Capacity development for improved water and sanitation delivery in towns around Lake Victoria
The capacity development component of the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Initiative (LVWATSAN) serves to secure sustainable and equitable delivery of water supply, sanitation and environmental services in 10 towns around the lake. The towns are Muleba, Bukoba, Mutukula, Kyotera, Nyendo, Bugembe, Bondo, Homa Bay, Kisii, and Bunda, with a combined population of about 400,000 people.
Background
The rapidly growing urban centres in the Lake Victoria basin are playing an increasingly important role in the economic development of the region.
Most of these towns are experiencing unplanned growth, which is negatively affecting basic infrastructure, living conditions, the environment and the fragile ecosystem of the lake. Lake Victoria is the second-largest freshwater lake in the world and provides the main source of livelihood for many of the people in the region, of whom more than 50 percent live below the poverty line.
The LVWATSAN initiative supports the governments of the riparian states to achieve the Millennium Development Goals for water supply and sanitation, with an emphasis on innovative solutions and speedy delivery in small towns in the Lake Victoria Basin.
Objectives
The aim of the capacity development component of the LVWATSAN Initiative is to ensure sustainable and equitable delivery of water supply, sanitation and environmental services in the 10 towns.
The objectives are to equip organizations and individuals from the towns with the awareness, knowledge, skills and attitudes required to improve and sustain the concerned services, improve the quality of life and promote economic activity in water, sanitation and solid waste management, with a particular focus on gender issues and vulnerable groups.
The capacity development activities aim to address all sectors of society, taking special care to include all social classes.
Activities and Outputs
The capacity development interventions include 27 different modules, each one lasting 1 to 3 days. The modules are being offered to about 3,000 participants from the 10 towns. The capacity development interventions have been designed in response to specific issues on the ground, in the towns around Lake Victoria.
These issues surfaced during town-by-town inquiries that used a methodology which is designed to map the (mostly) local actors and their relationships, points of fact, and issues and observations. The capacity development interventions are issue-based, problem-oriented and output-focused and conclude with a Personal Action Plan that requires each participant or group of participants to generate a set of local actions that is within their authority and capabilities to implement and that will make a contribution to the improvement of local water and environmental services.
Substantial investments in the ten towns have been completed. These achievements are: the rehabilitation of the water infrastructure, construction of distribution mains including water meters, valves and water kiosks, the construction of rainwater tanks, installation of public latrines in schools, institutions and public spaces, the establishment of micro-credit facilities for household latrines, and many more activities.
The immediate investments, including some fast-track training capacity building, have resulted in a significant improvement in the performance of the water utilities in the project towns.
Project details
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Start and end date:
September 2009
to June 2011
UN-HABITAT, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Gender and Water Alliance, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, Netwas International
UN-HABITAT
Sub-Saharan Africa
Institutional Capacity Building
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