You
are here >>Home
>> Newsroom >> Press Releases
Official launch of a new Water and Sanitation project "RANO HP"
PRESS RELEASE
December 17, 2009 |
December 17, 2009 - On December 17, United States Ambassador Niels Marquardt chaired the official launch of a new 5-year, $10 million US government-supported water and sanitation project. The goal of RANO-HP (Rural Access to New Opportunities for Health and Prosperity or RANO HamPivoatra) is to give rural communities in Madagascar increased access to reliable and economically sustainable water and sanitation services for health, security, and prosperity. The project will target nearly 340,000 people in approximately 9,000 vulnerable households
in 42 rural communes.
| Madagascar is rich in fresh water resources, yet over 60% of the islands 19.7 million inhabitants lack access to a safe water supply, including more than 70% of the most vulnerable living in rural areas. RANO-HP will move beyond traditional project models used in the water sanitation sector.It will build on the innovative work of private sector partners, |
 |
Sandandrano and Bushproof, as well as expand other promising initiatives such as Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), introduced recently to Madagascar by UNICEF, Water Aid and the USAID-funded Hygiene Improvement Project. Over five years, nearly 700 water points will be constructed or rehabilitated, significantly increasing water coverage rates in some of the most remote, vulnerable communes in eastern and southern Madagascar.
The aim is to improve health in these communes through increasing access to clean drinking water. In addition, RANO-HP will promote construction and use of hygienic latrines, and adoption of healthy behaviors such as hand-washing with soap. Water points will also provide water for other uses, which can increase opportunities for income generation or expansion, particularly for women who will be able to spend less time fetching water. RANO-HP is being implemented through USAID by a consortium led by Catholic Relief Services that also includes CARE Madagascar, Caritas Madagascar, Voahary Salama, and private sector businesses Sandandrano and BushProof.
|
