Looking beyond headline indicators: water and sanitation services in small towns in Ethiopia

Abstract

This paper presents findings on water and sanitation service levels from 16 small and medium towns in four regions of Ethiopia. In these settlements, the proportion of people with access to improved water and sanitation services is found to be high and consistent with other major datasets and reports for urban Ethiopia. However, when service characteristics such as reliability, quality, quantity and accessibility (including travel and queuing time) of water are considered, and for sanitation, quality and use, a different picture emerges. Only a small minority of households, 9% for water and 3% for sanitation, were found to receive services that meet the standards set in the Ethiopian government's first Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP I). Under the second Growth andTransformation Plan (GTP II), standards for urban water services have been set higher and current performance levels are even lower. This paper illustrates the discrepancies between average coverage figures, actual service delivery levels and the increased demands of the GTP II. The paper illustrates the huge scale of the challenge faced in improving WASH service delivery levels in small towns in Ethiopia, which is an issue of wider relevance in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Small town water services sustainability checks: development and application in Ethiopia

“…According to WHO/UNICEF's Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), access to improved water services in urban areas in Ethiopia has improved from 84% in 1990 to 93% in 2015 and access to piped water on premises also increased considerably, from 10% to 56% during the same time period (WHO/UNICEF, 2017). However, these largely positive coverage figures hide the reality of low levels of service and challenges related to the sustainable provision of small town water services (Adank et al, 2016).…”

“…Data were collected by enumerators using surveys loaded on phones using Akvo FLOW software. Further methodological details on collection of service level data are included in Adank et al (2016).…”

Intestinal parasites among food handlers of food service establishments in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Apart from socio-economic factors, other factors like availability of clean water, the survival of the environmental stages of the parasites, personal and public hygiene practices play a central role in the transmission of intestinal parasites [9,10]. Ethiopia has one of the bottommost clean water supply and latrine coverage [11]. Studies carried out in Ethiopia indicated that personal hygienic factors like hand washing after toilet use, medical cheek up including stool examinations, and knowledge about intestinal parasites contribute to the prevalence of intestinal parasite infections among food handlers of food service establishments [12][13][14].…”

Reflecting SDG 6.1 in Rural Water Supply Tariffs: Considering ‘Affordability’ Versus ‘Operations and Maintenance Costs’ in Malawi

“…1 Excluding data that indicates no response and don't know. 2 Other service providers of n = 20,438: Owner/Private household (n = 78, 0.38%), Private contractor or operator (n = 59, 0.29%), WUA (n = 17, 0.08%), NGO (n = 9, 0.04%), Local Government (n = 8, 0.04%), Public operator/utilities (n = 6, 0.03%). 3 Includes both WPC and Area Mechanic, n = 1315 (66.82%).…”

“…Excluding data that indicates no response and don't know 2. Responses include either "Affordability" or "Maintenance" as a consideration, with the exception of n = 2 occurrences in "=2" category.…”