Global WASH Program

Globally, there are varied efforts from multiple players: – Governments, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and individuals at all levels, geared at increasing access to WASH. This has, thus guided several approaches in the WASH sector to achieve universal access to WASH services for all, especially in the global south.

Although water and sanitation are accepted as human rights, worldwide still 2,2 billion people do not have access to safely managed drinking water and 3.6 billion people lack safely managed sanitation.

The Global WASH Program, a 3-year program, is contributing to such efforts in 3 program countries of India, Nepal, and Uganda, through a blend of two innovative approaches: Making Rights Real and WASH systems strengthening at the local level. With Malteser International as the executing agency and with programmatic support from the German Toilet Organization (GTO) and WASH-United, the program is being implemented by Rural Self-Reliance Development Center (RSDC) in Nepal and Organisation for Development Education (UNNATI) in India; and Viva con Agua Uganda joined Care and Assistance for Forced Migrants (CAFOMI), a long-time partner of Malteser International. In Uganda, the program will be implemented in Bundibugyo and Ntoroko districts. These are disaster-prone districts, but also refugee entry points for refugee influxes from DR. Congo.

The programme aims to ensure that the human right to WASH is realized, i.e., services are available, accessible, affordable, safe and acceptable for all. The principal goal is, therefore, to ensure that governments in intervention areas focus their WASH interventions on achieving WASH services for all by implementing and mainstreaming the rights realization and WASH systems strengthening approach. The program outcomes are fourfold- Government stakeholders create a rights-based policy environment; Civil society actors promote sustainable and rights-based access to WASH services; Communities aware of their rights and actively participate and provide feedback to duty bearers; and Global and national WASH players understand and recognize the contribution of the combined approach of Making Rights Real and WASH systems strengthening to realize services for all, especially the most marginalized populations. From the above program intents, it is, thus, clear that the Global WASH Program is pure advocacy, without hardware, a new WASH sector shift, especially in Uganda.

With 3-year (2022-2025) funding from BMZ (German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), the program targets WASH-related staff of government authorities, communities as both the underserved population and right holders, WASH sector CSOs, and program staff of the Implementing Partners (IPs). Besides being an IP, VcA Uganda, is acutely interested in among others, taking the learning experiences from how our Universal Languages Approach will flourish in the combined Making Rights Real and WASH systems strengthening. Further, we are open and committed to learning and building robust relationships with Malteser International and BMZ to further open horizons of working with more public funding and advocacy programming.