Pakistan. December 2019.
Read the report Telethon Funded Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme in Sidh, Pakistan (pdf)
From 2015–2019, with funding from NRK Telethon, NCA implemented a water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programme for targeted communities in Sanghar and Thatta districts of Pakistan’s Sindh province. The programme aimed to strengthen community resilience to flood, improve access to safe drinking water, and provide adequate sanitation and hygiene. This included building the capacity of institutions that manage WASH facilities. The programme incorporated gender analysis, disaster risk reduction and grievance systems.
NCA commissioned GLOW Consultants to conduct an endline evaluation of the programme in 2019. This evaluation used OECD-DAC criteria of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability to assess the programme’s design and implementation. It measured results against a 2015 baseline study, other local assessments and annual village profiling. Its methodology comprised a desk review, and field visits to conduct key informant interviews, focus group discussions and transect walks.
This programme allowed better engagement with women and minority group beneficiaries than other interventions in Sindh province and elsewhere in Pakistan. However, women’s reticence and deferral to men reduced their involvement in programme activities, indicating a need for more comprehensive community mobilisation for behaviour change.
Specific local challenges affected programme implementation, such as low rainfall and difficulty finding a constant groundwater source. Future programme design should consider these factors.
Few people were willing to pay water tariffs introduced to ensure sustainable access to clean drinking water. Engaging local decision-makers may help with this.
Future interventions should explore installing water meters to regulate solar powered water supplies and avoid over extraction.
There is a need to further invest in the capacity building of water management committees.
As women and girls also use latrines for washing, future interventions should consider separately draining wastewater from bathing.
This report is the product of its authors, and responsibility for the accuracy of data included in this report rests with the authors alone.