CLEAN WATER
In Ethiopia, only 42% of the population has access to a clean water supply. (Water.org)
According to a survey conducted by Water.org, 61 million Ethiopians lack access to safe drinking water. In rural Ethiopia, many women and children walk more than three hours to collect water, often from shallow wells or unprotected ponds they share with animals. Recurring droughts result in famine, food shortages, and water-related diseases, as people are forced to rely heavily on contaminated or stagnant water sources.
In southern Ethiopia where SHAPEthiopia has been operating in the last twelve years, the situation is even worse. The majority of the community uses unprotected sources and rivers to obtain water for domestic use. The sources are shared by animals and humans alike – with the resulting health risk. Furthermore, the average amount of time spent looking for water from unprotected sources varies between 20 minutes and one hour per journey, and average water consumption in the majority of Kebeles (localities) is some five liters per person per day – which amounts to 25% of the minimum recommended amount.
To alleviate this problem, SHAPEthiopia has launched a program named Access to Clean Water Improvement Initiative (ACW-II) in all its program implementation areas and is working on it.
Through this initiative, SHAPEthiopia intends to improve the coverage & access to safe drinking water to children, women and communities in its program implementation areas, through the activities like:-
- Water Wells Development Project
- Installing Hand Pumps
- Constructing Water Points
- Installing Water Pipes