USAID ENABLES GOSS WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE POLICY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000789 DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A/S CARSON, AF/E NSC FOR MGAVIN DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI ASEC AU UNSC SU SUBJECT: USAID ENABLES GOSS WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE POLICY IMPLEMENTATION -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. SUMMARY. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) infrastructure and facilities in southern Sudan remain abysmal with only 9% of the population having sustained access to both safe water and sanitation facilities. USAID has made this a priority for improved service delivery. Through the Building Responsibility for the Delivery of Government Services Program (BRIDGE),USAID brought together three tiers of senior government officials for the inaugural dissemination of the Government of Southern Sudan's (GOSS) new water policy. As a result of this initiative, the Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) directed state level actors to develop and implement county action plans with their constituent communities. USAID/Sudan's WASH program is the largest of its kind in Africa. The program's goal is to continue to strengthen the capacity of local governments to deliver these essential services during the remaining, interim period of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). END SUMMARY. -------------- WASH PROGRAM - GOSS BUDGET PRIORITY -------------- ¶2. WASH program implementation is one of the top six budget priorities for the GOSS. Due to the twenty- one year North-South civil war in Sudan, which ended with the signing of the CPA in 2005, WASH infrastructure and facilities in southern Sudan remain abysmal. Only nine percent of the population has sustained access to both safe water and sanitation facilities. Southern Sudan is currently receiving significant investment from donors in the WASH sector, with USAID contributing more than any other bi-lateral donor. Given low levels of access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation systems, sector funding is estimated to be far short of what is needed to meet Millennium Development Goals. Government capacity remains weak, particularly at state and county levels, resulting in a governance gap that inhibits effective, efficient, and well-coordinated government systems to support the sustainable provision of basic WASH service delivery. Building this capacity is a particular focus of the USAID program. -------------- WATER POLICY DISSEMINATION WORKSHOP -------------- 
 ¶3. The inaugural GOSS Water Policy Dissemination Workshop, funded by USAID, was held in Juba from 16-18 June 2009. It provided an orientation for state and county officials on the new policy. According to the Undersecretary of MWRI, the workshop was invaluable in assisting GOSS to disseminate the policy, and it facilitated communication between different levels of government. The GOSS MWRI conducted the workshop with support from USAID's implementing partner, Winrock International, and targeted the BRIDGE focus states of Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Unity, Warrap and Upper Nile. The USAID Mission Director closed the gathering, stating that "dissemination of the new GOSS water policy is critical since it forms the foundation for our future efforts in providing basic WASH service delivery to the people of southern Sudan." ¶4. Water policy development in southern Sudan started in 2005 and was finalized in November 2007. The policy development process was consultative, with significant input from development partners and state and county WASH officials. However, the GOSS water policy was not formally launched. The Water Policy Dissemination Workshop opened by the Minister for Water Resources and Irrigation represents the GOSS's first effort to disseminate, orient and implement the new policy in southern Sudan. It was a ground-breaking event in furthering dialogue between all levels of government on this critical sector. Workshop participants included representatives (Ministers, State Ministers, Undersecretaries, Director Generals, Commissioners, and Inspectors) from relevant GOSS, state and county level institutions from six southern states, as well as nongovernmental actors and development partners working in the WASH sector. Participants worked far beyond the scheduled timeframe each day in order to better understand the new policy and what its implementation will mean for citizens in their states, counties and communities as the WASH sector moves forward. -------------- NEXT STEPS -------------- ¶5. Policy dissemination is an essential pre-requisite for strategy development, and the June 14th workshop provided a unique KHARTOUM 00000789 002 OF 002 opportunity for vertical integration and discussion within the sector. It also helped establish a foundation for the next step of WASH strategy development, which is now scheduled to get under way in the last quarter of 2009. The latter will consist of four sub-sector strategies: Sanitation, Urban Water Supply, Rural Water Supply and Water Resource Management. The strategies will outline the plan and the GOSS approach to implementing its water policy to meet Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Strategy development will also link WASH program implementation to the annual GOSS budget and planning processes. ASQUINO