Consolidated WASH Account, CWA II

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

Consolidated WASH Account II (CWA II) is financing the implementation of One WASH National Programme II (OWNP II) of the Ethiopian government. CWA II is supported by a group of donors in close cooperation with the Ethiopian ministries (Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy; Ministry of Education; Ministry of Health as well as Ministry of Finance). WASH (water-, sanitation and hygiene) sector is important in poverty reduction. In the water and sanitation sector, the global policy direction is formulated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes the targets for rural WASH as SDG 6.1 and 6.2. The development objective of CWA II is to improve the health and well-being of people in rural and urban communities in an equitable and sustainable manner by increasing access to water supply and sanitation and adoption of good hygiene practices. Currently 30% of the rural and 45% of the urban population in Ethiopia does not have access to safe water supply. Similarly 39% of the population does not have access to adequate sanitation facilities. CWA I has improved WASH services for 3,9 million rural and 626,000 urban people. In total 1,2 million rural households benefitted of built sanitation facilities (200% of the targeted figure). 10,224 waterpoints/sanitation facilities were built to schools and health facilities, which is 98% of the targeted figure. Finland's support for CWA I was 2 million EUR for the period of 2016-2019. This contribution has gained participation in the steering committee and therefore an opportunity to impact both the implementation of the CWA programme as well as WASH sector development in Ethiopia as such. Finland’s aim is to further increase the cooperation between the two WASH sector financed projects in Ethiopia and promote the use of innovative activities successfully developed and implemented in the bilateral CoWASH IV programme into the CWA II programme as well. Finland's financial contribution of 4 MEUR would be for the period of 2020-2023, divided into annual allocations of 1 MEUR. CWA II will target 4 million beneficiaries in order to support their access to safe water as well as provide access to sanitation services for around 3 million people. The programme covers all the nine regions in Ethiopia, and out of those 309 districts as well as 70 urban cities are selected to be targeted. The total budget for Phase II is MUSD 542 and will increase when more donors will contribute.