Uganda’s urban poor receive €1 million grant from AWF for sanitation

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE

Kampala's urban poor

The African Water Facility (AWF), an initiative of the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB), has offered a one million euro grant to the Community Integrated Development Initiatives (CIDI).

This is intended to support their Kawempe Urban Poor Sanitation Improvement Project (KUPSIP), which is designed to provide affordable and sustainable sanitation services to over 100,000 urban poor living in the Kawempe Municipality, in Kampala, Uganda.

Announcing this in Tunisia on February 5, 2013, via a press release, AWF said by expanding sanitation coverage and reducing environmental pollution, the KUPSIP is expected to help improve the health of slum dwellers and decrease the mortality rate of children under five.

It is envisaged that the project will do this by reducing the spread of cholera and diarrheal diseases, which is 23 per cent higher in households where facilities are inadequate and in areas where human waste disposal is improperly managed.

According to the press release, more specifically, the grant will support the provision of sanitation facilities for households, schools and the public in poor urban areas; delivery of pro-poor sanitation financing for accessing affordable and improved sanitation infrastructure; definition of a sustainable faecal sludge management and safe reuse strategy.

The grant will also ensure promotion of collaboration with the private sector to identify and market affordable and consumer-friendly sanitation technologies; dissemination of targeted information, education and communication to promote better hygiene practices and generation and dissemination of knowledge products covering the entire sanitation chain, through collaboration with agronomical research institutions.

Meanwhile, the AWF grant will cover 74 per cent of the total project cost, while CIDI and collaborating partners will meet the balance of 26 per cent in form of financial and in-kind contributions. 

The project will be executed by CIDI in partnership with Kawempe Municipality of the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the National Water and Sewerage Cooperation (NWSC) and should be completed by the end of 2015.

The African Water Facility (AWF) initiative, which is governed by a Governing Council representing its 15 donors, UN-Water Africa, the AU via NEPAD, AMCOW and the AfDB, was established in 2004 as a Special Water Fund, to help African countries achieve the objectives of the Africa Water Vision 2025.

The AWF offers grants from €50,000 to €5 million to support projects aligned with its mission and strategy, to a wide range of institutions and organisations operating in Africa.

Its three strategic priority activities are, preparing investment projects to mobilise investment funds for projects supported by AWF; enhancing water governance to create an environment conducive for effective and sustainable investments and promoting water knowledge for the preparation of viable projects and informed governance, leading to effective and sustainable investments.

Since 2006, AWF has funded 73 national and regional projects in 50 countries, including in Africa's most vulnerable states. It has also mobilised more than €532 million as a result of its project preparation activities, which constitute 70 per cent of its portfolio. On average, each €1 contributed by the AWF has attracted €20 in additional follow-up investments.

The AWF is entirely funded by Algeria, Australia, Austria, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Burkina Faso, Canada, Denmark, the European Commission, France, Norway, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the African Development Bank.