Progress Report: Fiscal Year 2018 (October 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018)

In alignment with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6),* World Vision’s WASH programming strategically focuses on universal and equitable WASH access. World Vision and our partners are committed to positively impacting the lives of millions through life-saving WASH services.

In the first half of fiscal year 2018, 1.5 million people were provided with access to clean drinking water. 1 million people gained access to improved household sanitation and 2.3 million people were reached with hygiene behavior-change programming.

Progress Report: Fiscal Year 2017 (October 2016 to September 2017)

Thank you for your generous support of the Improved Incomes and Clean Water program that is helping to meet the needs of 22,500 people in Nyamagabe.

Nyamagabe is one of eight World Vision area programs (APs) that are covered by Rwanda THRIVE (Transforming Household Resilience in Vulnerable Environments), our signature economic empowerment program in Rwanda. In addition to improving incomes, this program will provide clean water access to 5,500 households.

The lack of sustainability of community-managed drinking water systems is a major concern in low- and middle-income countries. While water system breakdown is inevitable, some water systems continue to be rehabilitated and provide water for decades while others fail permanently shortly after implementation. Previous studies have shown that water committees and fee collection are critical to sustainability (Fisher 2015, Foster 2013). This study examined successful water systems to identify processes for sustainability. 

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The Water Institute at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNCCH) and World Vision have established an innovative partnership to improve water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions in low- and middle-income countries with the ultimate goal of helping solve the global water and sanitation crisis by 2030, in support of our shared belief that every child deserves clean water. 

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In fiscal year 2017, we helped provide access to clean water for 3.2 million people, improved sanitation facilities for 3.3 million people, and improved hygiene practices for 3.9 million people. We thank God for the progress we have been able to make over the past several years, and we pray diligently for His continued guidance as we press on toward the future.

Progress Report: Fiscal Year 2017 (October 2016 to September 2017)

2.6 million people in Africa were provided with access to clean drinking water in fiscal year 2017. In addition to providing clean water, the program reached 2.1 million sanitation beneficiaries and 3.3 million hygiene beneficiaries during the year. Let us rejoice together in thanking God for what He has accomplished through the Africa WASH Program.

Progress Report: Fiscal Year 2016 (October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016)
Africa

Thanks to the ongoing support of Africa Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) donors and partners, we have reached 10.8 million people with clean water since October 2010. Through this continuing program, we are bringing the life-saving benefits of safe WASH to even more people in Africa, with the vision of reaching every person, everywhere we work by 2030.

This past year, your generosity enabled World Vision to scale up the Africa WASH program from 10 to 25 countries. Further, in-country teams are securing partners and additional funding to support their WASH programs, as shown in the spending graph at the bottom of the page.

Studies have shown that over 30-50% of water points provided in the developing world fail between 2 and 5 years following implementation. Many times these water points fail at the community level when the community based management scheme fails to properly operate and maintain the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) technology. This often takes place because the development organization or agency prematurely withdrew before the community was properly equipped to manage the project. The community, in effect, was not successfully engaged by the development organization.

In contrast to the typical failure statistics associated with water points, World Vision’s water points have historically had a high rate of functionality (79% for wells in the Afram Plains) even if they are nearly two decades old (University of North Carolina and Water and Sanitation for Africa Study, 2014). This high rate of success was determined to be because of the existence of a functioning water committee and charging a small fee for use of the water so that there was money available for repair of the well. The establishment of a robust water committee that fully owns and understands how to repair the WASH technology is the crucial way in which World Vision development workers engage within the community. Thus, this report will serve to articulate the method of community engagement that World Vision has implemented to achieve high levels of long-term sustainability within their West Africa Regional WASH projects.

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World Vision is the leading NGO provider of clean drinking water. We believe we can solve the global water crisis within our lifetimes, and we’re focused on providing clean water and sanitation to every man, woman, and child in every community we work in, including the most vulnerable populations in the hardest-to-reach places.

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Water continues to flow from World Vision water points because of our integrated community engagement model. One of the premier academic groups in water research, the University of North Carolina Water Institute, conducted an independent study examining 1,470 water sources in 570 communities located in the Greater Afram Plains of Ghana, where World Vision has been providing wells since 1985. Nearly 80 percent of World Vision wells studied continued to function at high levels even after 20 years, thanks largely to our community engagement model.

Consistent with this community approach to sustainability, research showed that an identified water committee and evidence of charging a fee for use of the water were the main reasons associated with the continued functionality of the water points.

These best practices, including training local people as mechanics to repair pumps when they break down, are part of the reason why World Vision wells set the standard for sustainability.

This study found that the odds of non-World Vision water sources being functional decreased by 2 percent each year, whereas the functionality of water sources installed by World Vision did not significantly decrease with age.

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