Country Director | IRC Ethiopia
Lemessa Mekonta is the Country Director for IRC WASH Ethiopia based in Addis Ababa.
He has diversified and hands on experiences in different aspects of water resources, water supplies, and sanitation working for government, private businesses and NGOs in various capacities ranging from expert to managerial level. Key areas of his experiences include program strategy development, partnership facilitation and coordination with different actors, project management, provision of trainings on water supplies, study and design for rural and urban water supplies, urban water utility management, water quality monitoring, leading action research including rural water supply operation and maintenance with appropriate technology identification and use, and private service providers engagement.
Lemessa is a hydrogeologist by background with over 23 years' experience in water and sanitation sector.
A contextual assessment of GESI in the WASH sector based on a review of national policies, strategies, and implementation practices in Ethiopia. Read more...
Long-term strategic planning at the district level helps to identify improved service delivery models, system strengthening activities, financing... Read more...
Addressing inequalities by improving access to WASH services for vulnerable groups; introducing social water tariffs for the vulnerable; involving... Read more...
WASH Talk podcast on the creative solutions, which Dutch NGOs Simavi and Aqua for All are using in Africa. Read more...
This learning note summarises the findings of USAID Transform WASH's activities to pilot smart and targeted sanitation subsidies in line with... Read more...
Presentations from the WASH Learning theme 1 - Delivering Safe WASH Services session of the All Systems Connect International Symposium 2023. Read more...
The Transform WASH Activity in Ethiopia has significantly contributed to advancing market-based sanitation approaches and promoting gender equality... Read more...
Three factors – legitimacy of the collaborative, aligning activities within clear mandates, and demonstrating value – all work together to secure... Read more...
Harmonizing institutionalized monitoring, national benchmarks, improving the data culture and acting upon monitoring results will be essential in... Read more...
Systems approaches are ongoing processes which take time and require multiple levels of action, both at local as well as at regional and national... Read more...
A summary of a study undertaken of the financing approaches used under the USAID Transform WASH programme in Ethiopia, which was conducted to better... Read more...
This report summarizes the findings of action research on how different actors in the Transform WASH project create demand for sanitation products... Read more...
The IRC WASH team in Ethiopia believes it is vital and urgent to strengthen the systems that deliver WASH services. Read more...
An approach is developed to assess WASH risks in marginal populations that are poorly understood and served through conventional approaches. Read more...
Reflections on how to strengthen the capacity and relationships of actors in the Cambodian sanitation market - and in the wider rural sanitation... Read more...
This book/learning tool presents an approach for the comprehensive and integrated management of faecal sludge in urban and peri-urban areas of low-... Read more...
An information guide to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in schools, health care facilities, the workplace, orphanages, prisons, refugee... Read more...
Data was collected on household income, diarrhoeal disease occurrence, water service provision, and sanitation and hygiene services and practices at... Read more...