The workshop was held from 8 to 10 May 2018 in Goma and brought together some 30 participants from member organisations of the Consortium. YME Great Lakes, HYFRO, AVUDS, Oxfam and Tearfund were represented.
The review began with a presentation by the Consortium coordinator on the results already achieved and what remains to be implemented by the partners.
The discussions focused on good practices in terms of collecting testimonials and photos to increase programme visibility.
This presentation emphasised the importance of the proper use of SWIFT’s complaints management mechanism to enable project beneficiaries to express their views and concerns. This mechanism aims to empower partner organisations to hold commitments made to communities and other stakeholders and to improve the impact and effectiveness of the program.
Unlike rural areas (villages), where the SWIFT program is implemented through the standardized ‘Healthy Villages and Schools’ approach, in semi-urban environments, which can be very diverse, the program had to be adapted to suit different contexts.
Discussion on good practices learned from the experience of the first programme, in terms of sustainability, that can be applied to the second programme.
Update on the progress of the formative research currently being carried out to identify key messages that facilitate the sustainable adoption of targeted WASH behaviours. Research is being undertaken in two regions: in Minova (North Kivu), and in Kindu (Maniema). With the findings of this research, SWIFT will adapt its communication methods on behaviour change and test them in both regions.
The goal of the SWIFT programme extension in the DRC is to provide water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) services to more than 700,000 people by December 2018 and to build capacity up to June 2020 to ensure the sustainability of services.
