The chemical, biological, and radiological characteristics of water determine its quality. Under the U.S. Government Global Water Strategy, USAID has established a goal to provide sustainable access to safe drinking water services to 15 million people by 2022. USAID has also committed to improve not only the reliability of the drinking water provided through our interventions, but also the quality of that water.
Access to clean water and improved sanitation is fundamental to preventing the spread of water-borne disease like cholera. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Haiti supports the Haitian National Directorate of Potable Water and Sanitation to build and monitor essential water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure and strengthen the national water and sanitation workforce. This infographic details some of their efforts
Mane Minasyan lives in Vedi, a small town in the heart of the Ararat Valley in the west of Armenia. At 19, she is raising awareness of groundwater depletion and prompting behavior change in her community. Mane received her investigative journalism training from USAID’s Participatory Utilization and Resources Efficiency of Water (PURE Water) project, which is working to increase water productivity, efficiency, and quality in the Ararat Valley by enhancing citizen participation in water resources management.
This report highlights all the aspects of programming of WASEH II project implemented in Kenya from 2004 to 2009 in six districts;: Rachuonyo, Homabay, Nyando, Suba, Migori and Bondo of Nyanza province in western Kenya.
WASEH II is a follow-on project of WASEH I, implemented from from1999 to 2003.
WASEH in full means water, sanitation and education for health.
USAID/Kenya and East Africa (USAID/KEA) launched the Kenya Integrated Water Sanitation and Hygiene Program (KIWASH) project in October 2015, a $51 million five-year activity implemented by a consortium led by DAI. KIWASH was designed to institutionalize catalytic models of sustainable service delivery for accelerated expansion of water and sanitation services and to improve complementary hygiene behaviors.
With increasing rates of population growth and urbanization, infrastructure in African cities, such as water delivery systems and wastewater systems, can be overwhelmed. Poor governance, chronic underinvestment and a lack of skilled staff make it difficult for urban water utilities to provide safe drinking water to consumers. However, experience suggests that strong leadership and institutions, coupled with preventative risk-based management approaches and sustained capacity-building efforts, are critical to improving the quality of drinking water services in African cities.
The Litani River Basin Management Support (LRMBS) Program was a four and a half-year program to improve water management in the Litani River Basin. It was implemented by International Resources Group (IRG), in cooperation with the Litani River Authority (LRA), and was funded by USAID.
Haiti’s vulnerability to natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and flooding have complicated efforts to repair, expand, and sustain access to safe water and sanitation. The low levels of water and sanitation services and poor hygiene practices contributed substantially to the severity and rapid spread of the cholera epidemic in 2010. Hurricane Matthew in 2016 further compromised the fragile WASH sector in affected areas.
The lack of access to safe drinking water is felt disproportionately by those who are disadvantaged socially, economically, demographically or geographically, and explicit consideration of these groups is required to understand and address disparities.