Finland Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has announced the extension CoWASH III project to support COVID-19 emergency response and resilience building in the WASH sector
ADDIS ABABA – Finland has approved an additional extension of the third phase of Community-Led Accelerated WASH (CoWASH III) project. The project will continue to contribute to the national objectives in the WASH sector: to improve the health and well-being of the population by increasing access to sustainable and climate resilient water supply and sanitation as well as adopting good hygiene practices. The extension will last until the end of the year 2020 and is worth €2.67 million.
The extension plays an important part in the COVID-19 emergency response in 45 woredas in Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR, Tigray and Benishangul Gumuz, where ensuring the water supply and sanitation in health units and isolation, quarantine and treatment centers is urgently needed. The extension will also ensure the continuation of community-led COVID-19 resilience building for safe and affordable water supply and improved sanitation and hygiene behavior. One of the priority areas is handwashing facilities at health posts and schools. Already earlier, part of the remaining funds for CoWASH III were transferred to COVID-19 prevention activities, such as the procurement of pumps and water tracking.
Finland’s support to the WASH sector started more than 25 years ago and we remain committed to supporting Ethiopia and the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy (MoWIE). Last week, Finland signed a €4 million agreement contributing to the Consolidated WASH Account (CWA II) to support Ethiopia in improving water and sanitation services and hygiene. The fourth phase of CoWASH is expected to start in early 2021, and Finland looks forward to continuing our collaboration in the WASH sector.
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The CoWASH project, jointly owned by the Finnish and Ethiopian governments, was launched ‘Phase 3’ of its 880 million Birr program in Ethiopia in November 2016. CoWASH is a bilateral WASH project between Finland and Ethiopia that began in 2011, raising nearly 21 billion Birr from both governments and the beneficiary communities. CoWASH covers 76 woredas in five regions across Ethiopia. WASH projects have become more significant in the aftermath of the outbreak of acute watery diarrhea (AWD) in 2016 in some parts of the country.
Source: Finland Embassy in Addis Ababa