Community-led Accelerated WASH IV

Happy Ethiopian New Year!🎇

The COWASH IV team wishes you a happy and fruitful Ethiopian New Year!

As we step into the new year, we celebrate progress and partnership. 🙌 Last Ethiopian Fiscal Year (EFY) 2018 marked a milestone year for COWASH IV, as we surpassed our initial target of reaching 1.1 million beneficiaries and successfully providing 1,375,218 people with community supply. 🚰

➡️ In EFY 2018 alone, COWASH IV has:

🔹 Constructed and rehabilitated 1454 community water points, benefiting 365,074 people. 💧

🔹 Constructed water supply schemes in 275 schools and improved latrines in 44 schools, benefiting 196,436 students and school staff. 🏫

🔹 Constructed water points in 183 health posts and improved latrines in 84 health posts. 🏥

🔹 Provided capacity building for 20,165 people. 👩‍🏫

🔹 Established 208 Water, and (WASH) Saving and Loan Associations. 👥

🔹 Constructed Menstrual Hygiene Management Centers in 52 schools.👭

As we go into the new year, the COWASH IV team remains dedicated and committed to ensuring universal access and serving communities across rural Ethiopia!🌱💪

COWASH IV National Steering Committee Concludes Progress Review and Planning Meeting📋💧

The COWASH IV National Steering Committee successfully conducted its Ethiopian Fiscal Year (EFY) 2018 progress review and EFY 2019 planning meeting at the Capital Hotel in Addis Ababa on September 3, 2026.

The meeting opened with remarks from State Minister for Water Supply and Sanitation, Dr Ambassador Asfaw Dingamo and Embassy of Finland Head of Cooperation Tomi Särkioja, who highlighted the ongoing partnership and success of the project.🤝

COWASH IV’s Chief Technical Advisor Neil Chadder presented the project's key achievements from the past year, outlined upcoming targets and shared strategic insights to optimize implementation for EFY 2019. Committee members commended the project’s strong performance and engaged in productive discussions to refine the operational roadmap for the current fiscal year.

Following the national meeting, Regional steering committee sessions have been scheduled, with the South-West Ethiopia People’s Region wrapping up the first regional steering committee meeting yesterday (September 8, 2026).

Stay tuned for more updates from regional steering committee meetings!📢

How does COWASH scale sustainable practices and infrastructure across 104 woredas in 8 regions? 🤔 Through a step-by-step cascading knowledge model! From the Federal Technical Assistance Team down to Regional Support Units, Zonal specialists, Woreda experts and local leaders, prioritizes intensive capacity building.👩‍🏫 When local implementers are fully equipped with manuals, guidelines and technical training, project success becomes self-sustaining.🌱💧

COWASH Workshop Update: Strengthening Gender-Responsive WASH💧🙋‍♀️

COWASH IV hosted a workshop yesterday (September 1, 2026) to discuss insights from its two assessments on gender-responsive .📊

The assessments, focusing on Menstrual Hygiene Management ( ) impact and Women's Leadership in WASH Committee Governance, were conducted from January 2025 to May 2026 across Central Ethiopia, Oromia, Sidama and South Ethiopia Regions.

A total of fifty participants, including representatives from the Ministry of Finance - Ethiopia, Ministry of Health,Ethiopia, Embassy of Finland in Addis Ababa - Suomen suurlähetystö Addis Abeba, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA Ethiopia), development partners, and regional stakeholders, attended the workshop.🤝

The COWASH IV team presented the findings and recommendations, which sparked an active follow-up discussion to identify practical actions for strengthening inclusive WASH programming. Participants applauded the workshop for laying the groundwork for collective action. 👥

We appreciate everyone who joined the workshop and contributed to the discussion.🙌

📣 Stay tuned for more insights from the assessments.

COWASH IV successfully concluded its annual progress evaluation and planning workshop in Bishoftu.📋

Bringing together federal teams and regional representatives from August 24 to 28, 2026, the five-day gathering reviewed implementation status and key achievements for EFY 2018 while laying out strategic priorities and budget allocations for EFY 2019.

⬇️ Key highlights from the workshop include:

🔹Strategic Alignment: Teams discussed on collaborative frameworks, harmonizing efforts and action plans to advance rural water, sanitation, and hygiene ( ) services across 104 project Woredas across Ethiopia.

🔹 Core Focus Areas: Discussions emphasized strengthening gender mainstreaming, climate resilience,

sanitation initiatives and targeted promotion activities.

🔹 Next Steps: Regional teams will now head back to facilitate their respective Regional Steering Committee meetings

to finalize regional plans before the end of September.

The workshop concluded establishing clear, actionable priorities for EFY 2019.

COWASH IV’s planning and progress evaluation workshop is underway in Bishoftu!

COWASH IV federal and regional teams are in Bishoftu to review the project's Ethiopian Fiscal Year (EFY) 2018 progress and status, as well as to plan for EFY 2019. The workshop will continue through Friday.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Field Update: Continuing our Water Safety Plan monitoring mission in Oromia! 📍

Following last week’s monitoring mission in Sidama, the COWASH IV team headed to Oromia's Bereke Woreda (August 18–19, 2026) to monitor implementation at our second Water Safety Plan (WSP) showcase site: the Burqa Iresa community water supply system.🚰

The Burqa Iresa community water supply serves 222 people across 56 households. Prior to the intervention, the water supply system faced numerous challenges including flood vulnerability, yield reduction, lack of fencing, and water contamination at the source as well as household-level.

What has been implemented under COWASH IV to address these risks:

🔹 To combat reduced groundwater recharge from a degraded catchment, physical and biological watershed management measures were implemented by the community, alongside community-built flood diversion structures to protect against flood risks.

🔹 Active community engagement also led to the construction of household latrines, successfully reducing open defecation and protecting source water from contamination.

📈Measurable Results: These steps increased spring water yield, eliminated flood-related damage, and prevented contamination.

🔭Looking Ahead: During discussions, local stakeholders and community members reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring a climate-resilient water supply year-round through:

🔹 Strengthening ongoing watershed management activities.

🔹 Continuing community education on household sanitation improved household water management practices.

🔹 Sector integration, uniting water, health, and agriculture at the Woreda level.

COWASH IV Market-Based Sanitation Centers: A Progress Update 📊

As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen Market-Based Sanitation centers (MSCs) for improved supply in rural , the COWASH IV team recently conducted a follow-up visit (August 3–9, 2026) to two pilot centers in the Sidama and Central Ethiopia regions: Roori MSC and Tesfa Zer MSC.🏪

This visit follows our initial branding and promotion initiative, which included specialized training in sales and visibility, followed by the delivery of custom branded materials, signage, and promotional assets earlier this year.👩‍🏫

🗝️ Key Progress and Achievements

🔹 Tesfa Zer MSC (Central Ethiopia): Located in Hadero Tunto Woreda, the center has successfully expanded its liquid soap production and supply business. 🧼 Notably, the center independently maintains supply linkages established through COWASH IV with suppliers in Hawassa City. To accommodate this growth, the center is planning to rent an additional shop in the Woreda center area for retail, while using its original location exclusively for production.🏭

🔹 Roori MSC (Sidama Region): Roori has effectively scaled its liquid soap production and sales.📈 Furthermore, the center successfully distributed all startup plastic slabs provided by the project to Saving and Loan Associations established by COWASH in Chirone Woreda to support the construction of improved household latrines.🏘️ 🚽

🔹 Ongoing Support: During its recent visit, our team delivered remaining materials, including storefront signboards, to ensure both centers are fully equipped for long-term operations.🪧

COWASH IV has established 26 MSCs across six project regions with the overarching aim of ensuring accessible and affordable sanitation supplies for rural communities. We look forward to sharing further updates as these local businesses continue to thrive and drive sustainable sanitation solutions.🌱

Field Update: Following up on our Water Safety Plan mission in the Sidama region!

📆 Last week (August 11–12, 2026), our COWASH IV team wrapped up a monitoring visit at the Abay Boreta community water supply system, one of our two Water Safety Plan ( ) showcase sites benefiting over 2,900 people across 580+ households in Sidama.

⬇️ Here is a look at what our team accomplished on the ground:

👥 Community Engagement & Field Assessment

🔹 Spring Protection & Impact: Reviewed structural works done on the spring, including flood diversion structures in the upstream catchment, rehabilitated headworks and flood protection structure, and protective fencing that now keep animals and runoff safely away.

🔹 Community Administration: Discussed how the water beneficiary community manage the water supply system in a sustainable manner and outlined best practices for ongoing sustainable management of their water supply system.

🔹 Challenges & Support: Identified challenges and agreed on technical steps to investigate and solve the root causes.

🔹 Ways Forward: Reinforced the importance of building and using household latrines to avoid open defecation and hence avoid contamination of source water, and continued work on flood management.

🤝 Partnering with Local Government

🔹 Met with the Woreda Office of Water and Office of Agriculture to review completed works.

🔹 Discussed how different local offices can coordinate to address remaining challenges and protect local water resources for the long haul.

🗝️ Key Results Achieved So Far:

🔹 Flood and Contamination Control: Flood diversion structures and protective fencing have stopped flood damage and contamination, and kept animals away from the water source.

🔹 Better Health & Sanitation: Strong community involvement has led to more household latrines being built and used, significantly reducing open defecation.

🔹 As WSP is a continuous improvement process, our next steps involve investigating and addressing remain challenges raised by communities to ensure safe, adequate and climate resilient water year-round.

Water Safety Plan ( ) implementation is not a one-time activity.🚰
COWASH IV team is currently in the Abay Boreta Woreda of the Sidama region to conduct a result monitoring at one of its two pilot sites.📍

This showcase site was selected because of its high vulnerability to flood and pollution risks, and critical need for WSP implementation. Through close follow-up and technical support, the team aims to learn from its progress and apply those insights to future efforts.🌱