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Bringing Dignity: Expanding Life Opportunities

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Bringing Dignity:

Expanding Life Opportunities The Case for Providing Fresh Water and Sanitation to Rural

Communities in South West Uganda, 2018–2021

Prepared by the Trustees of WATSAN Uganda,

February 2018

www.nkkkwatsan-uganda.com

Water is life; sanitation is dignity

Life and dignity for all our people!

WATSAN Uganda

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Executive summary

NKKD WATSAN seeks to transform the poorest communities of two districts in South West Uganda, with a

population of some 550,000. Most people live in rural areas, devoid of tarmac roads, and survive through

subsistence farming. Since 1985, around 200,000 people have had their lives transformed through the accessible

provision of safe water, improved sanitation and hygiene education. From 2002, WATSAN Uganda: UK Support, a

UK registered charity since 2007, has been raising funds from voluntary sources to support the Ugandan team on

the ground in the execution of their work. The partnership between the Support Group in UK and the team in

Uganda is jointly referred to simply as WATSAN.

The Support Group’s direct funding currently averages nearly £50,000 per year. For a number of our more major

projects, we have worked with funding partners to achieve an additional £50,000 per annum. This funding, taken

together, is not enough to fund the actual number of water supply and sanitation projects urgently required.

Furthermore, funding for WATSAN’s developmental project work from major funding partners because of their

commitments to the many humanitarian emergencies currently existing in the world, including in Uganda itself.

The UK Support Group is seeking to increase WATSAN’s total annual funding by a factor of two, to £200,000 per

year, in order to provide a sound basis for our work, including larger projects. This will allow us to be confident

of transforming the lives of another 5,000 people each year at only £40 per head, for water supply, sanitation and

health education, including all associated expenses.

This document reviews the need for and impact of WATSAN’s water projects. It identifies the profound outcomes

experienced by these Ugandan communities: increased wellbeing and quality of life; improved health and reduced

child mortality; improved educational prospects; empowerment of women; and growth of local economies.

WATSAN’s credentials in the UK and Uganda are set out, along with details of our delivery model and method of

working. Note that our skilled team in Uganda has received accolades from the Ugandan Directorate of Water

Development; such is the quality of their work, that they adopted our spring designs as the national standard.

Direct beneficiaries are identified along with stakeholders, and real–life examples of outputs and impact are

described. A brief schedule of success to date is included, as well as schedules of projects completed and now

subject to attention by our sustainability team; also the results of recent evaluations of our projects and their

outcomes. Finally, we look at what lies ahead and the basis for our funding needs proposed above.

Our dedicated UK-based team of volunteers is the lifeblood of the charity: without our financial and infrastructure

support, the Ugandan project team cannot carry out much-needed water and sanitation projects on the ground.

The trustees and committee of the UK Support Group are responsible for ensuring good governance, making

strategic decisions about the charity’s activity, and raising funds from generous donors, all of which enable the

Ugandan team to keep going. All of them, as well as our Patron, have visited Uganda; four have lived there for

extended periods, three as qualified water engineers.

If you are convinced of the need we seek to address, our credentials in partnership working, and the effectiveness

of our operation, we would be delighted to give you more details of our urgent funding requirements for

development projects that await funding and implementation.

Bringing Dignity: Expanding Life Opportunities

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Contents

Prologue: The right to water – a global overview ........................................................... 4

Bringing fresh water and improved sanitation to South West Uganda .............................................................. 4

Together to bring dignity and life opportunities ............................................................................................. 5

1 Reviewing the need .............................................................................................. 6

1.1 Context: rural South West Uganda ........................................................................................................ 6

1.2 Water supply ........................................................................................................................................ 8

1.3 Sanitation ............................................................................................................................................ 8

1.4 Health and hygiene education .............................................................................................................. 8

2 Our credentials .................................................................................................... 9

2.1 Partnership working ............................................................................................................................. 9

2.2 Inclusivity ............................................................................................................................................ 9

2.3 Overall delivery model ....................................................................................................................... 10

2.4 Method .............................................................................................................................................. 11

2.5 The NKKD WATSAN team ................................................................................................................... 12

2.5 National and regional recognition ...................................................................................................... 13

3 Who benefits? .................................................................................................... 13

3.1 Direct beneficiaries ............................................................................................................................ 13

3.2 Stakeholders ...................................................................................................................................... 13

4 Schedule for success – past, present and future ................................................... 14

4.1 Phase One (2002 to 2006): Taking up the challenge........................................................................... 14

4.2 Phase Two (2007 to 2017): Growing our successful model ................................................................. 14

4.3 Phase Three (2018-2020): Sustaining and developing water and sanitation development .................. 17

5 Evaluation and impact ........................................................................................ 17

5.1 Financial audit ................................................................................................................................... 17

5.2 Programme evaluation ....................................................................................................................... 17

5.3 Outcomes and testimonials ................................................................................................................ 20

5.4 Measures we use to identify outputs, outcomes and impact ............................................................... 23

6 Looking ahead - financial planning ..................................................................... 23

6.1 Target projects .................................................................................................................................. 23

6.2 Growing a more robust funding base ................................................................................................. 24

6.3 Supporting partners ........................................................................................................................... 25

7 Conclusion......................................................................................................... 26

APPENDIX A: WATSAN personnel ................................................................................ 27

NKKD WATSAN Management Committee ....................................................................................................... 27

Core admin staff ........................................................................................................................................... 27

Project implementation team ........................................................................................................................ 28

WATSAN Uganda, UK Support – patron and trustees............................................................