by Dr Patrick Moriarty, IRC
http://www.ircwash.org/blog/it-all-about-systems
Systems such as monitoring systems to see whether services are delivered; financing frameworks that define who pays for what and how; and procurement mechanisms for infrastructure development. Developing those systems – the people, skills, resources – is therefore critical – it will allow us to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, and to end dependency on aid.
August 16, 2016 – from https://waterjournalistsafrica.com/2016/08/16/nigeria-kakura-residents-laments-lack-of-portable-drinking-water/
Residents of Kakura community in Chikun Local government Area of Kaduna State northwest are lamenting lack of portable water within their village despite their closeness to the city.
The people drink from a pond covered with dirts particularly during dried season.
A visit by water Journalists Africa reporter to the village with about 1000 inhabitants discovered that the community lacks access to good and clean water to drink.
Lamenting on the issue, the Village head, Ishaya Gwamna said in rainy reason all well in the village get dried off.
” We do suffered a lot during dried season because all wells within the village get dried off. The only borehole provided to us by an NGO in year 2000 has stopped working.
“Now our women fetched water from well but as soon as the rain stop they move to the pond to fetch water,” he said.
Another Community Leader Sunday Kakura said they are not happy drinking from a pond shared by people and cows.
“We have no option but to drink from same pond because we just have to survive. But we need assistance from any individual to provide us with boreholes in the village. We are subsistence farmers and need government intervention in our village,” he said.
The village head Ishaya Gwamna also expressed sadness with regards to lack of portable water for his people.
“We vote during elections because politicians do come to seek for our votes. But they never fulfilled their promises to us.
“We are appealing to philanthropists, other agencies and even the state government to provide us with primary health care center where our women and children can access health care. We equally need drinking water in the community which is a big challenge to us,” he said.
by Fadel Ndaw, World Bank Global Water Practice – reblogged from http://blogs.worldbank.org/water/3-ways-countries-can-improve-water-supplies-small-towns
A public faucet that serves 1,000 families in el Alto, Bolivia. Photo credit: Stephan Bachenheimer / World Bank
Small towns* typically have not been well served by national or regional water utilities. Decentralization has become increasingly widely adopted, but even if local governments at the small town level have the power to operate a water utility, they often lack the capital and skills to do so. In response, some local governments and public institutions concentrate improvements on upgrading public utilities’ operations or strengthening community based management. In other cases, they choose to bring in the private sector knowledge of how to get clean water and sanitation services to more people more efficiently, affordably or sustainably. There is no one solution to addressing often very complex water and sanitation challenges.
Continue reading “3 ways countries can improve water supplies in small towns”
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