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Oxfam’s partners adapt their approach to sanitation in semi-urban contexts in DRC

Five of the seven members of the water committee in Kasitu, North Kivu. Photo: Jane Beesley/SWIFT Consortium | Cinq des sept membres du comité d’eau créé dans le cadre de l’approche « villages assainis » à Kasitu, Nord-Kivu. De gauche à droite : Kakule Kasembo Mapendo, Kakule Kasembo Jean Bapiste, Kahambu Marhata Alfonsine, Muhindo Tsongo et Maskereka Muthahwh

Five of the seven members of the water committee set up through the ‘healthy villages’ approach in Kasitu, North Kivu. From left to right: Kakule Kasembo Mapendo, Kakule Kasembo Jean Bapiste, Kahambu Marhata Alfonsine, Muhindo Tsongo and Maskereka Muthahwh

Tippy-tap near a latrine in Kasitu, North Kivu, with a bowl of ash for hand-washing and a leaf screen for privacy. Photo: Jane Beesley/SWIFT Consortium | Un « tippy-tap » près d’une latrine à Kasitu, Nord-Kivu, avec des cendres pour le lavage des mains et un paravent pour protéger l’intimité.

A tippy-tap near a latrine in Kasitu, North Kivu, with a bowl of ash for hand-washing and a leaf screen for privacy

SWIFT, Oxfam and CEPROSSAN sign in Beni, North Kivu. Photo: Jane Beesley/SWIFT Consortium | Un panneau SWIFT, Oxfam et CEPROSSAN sur le bord de la route qui mène à Kasitu, Beni, Nord-Kivu.

A SWIFT, Oxfam and CEPROSSAN sign by the road en route to Kasitu in Beni, North Kivu

Oxfam’s partners in DRC have exceeded their targets for reaching families with hygienic household latrines through the SWIFT programme by some 36,000 people, and have learned much about working in semi-urban contexts along the way.

In the last quarter of 2015, 23,661 family latrines were constructed or rehabilitated with the support of Oxfam’s partners CEPROSSAN, Hyfro and PPSSP, providing hygienic sanitation to 134,771 people. Community mobilisation activities and hygiene promotion events were carried out to raise awareness around the safe use of both latrines and water facilities, including meetings, mass campaigns and inter-community sanitation awareness competitions.

Sanitation in semi-urban contexts

One of the challenges faced by SWIFT in DRC has been to adapt its approach to sanitation for semi-urban contexts. In Kanyabayonga, for example, in Lubero territory in North Kivu, Oxfam’s partner CEPROSSAN found that households were not completing the superstructures for their latrines. The soil in the area requires that different materials and techniques be used if the constructions are to be viable, and families were not willing or able to provide the investment required.

Under the ‘healthy villages and schools’ approach (Villages et Ecoles Assainis), the step-by-step process of village mobilisation supported by DRC’s government and through which SWIFT is working, villages are mobilised to build latrines with technical but no material support. In rural areas in which there is a community ethos and families have access to local materials, this works well, but Oxfam’s partners have found that it is not always suited to the more individual lifestyle of families in semi-urban contexts.

The solution has been to consider providing tailored subsidies, such as bags of cement, to households in semi-urban areas on a case-by-case basis. A time-intensive and complex process requiring close monitoring and strong commitment on all sides, this has nevertheless proved very effective, enabling Oxfam’s partner to exceed their sanitation targets.

The ASUREP model

The Oxfam team in DRC has been piloting the ‘ASUREP’ model of water network users’ associations for the management of water supply systems in semi-urban areas, where there is currently no established approach. This is a hybrid model (blending community and private management) which focuses on formalising and professionalising existing community-management organisations, and stipulates that water users’ associations must include both legal and community representation.

In the last quarter of 2015, most of the ASUREPs set up under the SWIFT programme have organised elections for their three main bodies: the “Assemblée Générale”, “Conseil d’Administration” and “Commission de Controle”.

In Kalunguta Health Zone, for example, the ASUREP for the four gravity-fed water systems has elected these three bodies and is now recruiting a ‘Unité de Gestion’ (management team). In Mutwanga Health Zone, the ASUREP for the town of Lubiriha – which is called the ACOEP (Association des Consommateurs d’Eau Potable Kasindi-Lubiriha) – has also reached the stage of recruiting technicians.

Institutional sustainability

There are encouraging signs of institutional sustainability in rural areas too. In Kirumba, the involvement of the National Hydraulic Service for Rural Areas (Service National d’Hydraulique Rurale – SNHR) with the gravity-fed water system built through the SWIFT programme is considered by the community to be a basis for its future support for operations and maintenance of the water systems in Kayna Health Zone.

In the last three months of 2015, Oxfam’s partners in DRC completed 66 water systems: two gravity-fed systems, in Mataba and Murambi; 21 springs with reservoirs; and 43 simple springs. These systems are now providing clean, sustainable drinking water to 35,199 people. Other water systems are still in the process of construction and will be completed by the end of March 2016.

Find out more about the SWIFT programme in DRC

WSUP completes 23.5km new water network in an informal settlement of Nairobi
WSUP completes 23.5km new water network in an informal settlement of Nairobi
Study finds fall in hygiene-related diseases in Community Health Club villages in South Kivu
Study finds fall in hygiene-related diseases in Community Health Club villages in South Kivu

About SWIFT

Since 2014, the Sustainable WASH In Fragile Contexts (SWIFT) Consortium has been working to provide access to water and sanitation and to encourage the adoption of basic hygiene practices in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in Kenya. Various partners implement SWIFT’s actions in both target countries, in collaboration with governments as well as water providers, including utilities. The consortium is led by Oxfam, and includes Tearfund and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) as global members. The SWIFT programme is funded by UK aid from the UK government under a Payment by Results (PbR) contract.

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