The USAID Water and Sanitation Project is a $41.8-million, 4.5-year activity implemented in collaboration with Haiti’s National Directorate of Potable Water and Sanitation (DINEPA), the branch of the Haitian government tasked with ensuring water and sanitation services for its citizens. The Project’s overall goal is to improve sanitation and water for all Haitians. Initially, the Project focused on five areas: three areas hard hit by the cholera outbreak (Cap-Haïtien, Mirebalais, and Canaan) and two areas hard hit by Hurricane Mathew (Les Cayes and Jérémie). During the current year, it added two additional areas hard hit by the cholera outbreak (Ouanaminthe and Hinche).
The Project’s three primary goals are: 1) helping 250,000 people get access to basic or improved access to water, 2) helping 75,000 people get access to basic or improved sanitation, and 3) laying the foundation for sustainable increases in access to water and sanitation across Haiti. The Project is reaching these goals by focusing on its core values such as self-reliance, resilience, and the private-sector approach. In the water sector, the Project is using the World Bank’s Water Utility Turnaround Framework: A Guide for Improving Performance (2018) to guide the technical assistance across five dimensions: organization and strategy, human resource management, financial management, technical operations, and commercial operations.
During FY20, the Project achieved several key milestones. In the water sector, 13,240 people gained basic access to water, and an additional 73,165 people have improved water service quality (91,980 in total). Four of the CTEs have significantly improved their internal governance, including developing an organizational chart and clear job descriptions for all staff and adopting a customer management database to track their customers and payments. In the sanitation sector, 19 SMEs were strengthened, have increased their revenues, and built a total of 260 toilets this year. The Project also signed four national agreed plans for improved water and sanitation service delivery and produced its first publication: La Zonage d’Assainissement pour Les Cayes (Sanitation Zoning for Les Cayes).
The Project has been working with municipal authorities in each of the five areas to promote basic sanitation and help small entrepreneurs to better market basic sanitation products. By the end of FY20, the entrepreneurs supported by the Project have constructed a total of 259 toilets. However, the biggest impact in the sanitation sector will come from helping DINEPA to effectively manage its fecal sludge management (FSM) sites. Currently, the only operational public FSM site in Haiti is the Morne-à-Cabri site, which operates with a significant deficit. During FY20, the Project worked closely with the site’s managers to develop plans to improve the management of the site and rehabilitate the facility. This work should be completed in early FY21. The Project is also working with DINEPA to reopen the FSM site in Les Cayes.
The Project’s work with the CTEs and the FSM sites began to bear fruit during FY20. The CTEs began to increase their revenues and provide more water. As a result, DINEPA and other donors have started to take notice. During FY21, the Project will focus on sharing the lessons learned with the other CTEs and the other FSM sites as it works to help ensure sustainable increases in water and sanitation for all of Haiti.
The Project’s main implementing partner is the National Directorate for Water and Sanitation (DINEPA) and its subsidiary institutions. The role of each of these institutions is listed in Table 1. The structure for managing urban water as set forth in the 2009 law on potable water and sanitation includes the National Directorate for Water and Sanitation, the Regional Office for Water and Sanitation, the Urban Water Utility, and the Water and Sanitation Committee.
The Project’s work in the water sector is guided by the World Bank’s Water Utility Turnaround Framework: A Guide for Improving Performance (2018). This framework provides a comprehensive approach to improving the performance of water utilities, focusing on five dimensions: organization and strategy, human resource management, financial management, technical operations, and commercial operations. The Project is using this framework to guide its technical assistance and support to the CTEs.
The Project’s work in the sanitation sector is focused on promoting basic sanitation and helping small entrepreneurs to better market basic sanitation products. The Project has been working with municipal authorities in each of the five areas to promote basic sanitation and has supported the construction of a total of 259 toilets by the end of FY20. The Project is also working with DINEPA to effectively manage its fecal sludge management (FSM) sites, with a focus on improving the management of the Morne-à-Cabri site and reopening the FSM site in Les Cayes.