Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
Water
Despite Tanzania being endowed with abundant water resources, around four million people in the country lack access to improved sources of water, and 29 million people do not have access to improved sanitation. The most affected group is girls and women, especially those living in rural areas (water.org, 2022). Inequalities of access to proper sanitation facilities is a huge issue in Tanzania. Access to sanitation facilities in urban areas constitutes of 41.9% while in rural areas the number is as low as 9.5% (WSSR).
Tanzania’s health, economy, and food security depend on sustainably managed water resources. However, water scarcity challenges are growing along with the impacts of climate change, while reliable access to safe drinking water and sanitation services is still beyond the reach of far too many people.
School water, sanitation and hygiene contribute to children’s learning and school experiences in many ways; it improves cognitive function and attention, reduces days missed from school, provides more time on the learning task, and increases dignity and safety. Because of inadequate school WASH many children are therefore currently not meeting their learning potential. The reasons for poor retention are many but international research suggests that inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene play a role.
A recent report estimates that in Sub‐Saharan Africa half of all girls who drop out of school say that a lack of adequate water and sanitation facilities are a contributing factor. A further 10 % of school‐age girls who have reached the age of puberty do not attend school during menstruation (Tear fund, 2018).
To address these interconnected water-related challenges, E-mac Tanzania promotes integrated water resources management and delivery of services across multiple sectors, with the specific goals of improved water resources management, improved service access, climate change adaptation, and biodiversity conservation in Tanzania Strengthen governance for sustainable and resilient management of water resources and services. Our work contribute to
- Increase utilization of sustainable multiple-use water and sanitation services;
- Strengthen governance for sustainable and resilient management of water resources and services
- Improve livelihoods through WASH business
E-MAC supports the government of Tanzania in its long-term development goal of providing basic services to enable economic prosperity and social well-being through improved water resources management, increased food security, and resilience to climate change.
To achieve results, E-mac works closely with different stakeholders both government and non-government to improve equitable delivery of water services. We provide technical support to Community Owned water Supply organizations on water resource management activities related to sustainable and healthy livelihoods in order to advance awareness, collaborative approaches, and innovative problem solving for local-level water challenges.
Sanitation & Hygiene
Sanitation is more than just toilets, it encompasses the facilities and services that prevent diseases caused by contact with human waste. Hygiene refers behaviors that can improve cleanliness and lead good health.
Why Sanitation and Hygiene?
Globally, one in three people lack a hygienic toilet in their homes. Sanitation and hygiene are critical for health, economic growth, personal security, and dignity, especially for women and girls. Investments in sanitation reduce health care costs and boost productivity, as time available for work and school increases. Every day, thousands of children around the world die from diarrheal disease caused by inadequate sanitation.
Our approach
We reach to the Marginalized and underserved to end open defecation, gain first-time or improved access to basic sanitation services, move progressively toward safely managed services, and create hygiene behavior change that lasts. Our strategic objectives are
- Reducing the number of people practicing open defecation
- Increasing the number of people with access to basic sanitation facilities
- Improving the ability of educational and health systems to manage sanitation and hygiene facilities in institutions
- Increasing the number of people with safely managed sanitation services.
- Increasing hand washing with soap at critical times
- Increasing the rate of safe management of household drinking water
Our key result area for five years is to make sure that accessibility and availability of clean and safe water is increased by 3% among target population in 3 districts by, Increase the access to quality and equitable sanitation and hygiene services in institutions (schools and health centers) and households by 3% in three districts of Tanzania by 2024.
Environmental conservation
Tanzania is a country rich in natural resources, including a diverse wildlife, natural forests, mountains, rivers, lakes, minerals and the countries tropical climate and cultural wealth positions it as a popular tourist destination. The country’s natural resources have contributed immensely to its economic development and is planned to contribute even more to the future development of Tanzania.
Despite the importance of sustaining Tanzania`s natural resources, serious challenges remain in order to achieve that. Some of these challenges include the unsustainable harvesting and use of natural resources, outdated cultivation practices, degradation and destruction of water sources, and the most current and serious challenge is the environmental impacts of climate change. All of these challenges combined are seriously impeding the country’s sustainable development goals which includes the important objective of poverty eradication.
Livelihood
Decades of economic growth and a sustained GDP growth in Tanzania have been marked by little progress regarding poverty reduction, the majority of Tanzanians, particularly those living in rural areas. Agricultural activities continue to employ the majority of people in Tanzania, 66.3% of peoples economic livelihood constitutes from agriculture. Due to this current situation, efforts to improve the agricultural sector should be prioritized since the sector is still until today very much underdeveloped.
For instance, areas under irrigation in Tanzania are less than 10% of its potential and the rate of investment in irrigation infrastructure is low. This especially affects the small-hold farmers and livestock keepers and increases their vulnerability for several shocks such as climate change.
Health
Women and young girls form over 51% of the total Tanzanian population. They make a large human resource. However, this productive group is stranded and vulnerable to health disorders, gender based violence and diseases.
Many young girls are subject to malpractice such as Female Genital Mutilation. In Tanzania, 7.9 million women and girls have undergone FGM (UNICEF, 2013). The magnitude and persistence of FGM continue to shock those who come across it. The practice has dreadful physiological and psychological effects to victims. It further violates their rights and entitlement to bodily integrity. The overall prevalence of FGM in girls between 15-49 years remained static at 14.6% between 2004 and 2010 (TDHS 2010). The change of law has brought fear of prosecution and drives the practice underground particularly in nomadic communities. Since FGM is considered a rite of passage from girlhood to womanhood, E-mac is working with traditional leaders to provide an alternative rite of passage from childhood to adulthood without circumcising girls.
On the general sense Tanzania suffers high adverse sexual and reproductive health (SRH) which include high level of maternal mortality, gender based violence and low contraceptive uptake among women of reproductive age. Conscious of that, E-mac Tanzania has begun intervening. In collaboration with Arusha District Council, E-mac is implementing a health service delivery project. A mobile clinic has been deployed and offers health services in hard-to-reach areas of the district. E-mac will continue to mobilize resources and support government initiatives to reduce these indicators at an acceptable level.
Why Health?
Health is a basic human right. E-mac wants to ensure that everybody has access to quality health care services especially women and Children in Marginalized communities where access or availability of such services is not a given. We are committed to increase access to sexual and reproductive health services for youth and vulnerable people, like HIV-affected persons. We contribute to Health delivery in remote areas through the Mobile clinic that we have donated to the Local government authorities.
Our strategic goal of ending poverty and improving livelihood and food security can only be achieved by tackling poverty’s root causes and top among them are poor public health and nutritional deficiencies.
For most of our more than 10 years in operation, we have been leading the way with sector-defining programmes that are changing people’s lives for the better. We work towards the survival and wellbeing of the Tanzanian most vulnerable communities, while ensuring they obtain the knowledge and resources to keep themselves and their families healthy and nourished.
“E-mac is aware of the need to balance curative and preventative approaches to health. We are focusing on improving health service uptake in Primary Health Care and Marginalized communities”
We use participatory, evidence-based and theory-informed approach. We coordinates and collaborates with stakeholders through a suite of tools and links individuals, communities and systems by addressing social and cultural norms, and social and behavior change communication (SBCC) system needs. This aims at improve the ability of individuals to practice healthy behaviors, Strengthen community support for improved health behaviors and improve systems for the coordination and implementation of SBCC interventions.
We make the use of Community Health Workers to advocate for adoption of Reproductive ad Child health such as attending and completing ANC visits, exclusive breastfeeding and facility delivery, Malaria , the use of modern contraceptive methods and Promotion HIV testing and adherence for PLHIV. The CHWs work with the health centers to conduct clinic talks with the pregnant women, lactating mothers as well as their partners. The clinic talks focus on the practice of healthier behaviors among pregnant women and lactating mothers. The CHW also conduct Interpersonal Communication sessions at community level in group of 5 to 10 people. We also make use IEC materials i.e. posters, brochures and billboards to cascade health promotion messages.
Latest achievements
Up to 2021, our health programmes reached over 6 hundred thousand people.
- Our health programmes reached over 632,880 directly. 264,240 Pregnant mothers, 273,600 at risk population for HIV, and 95040 adolescent men and women.
- We spent $0.28 million in 2020 delivering programmes that contribute to the achievement.
- Over 2000 people were reached in Manyara region of Tanzania on the Harmful practices affecting health and Reproductive Health rights.
