THE ROLE OF NGOS ON RURAL WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION: THE CASE OF HADARSA WATER SUPPLY, SANITATION AND HYGIENE PROMOTION PROJECT IN TOKE KUATYE DISTRICT, WEST SHEWA ZONE, OROMIA REGIONAL STATE ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Availability of adequate and safe water and sanitation contributes significantly towards improving human lives in every country. To access these basic life components; Government of Ethiopia has design and implement a national water and sanitation(WASH) programs in the rural part of the country. In recognition of the limited capacity of government in meeting all the essential service needs of its citizenry, various non-governmental organizations have come in to lend a hand in the provision of a wide range of social facilities including water and sanitation in the rural areas.Thus, a research was conducted to examine the role of NGOs in rural water supply and sanitation intervention by considering the case of Hadarsa rural water supply, sanitation and hygiene project. The research made use of both primary and secondary data. In order to meet the objectives of the study, descriptive survey method was employed. 107 Respondents (100 village respondents, 3 WASH Committee members, 2 implementing NGO officials and 2 district officials) were selected by purposive sampling technique from Hadarsa, Toke, Tokuma and Menharia villages. The research finding shows that 100% (103) of the respondents claimed they are currently accessing safe potable water from the protected spring water source after project intervention. Out of this 85% claimed they get potable and domestic use water from distribution points connected through pipeline extension from protected source. While 15% of the respondents get water from the distribution point connected directly to the protected spring source since they live near or around the main spring source. Regarding to the water quality 100(97%) and 102(99%) of the respondents claimed respectively the odor and color of the water from the new source is excellent, while the remaining 3(3%), and 1(1%) of the respondents respective suggested the odor and color of the water from the new source was good after the intervention of the project. Based on the comparison done before and after the intervention of the project majority of the respondents accounting for 86.4%(89), 64%(66), 87.3%(90), 63.1%(65) and 83.5%(86) strongly agree that the intervention of the project has positively contributed to health, education, less time consumption for collection of water, improved amount and better quality of water respectively. The conclusion shows that the non- governmental organizations have made a major contribution to water supply and sanitation situation of the remote, inaccessible, rural areas of the country.