Participants of the leadership meeting
This story highlights the South Ari Zone leadership's concern and discussions aimed at finding a sustainable solution for water and sanitation services in the Zone, demonstrating their commitment.
Published on: 17/04/2025
It is promising to see that local leadership is concerned about water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services, and is looking for solutions. They are realising that these are not just services but the lifelines of healthy, thriving communities. This is evident in Ari Zone and South Ari Woreda, where delivering sustainable WASH services continues to be a complex challenge. Recognising the urgency, higher local political leaders gathered at a recent workshop to discuss and address the issue.
The focus of the workshop was building a stronger, more accountable governance framework that puts leadership and community involvement at the core of WASH service delivery.
Despite years of investment, many WASH systems remain weak, mainly due to insufficient political prioritisation and lack of ownership by the leadership. In many cases, sector offices have been taking sole responsibility without the involvement of key decision makers, which limits accountability. This has led to fragmented governance of WASH services, poor infrastructure maintenance, weak community engagement, and gaps in sanitation and hygiene behaviour change. Considering all these factors, workshop participants underscored that without leadership and ownership from the zone level down to the kebele, the vision of sustainable WASH for all will remain unattainable.
The workshop was designed to reshape the understanding and engagement of leadership around awareness, ownership, accountability and coordination. Awareness involves informing political leaders on the current WASH landscape, the challenges, opportunities, and why their involvement matters. Ownership is about positioning local political leaders as drivers of sustainable WASH services and champions of the local WASH SDG Plan. Accountability focuses on creating mechanisms to track progress and strengthen responsibility from zone to kebele. Coordination is about improving communication and synergy between local political leadership and sector institutions.
A remarkable aspect of the workshop was the active participation of senior leaders from Ari Zone and South Ari Woreda. In his opening speech, Ari Zone Administrator Abreham Atta reflected on the growing challenges in the WASH sector and the need to prioritise the sector. “With the rise in population, the demand for improved WASH services is increasing, yet we are struggling to meet these needs. We are failing to sustain the existing facilities to deliver the services as initially designed. We have not been prioritising WASH as we do with other sectors, but that is something we are now beginning to understand and address.”
According to Guralk Yizimalk, Head of the Ari Zone Prosperity Party Office, it is necessary to integrate WASH activities into the leadership’s regular political and administrative tasks, to ensure stronger collaboration and follow-up.
Deteriorating water schemes, environmental threats and limited community engagement are the main challenges mentioned by Ajele Getu, Head of the South Ari Woreda Water, Mines, and Energy Office. Many existing water systems are failing, leaving water coverage below national benchmarks. The path forward involves better maintenance, resource allocation, and community-led solutions. He also added that rivers and streams are under constant threat from pollution, affecting water quality and public health, requiring immediate action to secure clean, safe water sources. Ajele recommended strengthening community involvement for ownership and long-term success.
South Ari Woreda is naturally endowed with abundant spring water. To utilise this resource, Ajele Getu introduced the Woreda’s “one on-spot spring source for one kebele” initiative. This initiative is designed to ensure each kebele in South Ari Woreda has its own protected and sustainable spring water source through community mobilisation. The initiative aims to enhance equitable access to water, build resilience, and strengthen local ownership in water service management. The Woreda will develop a detailed plan soon and start implementing it.
Ajele also said, “With the current pace and heavy reliance on external resources, achieving our WASH SDG targets will be difficult. We must mobilise local community resources, and the initiative stands out as the most practical and sustainable strategy to expand our water coverage.”
Workshop discussions repeatedly emphasised one fundamental truth: sustainable WASH services can only be achieved through empowered communities. The Water Safety Plan (WSP) pilot kebeles stood out as powerful examples where community members took the lead in constructing, managing, and safeguarding their own water sources. These local success stories underscore the transformative potential of collective ownership and grassroots action.
South Ari Woreda Chief Administrator, Gizaw Haile, underscored the urgency of mobilising communities to own and protect water infrastructure. He also highlighted the responsibility of leadership to inspire and drive sustainable action in every kebele.
Workshop participants laid out the following practical, actionable solutions:
