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SAWRP: Our Approach

COMMUNITY WATER SUPPLY

SAWRP supports improvements to communal and household drinking water supplies. The technologies used vary according to location and community demand, but the emphasis is on using cost-effective and locally available technologies for which the maintenance requirements are relatively simple, and for which necessary spare parts and expertise are affordable and can be accessed locally.

COMMUNITY-LED TOTAL SANITATION

A Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach encourages people to build and maintain their own toilets and change their hygiene behaviours positively. It is a proven methodology that supports communities to recognise the negative effects of poor sanitation and empowers them to work together to find collective solutions to improve sanitation and hygiene. Where necessary, we support the poorest and most vulnerable households with limited subsidies to build a toilet, to ensure everyone who has shown genuine motivation to improve their situation can do so regardless of their means.

HYGIENE PROMOTION

The first phase of SAWRP adopted Unilever’s 'School of Five' approach, which uses fun and accessible hygiene messaging in schools to promote washing hands with soap at critical times during the day. The second phase is building on learning from this approach to develop and deliver a new, evidence-based hygiene behaviour change approach in households, communities, religious sites and schools.

Developing Markets and Supply Chains

SAWRP supports the development of commercial markets and supply chains for water, sanitation and hygiene materials, and the construction of locally-appropriate latrine models that meet a wide range of consumer needs in households, schools and health centres.

Governance

SAWRP works closely with local, regional and national government agencies, strengthening their role in the planning, co-ordination and monitoring of district WASH activities. Partnerships with local and regional authorities are central to programme implementation and pivotal to achieving sustainable use and maintenance of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.

GENDER AND EQUITY

We are committed to ensuring SAWRP is inclusive, equitable and gender sensitive. Plan International’s current programme strategy focusses on girls and women, who are often the most affected by a lack of access to water and sanitation and the practice of unsafe hygiene behaviours. WaterAid, in partnership with WEDC, have developed and documented an approach which focuses on equity and inclusion across the entire WASH sector that the project has adopted.

To overcome accessibility barriers, WEDC also pioneered work on design for improving access to services for people with a disability and other disadvantaged groups. We assess gender and equity as part of SAWRP’s robust monitoring and evaluation systems, and regularly review our progress in this area to make sure we can adapt and improve the programme to meet our gender and equity goals.

ENSURING SUSTAINABILITY

SAWRP assesses its sustainability across multiple areas: are the facilities built working and being well maintained? Are there local, long-term mechanisms and finances in place, for example from local government, to provide continued support for communities beyond the lifetime of the programme? Is the programme adequately considering environmental implications of its activities? And is everyone, regardless of wealth, gender, disability, religion or anything else, benefitting from the programme?

With this in mind, SAWRP works to support government-led efforts to meet national and international goals and targets and to ensure the sustainability of services. The programme also works to ensure that, by the end of the programme, local WASH governance structures and markets are operational and capable in project locations, and that people know how to access and influence them.

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