Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranked 170th out of 177 countries using the UN’s Human Development Index. While images of rural poverty in the country are common, little attention is paid to the increasing number of people who live in urban slums.
Kechene district in Addis Ababa is home to nearly 50,000 people and has high levels of poverty, poor housing and illiteracy. Sanitation is a particular problem as just 15% of residents have access to clean drinking water. This leads to the spread of diseases such as cholera, typhoid and childhood diarrhoea – one of the leading causes of death in children. With good sanitation and consistent access to healthy drinking water these conditions are easily preventable.
Aims
- Construct new water sources, providing clean water for 35,000 people
- Train residents to manage and maintain their water sources, helping them plan for the long term
- Promote sanitation and provide toilets and shower kiosks for public use
- Educate the community, and young children in particular, about how to protect themselves from water-related diseases
Achievements
The project has been launched and project activities are underway. Early in 2007, AMREF staff met with Kechene officials to identify which areas were most in need of clean water sources and appropriate sites have been selected and construction of water kiosks has begun.
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