Church of Uganda- Teso Dioceses planning and Development Office

Church of Uganda- Teso Dioceses planning and Development Office (COUTEDDO) is the Planning and Development arm of the dioceses of Soroti and Kumi in Teso sub region.

TEDDO came into being in 2002 after Kumi Diocese was curved out of Soroti in 2001. Its creation was formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the two Bishops of Kumi and Soroti dioceses in 2004.

COU-TEDDO aims at contributing to the empowerment of communities in Teso to manage disasters, natural resource endowments, governance, peace and conflict transformation for sustainable development. The above goal will be achieved through four key thematic areas namely; Governance and Conflict Transformation; Integrated Secure livelihoods; Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH).

COU-TEDDO has also integrated Organization and Institutional Development (IOD), Orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC), Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), HIV/AIDS and environmental conservation in all programmes.

Brief Background and Introduction of the project

The Church of Uganda Teso Dioceses Planning and Development Office (COUTEDDO) Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme is implemented as two projects all in the districts of Katakwi and Amuria in partnership with WaterAid Uganda and the respective District Local Governments. The projects are:

- The Post Confl ict WASH project implemented with support from the European Union Water Facility in Orungo and Morungatuny sub-counties in Amuria district; Ongongoja, Ngariam and Magoro sub-counties in Katakwi and runs for fi ve (05) years 2011-2016; and

- The Integrated WASH project implemented with support from Guernsey in Obalanga in Amuria district and Palam in Katakwi district and funded on a yearly basis.

Goal: Improved health of the selected disaster prone communities of Katakwi and Amuria districts through provision of sustainable WASH interventions and continued advocacy

Specifi c Objectives

• To increased access to safe and clean water in 5 selected disaster prone sub-counties in Katakwi (3) and Amuria (2) districts by 2014

• To promote sustainable sanitation and hygiene approaches and technology options for positive behaviour change in the selected sub counties in Katakwi and Amuria districts by 2014.

• To scale up advocacy and Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) to strengthen community capacity in disaster risk reduction and preparedness in the selected sub counties in Katakwi and Amuria districts by 2014.

• To strengthen organizational capacity to effectively deliver sustainable WASH services by 2014.

COU-TEDDO engages communities in sanitation promotion using the UMOJA approach which puts together the positive attributes of the community led total sanitation (CLTS), participatory hygiene and sanitation transformation (PHAST) and clustering thereby putting in to play three key aspects that is; triggering attitude change, total community participation and sustainability.

Key Achievements

Provided clean and safe water for communities that used unsafe water

33 boreholes drilled in 33 poorest and post confl ict communities in Katakwi (16) and Amuria (17). About 13,813 people are now accessing clean and safe water in the respective communities in Katakwi (10) and Amuria (09) districts.

COUTEDDO has also rehabilitated of 19 boreholes in Amuria (09) and Katakwi (10) districts in a bid to improve on functionality of existing water points.

Promoted rain water harvesting in institutions and households

18 Ferro cement tanks have been constructed in 8 underserved primary schools in Katakwi (09) and Amuria (09). 3,600 pupils have been supported to access clean and safe water for hand washing and maintaining hygiene in their schools.

29 rain water jars have been constructed for selected vulnerable households in Katakwi (12) and Amuria (17) districts. COU-TEDDO is working with local artisans to construct the rainwater harvesting tanks. As a member of the Uganda Rainwater Association support was sought for training of the artisan groups which has ensured quality of works.

Provided access to improved sanitation for institutions

3 sanitation facilities for 3 underserved primary schools have been constructed in Amuria and Katakwi. 1 in Amuria and 2 in Katakwi; 1,290 pupils are now accessing improved sanitation in three schools. 3 more are being constructed in Katakwi (02) and Amuria (01)

Promoted Hygiene and sanitation at household level

Hygiene and sanitation has been promoted in 113 communities in Amuria (40) and Katakwi (73) district. The communities were then clustered into households of ten each cluster with a cluster head charged with the responsibility of championing WASH.

A total of 1130 cluster heads were formed and have championed sanitation and hygiene in their respective communities. 7785 new latrines were constructed to add to the already existing 2089 latrines. The new latrines are supporting 23,355 people access improved sanitation.

55 bicycles were procured to support 55 hygiene educators to mobilize communities, monitor and report progress of hygiene and sanitation promotion. Seven school health clubs were formed both in Amuria and Katakwi districts, 04 clubs in Katakwi and 03 in Amuria.

Challenges/Constraints encountered during the project implementation

Harsh weather conditions that delayed implementation of hardware works. The activities were rescheduled in the work plan Iron in water that could have resulted from poor pump parts or the nature of the aquifer that in most cases makes communities to go back to use the unsafe water sources they used.

Lessons learnt

The communities that turn up in large numbers for the triggering exercise always make greater steps in sanitation and hygiene improvement. Community mobilization should therefore given key consideration. Click to view