. 

Millennium Water Alliance (MWA) Country Director Ato Tamene Chaka noted that MWA's three focus areas are campaigning for universal, sustainable services, monitoring, evaluation, and learning to improve programs, and evidence-based advocacy. He also mentioned that six partner organisations which are part of the alliance will implement the project, and it will benefit over 700,000 individuals. 

According to Lemessa Mekonta, Country Director of IRC WASH Ethiopia, the newly introduced project aims to strengthen specific WASH building blocks, create a robust WASH monitoring system, improve coordination among WASH actors at the regional level, increase the capacity of WASH experts and leadership, and support resource mobilization and the implementation of districtwide WASH master plans in the three woredas - Farta, Dera and North Mecha. He also underscored the need for integration to plan for coordination, advocacy, and monitoring.  

Following presentations and discussions, agreements were reached to assist in the establishment of a regional WASH monitoring system, collaborate with local media to promote the strengthening of WASH systems and build capacity through blended training on WASH systems strengthening. The project intends to employ a resource mobilization and implementation officer in order to support the mobilization of resources for the three SWP woredas. Additionally, a regular platform for learning and collaboration will be established to assist key regional WASH actors. 

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