In Imvepi and Kyaka II, Oxfam is the Sector Lead and UNHCR’s implementing partner for Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH), overseeing the daily operation and maintenance of all water supply systems. This includes eleven Motorised Piped Water Systems across the different settlements.
“We pump water from these systems to supply communities and institutions within several zones in the settlements. We service the generators, fuel them, employ security guards to guard the systems and pump operators to run the systems. Our WASH interventions benefit the refugees and host communities,” Johnson Mubatsi, Oxfam’s Response Manager – Kyaka II says.
Oxfam also implements the Institutional WASH component including water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion in schools, health centres and market places.
Since late December 2017, the situation in Kyaka II refugee settlement has dramatically changed with arrivals of refugees from DR Congo via border crossings in South Western Uganda who are then transferred to Kyaka II through Nyakabande Transit Centre. The South Sudan refugee influx into Uganda also continues with no hope of immediate return for the many refugees.
The total refugees and asylum seekers in Uganda stand at 1,347,360 as at 30th September 2019 with over 848,203 from South Sudan and 384,049 from DRC according to UNHCR data
Oxfam also ensures that people with special needs can access proper sanitary facilities among other services.
“We are excavating and constructing pit latrines for people with special needs to curb sanitation related diseases. We are also in the Kyaka II settlement zones of Kaborogota, Mukondo B and Mukondo C implementing an integrated WASH programme as well as raising refugee and host communities’ awareness on gender and protection and peaceful coexistence,” Mubatsi says. These activities are all replicated in the other response areas in which we operate across West Nile region.
Refugees bank on water ATMs for clean water
Water scarcity, poor water quality and inadequate sanitation negatively impact food security, livelihood choices and educational opportunities for poor families across the world, especially for women and girls who spend endless hours fetching water over long distances. This calls for improved water supply systems.
Water Automated Teller Machine (ATMs) or simply smart taps will be the new way of distributing water to refugees and host communities. This innovation is poised to improve on water supply management by reducing water wastage and improving accountability. Initially a pilot scheme, the mobile enabled water utility and financial service will later be scaled – up to other locations
Oxfam is investing about UGX117M to procure and install 15 water ATMs. Another UGX7M will be injected into building 15 water kiosks where the water ATMs will be installed.
State of water supply system
Access levels in terms of available litres per person per day on average stand at 11litres for refugees and slightly less for host communities in Kyaka II settlements.
According to Simon Odong, the Public Health Engineer at Oxfam, “Water supply is largely from the 66 functional shallow wells fitted with hand pumps. This is not safe for drinking as shallow wells are prone to contamination. Mr. Odong says about 30% of Kyaka II refugee settlement is connected to a portable piped water system. An additional 10% is being installed by Oxfam, from the Integrated WASH and Protection project with funding from the European Union, Humanitarian Aid.
In September 2019, 1 million litres of water were supplied on average per day to Kyaka II, by Oxfam, serving a population of more than 100,000 refugees.
Cost
With no subsidy, each refugee would be paying UGX50 per 20L, the same cost as accessing water through a public stand pipe.
“For refugees, there will be a subsidised rate of UGX1,000 per household per month. While Oxfam with funds from United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) will top up at a rate of UGX 25 per 20L,” Mr. Odong explains.
Each water ATM has two taps and each ATM will serve 500 families. This means about 2,500 people will be served by one water ATM.
How water ATMs work
Water ATMs work like a cash ATM, with a token, preloaded with credit used to dispense water.
“Each household is issued with a token (equivalent to cash ATM card). The token can be calibrated to dispense only a certain quantity of water per day. Households can top-up from a kiosk once depleted, “Mr. Odong explains.
To address inequality and ensure the vulnerable have access to adequate water supply, Oxfam with support from UNHCR will exempt certain persons with special needs from paying for the water after a thorough vulnerability assessment.
Oxfam scales up motorised water systems
Prior to the introduction of the motorised water systems, refugees and host communities solely relied on fetching untreated water from the nearby streams and water trucking, which was expensive in terms of cost. Over the years, Oxfam together with several partners has created new ways of easing water access.
Edward Mwebaze, Oxfam Uganda’s Humanitarian Manager, says: “Over the years, we have tried to look at systems that can supply communities for more than 20 years at a lower cost.”
Oxfam has set up over 11 motororised water systems across different refugee settlements in West Nile and South Western Uganda. The motorised water systems that Oxfam has constructed across various refugee settlements are designed with eco-friendly hybrid technology that is powered by solar. Generators are only used as an alternative in case of cloudy weather. At several tap-stands, instead of having soak-pits, channels are created where the run-off water diverts to irrigate kitchen gardens.
“The systems are part of Oxfam’s preparedness plan to build the resilience of these communities. Compared to water trucking, which was very expensive, the solar-powered motorised water systems are already making up to 55 per cent savings—and the savings will increase with time,” Dorah Ntunga, Oxfam’s Information, Media and Communication Coordinator, says.
The new systems are helping to solve a range of problems, not the least of which has to do with water quality.
“Because the supply now comes directly from the drilled wells—and doesn’t have to be trucked from other sources such as the Nile River—the quality of the water is better. Managing the system is simpler than managing a water trucking operation, and the distribution is both durable and sustainable,” said Ms. Ntunga.
Oxfam has trained a team of residents and refugees to monitor and run the systems.
Thanks to funding from ECHO – European Union Humanitarian Aid through provision of UGX21 billion to a consortium of CARE international, Save The Children and CEFORD led by Oxfam, over 200,000 South Sudanese refugees benefited from some of the solar powered water systems in 2018.
“Currently with another ECHO funding on delivering Integrated WASH and protection, we have put up four systems; two in Imvepi and two in Rhino Camp,” Carolyne Judith Omollo, a Public Health Engineering Team Leader at Oxfam says.
With funding from Belgium Development Cooperation, Oxfam further put up two more motorized water systems in Northern Uganda’s Palabek refugee settlement in Lamwo District, serving both refugees and host communities.
Frederic Komaketch, the Public Health Officer, Oxfam Lamwo, says: “In Zone III, there’s one complete system serving about 2,110 people.”
As a result of these water systems, refugees and host communities can now access water for domestic needs such as cooking and washing clothes. The water systems have also greatly reduced the risk of diseases associated with water scarcity such as cholera.
Re-usable pads: A safe, cheap way to keep girls in school
Faced with the lack of products to manage menstrual hygiene girls are often forced to stay home during their periods. In Uganda, six out of 10 girls miss school during their menstrual cycle because they cannot afford disposable sanitary pads.
Thanks to investments in menstrual hygiene, more girls are remaining in school. Since 2015, Oxfam together with its local partners Community Empowerment for Rural Development (CEFORD) and African Women and Youth Action for Development (AWAYD) have been on a mission to keep girls in school. To improve women and girls’ dignity, Oxfam has trained them in making Re-usable Sanitary Pads (RUMPS).
“We embarked on this in 2015 in Rhino settlement of Arua district but spread to other settlements later including Bidibidi in Yumbe district and Palabek settlement in Lamwo district in 2017. This activity has been extended to Kyaka II settlement in South Western Uganda,” Mr. Wilson Senyonyi, Oxfam’s Gender and Protection Coordinator, says.
In West Nile alone, at least 20,000 refugees and host community women and girls have been trained. About 4,000 women have been trained in different zones and blocks of Palabek settlement and another 1,500 in Kyaka II settlement.
According to Mr. Edward Mwebaze, Oxfam’s Humanitarian Manager, this is in response to the high levels of school dropouts by girl children for fear of stigma from their male counterparts should they soil their dresses during their menses.
These pads which last between six months to a year depending on how they are maintained by the user, ensure that the girls and women don’t use unhygienic alternatives and are also durable.
“Some girls are so embarrassed to remain in public especially when they stain their dresses during their periods. Over time, they perform poorly and eventually drop out of school. We train them to make reusable pads. They just need to wash them; then they can use them again,” Mr. Mwebaze explains.
The women and girls are trained through brain storming, open discussion and illustrations.
Impact
These reusable pads have had a ripple effect on refugees and the host communities. They have revamped women’s dignity. Several women who have benefited from this training have also turned this into an income-generating activity.
“For school going girls, we happily report that this has retained girls in school as it was one of the causes of school drop outs. The pads have become a source of economic empowerment for the makers as they sell them,” Mr. Senyonyi says.
Additionally, hygiene and reproductive cases have been handled as the women and girls are also taken through menstrual hygiene management.
Women Forums, where the women come together and hold conversations on issues concerning their well beings are also key platforms where menstrual hygiene is discussed.
According to Mr. Senyonyi, the materials used in making RUMPS include mackintosh sheet, needles, sewing thread, buttons, scissors, cotton cloth, tape measure and towels, pieces of chalk or markers and pants/underwear. These are available in local markets and are cheaper than buying already made pads.
Briquettes: Human waste turned into clean energy
Last year, Oxfam started a briquette production initiative for South Sudanese refugees based in Imvepi, Rhino camp, Omugo and Bidibidi refugee settlements in West Nile.
The environmentally friendly, briquettes take eight hours to burn compared to charcoal, making them a more affordable option.
According to Roda Sselwa, a youth and member of Loketa Women Group, a group which is in one of the four settlements of Imvepi, Rhino Camp, Omugo, and Bidibidi Settlements, that have received skills training from Oxfam in making briquettes.
How Briquettes are made
Materials used for making the briquettes include: sorghum stalk, simsim stalk, bean stems and banana leaves, the briquettes are aimed at providing cooking energy alternatives to wood and charcoal. The women take the black fully carbonised sludge, which is ideal for briquette making and compact it into a round shape using their hands.
According to Rashid Mawejje, the Public Health Promotion Team Leader at Oxfam, UGX373m was injected into training, procuring the equipment and providing the necessary support to the women.
At between UGX1,000 and UGX3,000, one can buy the briquettes from these women.
So far, 70 women have been trained and supported with five sets of briquette making machines. Currently, the women produce 200 Kg of briquettes on average daily and environmentally friendly energy saving stoves.
The income generated from these briquettes allows the women to save in Village Savings and Cooperative Groups and manage their home affairs as well as pay school fees for their children.
Initially, briquettes were produced using crop residue. The process has now expanded to using treated faecal matter.
Oxfam has also acquired an area at Yoro base camp in Arua to construct a modern processing plant for human waste which will provide raw materials for women to make briquettes. This plant will be constructed with a cesspool to collect faecal matter from different institutions.
Oxfam also constructs waste banks and garbage bins where garbage is collected before being taken for final disposal. This is an effort to promote good sanitation practices in humanitarian response areas.
