WASH SDG consortium receives 59 million for projects in seven Asian and African countries
The WASH SDG Consortium has been granted 59 million euro by the Dutch government for its joint programme to implement water, sanitation and hygiene projects in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nepal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
This programme aims to sustainably improve access to and use of sanitation plus hygiene behaviour for at least 2 million people. Additionally, it will deliver access to safe drinking water for at least 450,000 people in the coming five years.
The consortium includes most major Dutch water-aid specialised organizations, such as Simavi (lead), Plan, SNV, Amref Flying Doctors, Akvo, Rain, Waste, IRC, Wetlands, Practica and RUAF.
Large scale collaboration
It is for the first time that the government and aid organizations cooperate on such a large scale to create water facilities and services that include sustainable, climate resilient, gender sensitive and socially inclusive.
In response to the adaption by the UN in 2015 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the Dutch government decided to contribute with the provision of safe water and clean toilets for respectively 30 million and 50 million people.
By bringing in almost the whole Dutch water sector, the WASH SDG Consortium will contribute to realise this target in an effective and efficient way.
Leaving no one behind
Ariette Brouwer, managing director of Simavi, lead organisation of the WASH SDG Consortium: ‘I am delighted that we have brought together so much Dutch knowledge to tackle the water and sanitation issues many underprivileged communities are facing.’
Brouwer emphasised the social inclusion of the programme: 'Together with our partners in the WASH SDG Consortium we aim to reach an improved WASH situation for all, following the SDG mission of leaving no one behind.’
‘This includes the hard to reach households, the poorest of the poor and those living in remote or slum areas, and both men and women’, Brouwer said.
Long-term presence
The WASH SDG programme will be implemented in seven countries: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nepal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
These countries all have significant numbers of people with poor access to and use of WASH services, either in rural areas or in densely populated areas with uncontrolled urbanisation and deteriorating water security.
In all these countries the consortium members have long-term presence and ongoing WASH programmes, as well as established influence at the national level.
The WASH SDG Consortium also commits itself to ensure that for every euro invested in WASH by the Dutch government, one euro is contributed locally, through for instance investments by local households, private sector and local and national governments.
This news item was originally published on the website of Wash Alliance, Plan Nederland (in Dutch only) and Simavi.
(top photo by Simavi/Raymond Rutting)
Read also on this website
● SDG 6 for water and sanitation: Some heavy lifting to do, 10 March 2015
● Stockholm World Water Week 2016: Dutch delegation to launch programme on sustainable water use, 25 August 2016
● The Netherlands is fully committed to next leap forward on sustainable development goals, 27 September 2015
● Stockholm world water week 2015: Let’s accelerate WASH, let’s do it differently, 27 August 2015
More information
Simavi
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
+31 88 313 15 00
www.simavi.org
Wash Alliance International
Haarlem, the Netherlands
www.wash-alliance.org
Plan Nederland
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
+31 20 549 55 20
www.plannederland.nl