Sagallou: innovating for children

#foreverychild, safe water

Despite the fact that signficant parts of Djibouti are covered by the water of the Red Sea, access to safe drinking water for communities still remain a challenge particularly in the rural areas. The outcome of a recent study at household level indicates that nearly 10 percent of households in Djibouti are deprived of water and about 20 per- cent of sanitation. For the residents of Sagallou in the region of Tadjoura, the situation has now changed thanks to UNICEF.

Solar panels installed atop a hill convert the sun’s energy to power a submersible pump, which in turn delivers the water when ever needed. Water from underground is lifted into a storage tank and about three kilometers of pipeline brings the water to four common water distribution points where users draw water from a tap.

In a country where the sun beats down relentlessly almost throughout the year, the solar power approach presents an appropriate alternative renewable energy and a cheap source of power.

“Women play a key role in the collection and safeguarding of water for domestic use and therefore it’s important that we are part of the planning, management and decision making about water” — Hasna Muhamed

Before the water project, the community used generators to run the water pump but given the high poverty rates in the country, the community often fell short of raising any cash amount enough to purchase diesel for the generators. The end result was lack of safe drinking water forcing communities to rely on the contaminated water of the red sea which was the main reason for high incidences of diarrhea and child deaths in the area.

While women in Sagallou village used to wait for water- delivery trucks or travel to neighboring villages in the hot sun to obtain water once the generators run out of fuel, they can now collect water from the solar- powered pumps at any time and draw as much as they can.

Community participation in water management

As the hard ware is being delivered, there is no doubt that community participation in the management of the water is crucial to strengthen the capacities and willingness of community people to take on the ownership and responsibility of managing their water supply systems.

In the remote mountain village of Sagallou, the involvement of the community is yielding efforts as they take leadership in caring for their water resources.

Chief Hassan Musa Hassan says the contribution of the water committee in Sagallou cannot be underscored. “They ensure effective utilisation of the water and sensitize the people on hygiene and the environment”, said Chief Musa.

Hammed Yusuf is a committee member and says it’s the committee that monitors the use of the water resource and informs the relevant authorities in case of a major break down that the community can’t afford to fix.

Hasna Muhamed has been a water committee member in Sagallou since 2007 and she was part of a team that presented the plight of the people of her village to the government officials in Tadjoura leading to the installation of the water pump in her village.

“Women play a key role in the collection and safeguarding of water for domestic use and therefore it’s important that we are part of the planning, management and decision making about water”, said Hasna Muhamed. The water committee members are volunteers. “We are motivated by the importance of water to our lives”, Ms Muhamed added.

There is growing evidence that Community management is the most elaborate form of putting community people in the driving seat.

UNICEF recognizes capacity building of the community water committees as the first step to ensuring sustainable management and effective delivery and utilisation of water, sanitation and hygiene services.

Not only by training a caretaker or operator, but also by participatory planning to tailor services to demand, by organizing water committees representing the community, by focusing on the roles and responsibilities of women and the poor so that they would not be excluded from the use of a system and from decision making.

USAID funding helps UNICEF to scale-up this initiative in other regions.