Even though Ethiopia has immense water resource people lack access to pure and adequate water supply. Stakeholders are working together to solve such type of problems which is the result of water resource management.
Under the one wash national program stakeholders plan, monitor and solve problems jointly, take corrective action and financing.
The ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity Head Executive Dr. Eng. Seleshi Bekele told The Ethiopian Herald that the main purpose for the collaboration of the stakeholders is to realize the GTP II and sustainable development, the stakeholders have they come to a common plan and they identify the problems and setting the solution as well.
According to Seleshi, the country has to attain a level of providing 25 liters of pure water per person in rural and 40 liters in towns depending on their level of development in order to join middle-income economy, noted Seleshi.
Accordingly, the ministry has achieved 68.5 percent during ten-month work performance in the fiscal year while the annual plan was 73 percent and is projected to reach 83 percent in GTP 2. He further understands that so as to achieve the expected goals, the effective system of hygiene and sanitation also significant to protecting water from pollution, and builds traditional toilet house in each household in rural part of the country, and modern toilet in the cities. This is also useful towards to the country's achieving goals, he underline.
Particularly, the one wash program is the only program in the world and the main objective of this program is plan together and working jointly so as to achieve the common goals. In this regard, civil societies, stakeholders, developmental parts, governmental bodies and others are actively participated in the one wash program, he noted.
He believes that Ethiopia is in a position to achieve the one wash program in 2030 agenda or during the second and third GTP. In addition to this, the "flash sheet" program will be available in 2019 which used to sustainable pure water providing from hole supplement to people and animals, according to Selesh.i
Because of the admini stration of water resources management is wide, it starts from data collection and using resources wisely. Means that research is the priority point, which should be needed in order to identify the water capacity in the given spaces related to the number of consumers. The wash program is playing indispensable role to satisfy societies water need while work integrated with WRM is not only as alternative rather it is the best solution among others, he added.
Hygiene and Environmental Health Director with the Ministry of Health Dagnew Tadesse on his part said that the ineffective use of toilet disposal is the central problem of the total environment pollution. Of this, the pollution of air, soil, water, and others are affected due to unwise method of waste disposal. Consequently, it is the cause of about 60 different disease when societies uses the waste disposal in any space, he added.
Beside this, the ministry has achieved 32 percent success in ensuring effective use of waste disposal throughout the country. However it does not mean that enough work has been done compared to the number of living population. Hence it has a plan to work aggressively in the future in collaboration with stakeholders, he stress.
Representative of Water Aid program in water and sanitation Manaye Seyum, agree with the modern drainage system should be needed in the country while the stakeholders working integrate with each other that have the best alternative to protect the total environment.
Particularly, the private sector are playing indisp ensable role to solve the problems when they not address by the government so far. In addition to this, they have to do significant capacity building and encouraging creativity to solve problems related with capacity building and creativities, he stress.
Meanwhile it has achieved the first growth and transformational plan (GTP I). However there are some tasks remaining in relation to sanitation. According to Manaye the main causes of water pollution are the spread of urbanization, and the increase of migration from rural to urban while in order to solve the problems the One Wash National Program (OWNP) is significant to achieve the expected goals with the same advantages of stakeholders' integration, said Manaye.
MESERET BEHAILU
