Duration: January 2016 – January 2019
Total Funding: $1.4 million

OVERVIEW

USAID’s Creating Sustainable Community Water, Sanitation & Hygiene project aimed to create community-managed improved water and sanitation facilities and promote household adoption of improved sanitation practices. It also aimed to reduce the incidence of water-borne diseases in the Municipality of Songo, province of Uíge. The project is known in this part of the country as Maza yi Moyo – in kikongo language – Water is life!

The project addresses one of the key priorities of USAID in Angola and contributes to the achievement of the Government of the Republic of Angola’s ongoing “Water for All” initiative. The objective of the initiative is to  secure an improived source of drinking water for 80% of the population in peri-urba and rural areas of the country.  The Maza yi Moyo project is aligned with USAID’s Water & Development Strategy 2013 – 2018 and U.S Government Global Water Strategy 2017.  To improve communities’ household economy, the project promoted the creation of the “Savings with Education” initiative that facilitates community members’ access to financial resources.

ACTIVITIES

• Provide training to local leaders and establish the community water structures.
• Maintain productive relations with the municipal authorities to ensure the management and sustainability of the water sources.
• Empower communities to improve their community and household water, sanitation and hygiene through social and behavior change process by applying the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS).
• Promote local resource generation through the creation of the Savings with Education Groups
• Create sustainable access to improved drinking water in 81 rural communities managed by Water and Sanitation Councils (WSCs)
• Increased adoption of key hygiene behaviors by households
• Build public Ventilated Improved Public (VIP) latrines and handwashing stations
• Promote household improved latrine construction
• Train community WSCs in sustainable water source management and the creation of user agreements
• Community-led mapping of water sources

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• 25,097 people gained access to improved sources of drinking water
• 87 water and sanitation councils formed
• 862 people actively participated in the water and sanitation councils (431 are women)
• 810 water and sanitation members of the councils trained
• 126 water sources constructed or repaired
• 25 VIP latrines constructed
• 23 public handwashing stations constructed  
• 11,412 people gained access to sanitation facilities
• 1,412 household latrines constructed
• 48,416 people reached with water, sanitation and hygiene education
• 107 Active Savings with Education groups
• 3,161 Savings with Education active members
• Kz 90,074,380, equivalent to $303,772 cumulative savings and earnings of all Active Savings with Education groups as of March 31, 2020.