ANTANANARIVO — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched a five-year, US$30 million project to improve water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in rural Madagascar. RANO WASH, which stands for ‘Rural Access to New Opportunities in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene’, will be implemented by a CARE-led consortium that includes Catholic Relief Services, WaterAid, BushProof and Sandandrano with activities planned through 2022. It will improve the health of people in 250 communes in the regions of Vatovavy Fitovinany, Atsinanana, Alaotra Mangoro, Amoron’i Mania, Haute Matsiatra, and Vakinankaratra.

RANO WASH will increase access to clean water for vulnerable populations, including girls, women and people with disabilities. In total, over 600,000 people will benefit from the project. This includes 300,000 people who will get access to clean drinking water through 140 water supply systems. These systems will be managed by local businesses with training from the project. A further 375,000 people will have better sanitation options thanks to improvements and rehabilitation work to existing toilets and cleaning stations. 190 public facilities, including health centers and schools, are among the locations destined to receive improved sanitation facilities. 

“Clean water is essential to our lives. We all need to drink, to bathe, to clean our clothes, and to ensure our children are clean and healthy,” said Acting USAID Mission Director, Aaron Bishop, speaking at the launch event. “This project will ensure over half a million people will enjoy healthier lives and these results will tackle head-on one of the leading causes of disease and death in Madagascar and help the country achieve its 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.”

RANO WASH will work with Madagascar’s Ministry of Water, Energy and Hydrocarbons and Ministry of Public Health to develop improved WASH policies and strategies. This will be done by strengthening the monitoring and evaluation system of the WASH sector by providing better tools, resources and training. The project will also empower civil society organizations and community members to be advocates for safe, sufficient and affordable WASH services in their communities.

The project will engage with partners and existing networks of community health volunteers to promote healthy behaviors such as the use of safe drinking water and toilets, regular handwashing and hygiene, menstrual hygiene for girls and women, food hygiene, and waste management.

Nearly half of rural households in Madagascar do not have a toilet (42%) or access to clean water (44%), according to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey of 2016. RANO WASH will help address these challenges and improve the health of rural households and communities.

“USAID’s commitment, expressed through RANO WASH, will continue improving health outcomes for the Malagasy population,” said Dr. Alain Randriamaherisoa, Country Manager for the RANO WASH project. “We expect this project to have significant impact on the productivity, health, and well-being of the Malagasy people, through improvements in sustainable and professional WASH services, community-driven and sustained behavior change, and improved WASH sector governance and monitoring.” 

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About USAID Madagascar

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the U.S. Government’s preeminent foreign assistance agency. USAID Madagascar officially opened its field office in September of 1984. In 2017, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided approximately $83 million in development assistance plus $19 million in emergency assistance to the Malagasy people, with programs that include investments in health, food security, environment, and water and sanitation programs.  For more information on USAID Madagascar and our projects, visit www.usaid.gov/madagascar.
 

About CARE

Founded in 1945 with the creation of the CARE Package®, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE places special focus on working alongside women and girls because, equipped with the proper resources, they have the power to lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty. That’s why women and girls are at the heart of CARE’s community-based efforts to improve education and health, create economic opportunity, respond to emergencies and confront hunger. Last year CARE worked in 93 countries and reached 65 million people around the world. Learn more at care.org.