Published on: 13/12/2023
IRC, a dynamic think-and-do tank, is dedicated to propelling the advancement of enhanced, inclusive, and sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services worldwide. Our global reach extends across nations, regions, and communities, fostering collaboration with governmental bodies, civil societies, private enterprises, and local communities.
To translate IRC's global vision and mission to the national level, IRC WASH Ethiopia developed its 2022-2025 strategic plan. Though Ethiopia has increased access to improved WASH services between 2015 and 2020, we still need to triple the annual progress to achieve SDG 6. Accelerating progress demands collaboration and partnerships - a few entities alone cannot overcome the bottlenecks to achieve SDG 6. Acknowledging this reality, the Government of Ethiopia has developed a Ten years perspective development plan (2021- 2030) which prioritises universal WASH coverage, renewable energy for WASH services, integrated basin management and urban liquid waste management.
The IRC Ethiopia strategic plan was developed to support the government's efforts and commitment to accelerate WASH services. Our plan is guided by our Theory of Change which adopts WASH systems approaches in which collective action is one of our key tools. This plan is also based on Destination 2030 (D30), the joint vision and strategy of IRC and Water For people striving for high impact. Furthermore, a WASH building block analysis has provided insights on national priorities which has informed our strategy, including governance, finance, monitoring and regulation.
This strategic plan outlines how we connect the local level (woreda) and the national level, including the rollout of national policies to the local level through collective action. We concentrate our efforts in certain districts called partner districts, a model that has helped us test and validate different approaches and service delivery models and scale them up to the national level. We work in both rural and urban settings on climate-resilient WASH services, water resources, market-based sanitation, city-wide inclusive sanitation and the professionalisation of WASH services.
We believe that reliable and up-to-date WASH data not only improves evidence-based planning and decision-making, but also makes the sector more attractive for investment to overcome the financial gap.
Finally, we underscore the interconnected nature of our work with other stakeholders, acknowledging and appreciating the value of collaboration. With optimism and commitment, we look to our national and local partners, urging them to unite in realising the country's ambitious WASH vision. Together, we can achieve transformative impact and create lasting change.
