Pakistan. December 2016.
Program overview
Under the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) component, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) provides clean drinking water, adequate sanitation, as well as support for hygiene awareness and the distribution of non-food items. It also supports local partners in combating gender-based violence in different areas of Pakistan, and religious and civil society actors in their work for peace and reconciliation, as well as promoting intra- and inter-religious dialogue between different communities. Since 2005, NCA has provided relief and rehabilitation assistance to earthquake and flood affected people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Sindh, Baluchistan and Punjab.
Evaluation overview
NCA commissioned this study to evaluate the functionality and impact of the infrastructure and non-infrastructure components of its WASH projects implemented since 2011 throughout Pakistan.
Key findings and recommendations
The evaluation found that the infrastructure was relevant and appropriately designed and that local context was taken into consideration. In the regions where more permanent WASH infrastructure was put up, the cost was too high for the local population. The assessment found that NCA projects had better functionality than projects completed in 2011, 2012 and 2015.While the facilities were not user friendly for persons with disabilities and the elderly, the communities reported that the arrangements were much better than anything that existed prior to latrine provision. The assessment also found that the communities had retained good knowledge about the hygiene component and were able to recall the key hygiene messages.
Based on the study findings, the following recommendations are made to improve long term functionality and sustainability of WASH infrastructure. There should be regular follow up visits with the VDCs and communities, one should assist in preparing an action plan and women's participation needs to be ensured in project implementation. Also, latrine design should cater for the special needs of the elderly and PWDs.