Typically our Water and Sanitation Projects include: • capping a spring and installing a gravity-fed scheme• laying many km of pipeline from the capped spring to the community• erecting a water tank to serve the community • building approx 10 water points in convenient locations, including one at any local health posts and schools• constructing approx 10 wash basins, also in locations determined in consultation with the beneficiaries• digging a pit latrine for each household – facilitated by HOPE staff, but completed by individual households • training of approx 10 local Water Caretakers to repair and maintain the system (of whom 50% will be women)• electing approx 40 Water Users Association members from the community to manage the water system (again, of whom 50% will be women)• providing basic health education on personal hygiene and sanitation to all men, women and children of the community• creating approx 10 Self-Help Groups (of 20 women each, or 200 women in total) to learn basic business skills and start to save money, whilst lending money to one another to facilitate small business start-ups to increase family income and female decision-making and leadership in the village
                            

                            In Ethiopia, only 39.1% of the population has access to at least basic drinking water services as of 2015. In rural areas, this figure drops to 29.9%. This leaves over 60 million people with no access to clean water. Access to clean water reduces water collection time and disease transmission, creating transformational change in health, education, household income and gender equality. For girls in particular, where water collection time can be minimised, regular attendance at school improves. Access to clean water, therefore, leads to an increase in literacy rates among women and girls (in a context where women have a 95% illiteracy rate), which empowers women to be independent and furthers their future development. Alongside the empowerment of women, there are economic benefits for the whole community. Skilled and educated women and girls are key to the development of countries and providing easy access to water is one step in breaking the cycle of poverty.  Furthermore, a major driver of poverty in rural areas of Ethiopia is a woman’s lack of time, due to the essential need to source water, requiring multiple hours each day. This water, which is often contaminated, frequently leads to illness, preventing women from engaging in productive activities because they have to spend their time caring for sick family members, or are too sick themselves to have energy to contribute to their family income. In addition, girls are vulnerable to attack when daily walking for water and similarly, in communities that practice open defecation, women and girls can be at threat of sexual assault as they often have to travel to nearby fields at night to gain privacy. Working with communities to provide access to local, safe water is a cost-effective way to improve safety and overall health and crucially, it also creates more time for education and activities that generate income. Once good health and time are available for women, HOPE has found that providing basic business skills empowers them with the tools required to break free from poverty. Therefore, by empowering previously disadvantaged young people with livelihood skills, we are equipping women for their future and also that for their whole community, and also providing significant change in what they model to young girls. Studies show that women reinvest 90% of their income back to their families, provide better nutrition and health care for their families and spend more time on their children. Investing in women and girls creates long-term social and economic benefits for all individuals, for their community and more widely.  HOPE has, therefore, increased its investment with a two-year livelihood 'Self-Help Group' (SHG) project for young women as a component of the WaSH projects, providing training, skills and experience to earn money and break the cycle of poverty. Since 2015, when HOPE introduced this component to our work, 3,478 women have participated across 58 villages in SHGs. Since then, every participating woman has successfully started her own small business and 181 groups businesses have also been started by two or more women together, resulting in an increased income for each of their families. This has proven to be transformational; HOPE has seen previously disadvantaged young women enter the project fearful, without skills or support, and with time become confident businesswomen. It has also been a launch pad for them to increase their voice and role in their communities and has contributed towards the improvement of gender equality.Finally, HOPE believes that forming SHGs is a powerful way to encourage women, and desires to further invest in a community already in transformation due to recent access to clean water. According to a Guardian article (7 Oct 2015) written generally about the success of SHGs in Ethiopia, Alex Evans writes, ‘SHGs are 'absolutely, categorically, totally, transformative … this is some of the most impressive development work I’ve ever seen, and it’s being done on a shoestring – and with more funding, much more can be done to roll this out across the country. If you’re planning on giving money to anything any time soon, I simply cannot imagine a better rate of return than this.'  In conclusion, as girls often pay the heaviest price for the lack of nearby, safe water and appropriate sanitation, investing in HOPE's comprehensive WaSH programme (with additional livelihood investment in women), will transform the lives of whole community, but girls in particular. For these reasons, HOPE is partnering with the Ethiopian government to continue to work with rural communities in the southwest region of the country to help them gain access to clean water. HOPE’s vision is to continue developing water resources in the Gamo Gofa zone (of SNNPR), moving village to village where invited, working with communities to bring clean water to everyone it can. This vision represents a long-term commitment to this region.