Ajele Getu, Head of the South Ari Water, Mine, and Energy Office, sharing experiences on master plan development and implementation.
Published on: 17/10/2025
Ari Zone, located in the South Ethiopia Region, is composed of four woredas. Since 2019, with support from IRC WASH, three of these woredas South Ari, Baka Dawla, and Woba Ari have developed and implementing their Woreda WASH SDG Plans. Building on this progress, the Zone Planning Department, together with WASH Sector Offices, has now initiated the development of a WASH SDG Plan for the remaining Semen Ari woreda. This effort ensures that all woredas within the zone will have comprehensive WASH SDG Plans. The scaling-up process has been supported by IRC WASH and enriched by the experience sharing from South Ari Woreda, which has been at the forefront of WASH systems strengthening in the zone.
South Ari Woreda contributed a lot to the scaling-up of the WASH SDG plan in Semen Ari Woreda. WASH SDG Plan team from the South Ari Woreda, provided comprehensive guidance throughout the Semen Ari Woreda planning process. They offered practical support in using the Excel based planning tools, integrating both primary and secondary WASH data, and ensuring that the Semen Ari planning team was equipped with skills to produce a comprehensive WASH SDG Plan.
During the planning workshop, Ajele Getu, Head of the South Ari Water, Mines, and Energy Office, shared valuable lessons from South Ari’s experience. He highlighted the importance of WASH SDG Plan to understand the actual baseline service levels, evidence based planning, prioritizing the unserved areas/kebeles, resource mobilisation, tracking of progress, budget utilization, sectors collaboration and increased staff commitment. The South Ari planning team hands on support, provided a practical step by step guidance in using the planning tool and developing the plan document.
Mr Ajele also mentioned “In my office, the South Ari Woreda Water, Mine, and Energy Office, the WASH SDG Plan has been a practical tool for guiding implementation alongside other WASH sectors in the woreda. Since we started using the plan, water coverage has increased from 21% to 38%, and all WASH sectors are working together toward our shared vision. The plan has helped us identify priority areas for infrastructure development, strengthen coordination, and draw lessons from best practices that we can scale up for greater impact.”
The Ari Zone Planning Department Head, Demelash Aboneh, emphasised the importance of having a WASH SDG Plan for all woredas in the Zone. He noted that these plans not only guide local interventions but also align with the government’s 10-year strategic directions and zonal development goals.
“Semen Ari Woreda is richly endowed with water potential, yet improved water coverage remains critically low. The woreda has no data on service coverage as per the Joint Monitoring standards. The WASH SDG Plan will provide a vital roadmap to transform the woreda’s WASH landscape, enabling strategic resource prioritisation and moving every community closer to reliable access to safe water,” said Ebron Demenance, Head of the Semen Ari Woreda Water, Mines, and Energy Office.
With coaching from the South Ari Woreda planning team, the Semen Ari Woreda planning team is in the final stages of preparing its WASH SDG Plan, which will soon be submitted to the Woreda WASH Steering Committee for evaluation. The plan covers critical WASH components, including community water supply, community sanitation and hygiene, WASH in schools, and WASH in health institutions.
This collaborative effort ensures that all woredas in Ari Zone now have their own WASH SDG Plans, creating a stronger foundation for achieving universal access to safe and sustainable WASH services by 2030 at zone level.
