By Flaminia Battistelli
, June 05, 2012
The Italian Cooperation is launching today a new 1.3 million euro post-emergency program in the South and the South-East of Ethiopia, focusing on areas affected by recurrent adverse climatic events and, in some cases, subject to refugee flows from neighboring countries.
The five areas identified within three Regional States, Oromia, SNNPR and Somali, are characterized by a chronic shortage of potable water and adequate sanitation facilities.
Such condition is often exacerbated by drought events which are particularly intense in the dry-lands of the Horn of Africa.
The program addresses the most vulnerable local populations, particularly women and children, as well as Somali and Kenyan refugees living respectively in the areas of Liben, Dilo and Magado.
The achievements of the first phase (2010) of the program represent a starting point for the upcoming phase.
The second phase has therefore been designed to build upon those results in order to further develop local communities to such crisis.
The program intends to reduce risk and prevent emergencies in these areas in the water, environmental hygiene and health sectors through activities aimed at improving access to safe and sustainable water sources, facilitating water/natural resource management, contributing to the reduction of water-related diseases and strengthening basic services.
CCM, CVM / CIAI, COOPI, LVIA and CISS / PROGETTO CONTINENTI are the Italian NGOs that will implement the interventions. They have all been present in the Country for many years and gained a deep experience in the WaSH and health sectors.
Activities are about to start and will develop throughout a whole year; they will integrate past initiatives ensuring the sustainability of the program and create important synergies with other development partners’ interventions such as those of the European Union and UN-OCHA.