Component 5 -
Strengthening Local Actors in Arid
Areas for Sustainable Water use
at the Community Level in Amran
 Context
Most rural communities in Yemen are faced with an inadequate
drinking water supply and a lack of options for safe sanitation. To
ensure improved and equitable water entitlements, both water
resources management and the support mechanism for decentralized
water governance at the district level have to be addressed.
Achievements in Phase I (July 2006 – June 2009)
During Phase I the consulting team trained partners in 4 Local
Councils as well as cooperating with Component 4 in developing and
implementing a Water Basin Committee training program. Phase I
activities identified that achievement of the indicator to prepare
district level water resource plans was premature and that
significant capacity development and community mobilisation was
required. Accordingly Phase II will focus on plan preparation.
Interventions were carried out in over 40 communities in the 4
districts dependent on local cooperation. The activities ranged from
water and hygiene awareness sessions and development of Village
Water Committees up to investment in water quality and quantity
improvements. Investment projects included community wide
distributions of household water filtration units, improvement or
development of water storage cisterns and in 3 communities improved
dry sanitation systems.
Due to the extreme needs of remote
communities in the rain-fed areas of Amran the measures adopted are
exemplary only and the decision to roll out such activities, even at
a district level, would require significant support from the
Government of Yemen. By trialling means to both improve local
governance and include local actors in the decentralized management
of water, it is expected that a model for widespread rural water and
sanitation improvement can be developed.
Outline of
phase II: July 2009 to June 2012
Objective
The
second phase aims to further improve in the organisation of water
management in at least 7 arid districts of Amran Governorate with
the inclusion of local actors, giving special consideration to
women. As women are responsible for household management of water
and the males in rural communities make water resource investment
decisions, there will need to be significant sensitivity to gender
issues. Additionally the requirement to operate through the nascent
and often poorly resourced district-level Local Administration will
see the component focussing on capacity development in the early
stages.
Indicators
The indicators
identified for Phase II of the project are:
-
At least 5 district councils have submitted
water plans developed with participatory methods (investments,
development planning) to the water basin committee for inclusion
in the water management plan (water basin level)
-
35 municipal committees have each presented at
least 1 project proposal to the district councils for improving
WSS, which has been prepared with target-group participation
giving special consideration to women (2009-10: 6 municipal
committees)
-
In at least 3 municipalities, 90 % of the target
group, women in particular, confirm that the drinking water
situation and sanitation facilities have improved
(representative survey)
Approach
The team of advisers provides
sectoral and methodological support to the decentralised Local
Authorities (e.g. primarily district but also governorate
administration) and non-governmental actors (e.g. water user groups,
NGOs) in arid zones in Amran. The team aims at participatory
conceptual design and implementation of water plans and specific
project proposals for improving the use and availability of water
resources at the community/municipality level.
Women’s
groups already playing an active role in discussions on improving
water supply and sanitation measures will receive special support
and encouragement will be given to women to participate at all
levels where this is not currently evident.
The participant
groups will use the outputs to improve the implementation and
maintenance of water use and management projects at municipal level.
The outcome of this will be to improve the organisation of water
management in at least 7 arid districts with the involvement of
local actors in Amran Governorate with model communities implemented
in at least 3 locations.
Further studies in and near the
Amran Water Basin are planned to identify patterns of water
availability and transport, to assess the barriers to gender
inclusivity in water resource management at the local level, and to
evaluate traditional techniques of rainwater harvesting for
productivity and appropriateness.
Results achieved so
far in Phase II
Phase II commenced with re-building team
partnerships from Phase I. Following from this has been developing a
training program in water resources development planning suitable
for the district level Local Administration in Yemen. Pilot training
measures will be trialled in mid-2010.
The project proposal
preparation activities developed in Phase I are currently being
rolled out to additional communities to achieve the second indicator
and an initial estimate of 16 communities will be targeted by the
end of calendar 2010.
Duration
Phase II
–July 2009 to June 2012
Counterpart organisations
Ministry of Local Administration, Local Government of Amran
Partnerships
United Nations Development Program
(UNDP), Social Fund for Development (SFD), University of Sana’a
Water and Environment Centre (WEC)
Contact persons
Ramon Scoble, Team Leader
Office: +967-7-602626
Mobile: +967-734801781
E-mail:
gfa.amran@gmail.com
The component is implemented by GFA / Otterwasser / Ghayth Aquatech
commissioned by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit
(GTZ) GmbH – German Technical Cooperation |
Water Sector
Factsheets
Detailed
Information about the Yemeni-German Water Sector Program and its
Components.
Download English Version,
1,1 MB, PDF
Download
Arabic Version, 1,1 MB, PDF
The
Components:
Consolidation of Sector
Reform in
Urban Water Supply and Sanitation
 more
Human Resource Development
in the Water Sector
more
Development of Independent and
Commercialized Urban Water and
Sanitation Utilities
more
Decentralization of Water Resources Management
more
Strengthening Local Actors in Arid
Areas for Sustainable Water use at the Community Level in Amran
more |
