Ethiopia ranks 157 out of 169 in the Human Development Index, 130 out of 135 in the Human Poverty Index, and 85 out of 109 in the Gender Empowerment Measure. The country has an agrarian economy dependant on subsistence rain-fed agriculture. Food insecurity is a defining feature of rural poverty in Ethiopia, particularly in drought-prone areas and an estimated 10% of the Ethiopian population is chronically food-insecure. About 44.6% of the GDP, 90% of exports and 85% of employment comes from the agriculture sector. However, the performance of the sector is highly vulnerable to variations in rainfall. In 2005, 23% of Ethiopians were estimated to be living on less than a dollar a day, and 77% living on less than $2 (USD) a day.
The WASH sector in Ethiopia has changed significantly in the last five years. Investment, particularly in water supply has increased from approximately ETB 1.19 billion (approximately USD 72 million) in 2005 to ETB 1.66 billion (approximately 100 million) in 2010. One of the main challenges facing the sector is lack of reliable data and there is a great variation in official Government of Ethiopia figures and internationally accepted Joint Monitoring Programme (WHO and UNICEF) figures. Official reports show access to water supply at 68.5 % -- 81.5 % for urban and 65.8% for rural. Access to sanitation facilities is reported to be 60%. The same report highlights hand washing practice at 7% and open defecation at about 15%.
Major WASH sector challenges include weak intra-sector coordination in planning, implementation and monitoring, low levels of capacity – at local level less than 40% of Woredas (districts) have a Woreda WASH Team in place, yet they are expected to deliver services to the vast majority of the country.
While water supply has a clear financing mechanism - with a separate and substantial budget line, sanitation and hygiene financing mechanisms are not well developed. Sanitation has no separate budget line and is not sufficiently considered in the budget process. Only the salaries of health extension workers and environmental health promoters are included as sanitation and hygiene related budget lines.
The WASH sector in Ethiopia has significant potential for transformation due to the existing political will and policy environment. However, practical challenges plague the sector and progress on key priorities such as greater intra-sector coordination, prioritising sanitation, improving the record on cost-effectiveness and sustainability, harmonization, capacity building and strengthening sector performance mechanisms has been slow.
This strategy introduces some key shifts and areas of focus for WaterAid in Ethiopia (WAE) in the next five years. Overarching themes that will guide our work include a more explicit focus on equity and sustainability in WASH services, sector performance monitoring as a basis for improving accountability, including accountability and monitoring results, targeted capacity building at local and national levels, and a stronger urban portfolio of work focusing on urban sanitation and capacity building of water utilities. A key area of work in the strategic period will be highlighting the marginalisation of sanitation and working towards a credible national strategy, plan and budget for sanitation.
We will build on our strong history and track record in Ethiopia to increase the impact of our work in the coming five years. In line with external evaluation recommendations, WAE will also increasingly create strategic links between different areas of its work through the development of three strategic hubs which will facilitate partnership, learning, knowledge sharing and deepening services in our targeted 20 Woredas and 7 towns, reaching 1.52 million direct and an additional 6.1 million people indirectly through our influencing work.
WAE therefore will work towards the following six objectives in the coming strategic period:
- 1. 1.52 million people including marginalised groups in target areas have access to safe water, improved hygiene and sanitation due to WAE and partners initiatives.
- 2. WASH stakeholders at national level and WAE target areas are better able to plan, monitor, coordinate and deliver equitable and sustainable WASH services.
- 3. A credible national action plan and budget for sanitation exists that includes rural and urban sanitation that can be implemented by regional and local governments.
- 4. Institutional WASH, particularly WASH in schools and health institutions, is integrated into local level plans in WAE target Woredas and monitored and reported in the overall national WASH progress reports.
- 5. WASH components under the food security sector in Ethiopia and WASH sector programs are effectively linked and coordinated
- 6. WAE is recognised for its influence, effectiveness and efficiency in reaching its objectives, both within the WaterAid family and externally by other actors in Ethiopia and beyond.
WAE has projected essential and desirable levels of operations and at the essential level proposes to reach a total of 1.52 million poor and marginalised Ethiopians with WASH services with a total resource requirement of ETB 596,405,040 and a staffing level of 60 staff over the five year period.
- UNDP, Human Development Report 2010
- Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Consolidated report. This figure does not include off-budget investments made by NGOs and other bilateral donors. A report by the Ministry of Water Resources highlights that utilisation is only Birr 794 Million, which is about 66% of the total budget.
- Ministry of Health, 2009.
- All Government of Ethiopia figures vary significantly from international figures. This is because of differences in methodologies, standards, definitions and also because of weak sector data in the country.
- This is equivalent to Pound Sterling 22,938,658 million and USD 36,2 million
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