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Viewing cable 10ADDISABABA273, U/S OTERO TALKS WATER IN ETHIOPIA

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
10ADDISABABA273 2010-02-10 07:16 2011-08-24 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Addis Ababa
VZCZCXYZ0004
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDS #0273/01 0410716
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100716Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7705
INFO RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 0062
RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0024
RUEHAE/AMEMBASSY ASMARA 3885
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 0029
RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI 1660
RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM 5712
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 0112
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 0001
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 5075
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0001
UNCLAS ADDIS ABABA 000273 
 
SIPDIS 
DEPT FOR OES/PCI LSPERLING, MGERDIN, SAN MARTINIT, AND ASALZBERG, 
OES/ETC, OES/FO, OES/ENV, NEA/E, 
AF/E JWIEGERT, AF/E, G NGOLDIN 
DEPT FOR AID/EGAT, AID/ANE, AID/AFR/SD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAID AMGT XW BY RW ET
SUBJECT: U/S OTERO TALKS WATER IN ETHIOPIA 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
1. (U) On January 30, 2010, Under Secretary (U/S) for Global 
Affairs, Maria Otero, met with USG partners implementing programs to 
 
improve access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) for people 
in Ethiopia. The meeting was hosted by USAID and included the Deputy 
 
Chief of Mission, the Regional Environment Officer and 
representatives from CARE, Save the Children USA, the International 
 
Rescue Committee, and Merlin.  Discussion focused on water 
challenges in Ethiopia, with U/S Otero soliciting information on how 
 
the U.S. can strengthen its response.  From gender issues, to trends 
 
that indicate chronic food security issues may be overlooked in lieu 
 
of responding to pressing emergencies, interaction with Ethiopia's 
government officials, and funding challenges, the group covered 
significant ground.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------- 
BACKGROUND AND STATISTICS 
------------------------ 
2. (U) Ethiopia has one of Africa's lowest rates of access to safe 
drinking water supply in spite of its ostensibly abundant surface 
and groundwater resources.  Despite recent reform measures, the 
level of sanitation coverage in the country remains low; only 11% of 
 
the population has access to adequate sanitation.  It is estimated 
that 73,700 annual child deaths occur in Ethiopia due to diarrheal 
disease.  According to a representative from the International 
Rescue Committee (IRC), 25% of Ethiopia's population lacks access to 
 
safe drinking water.  In a country of approximately 77 million 
people where the IRC reports an estimated 85% are rural subsistence 
 
farmers, small and localized droughts in this 65% arid and semi-arid 
 
land can affect up to a million inhabitants and risk displacement 
and conflict.  In 2008, USAID/Ethiopia invested over USD six million 
 
while working in close partnership with Ethiopian national and local 
 
government agencies, civil society organizations, and local 
communities to increase sustainable access to safe drinking water, 
sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH).  USAID highlighted that it remains 
committed to continuing these partnerships and achieving results on 
 
the ground. 
 
------------- 
Gender Issues 
------------- 
3. (U) All participants agreed that water is a task and burden that 
 
primarily falls to the women of Ethiopia.  Addressing water needs 
and making water more accessible can cut down on the amount of time 
 
women must spend gathering water, thereby freeing female children to 
 
attend school, breaking a cycle of young girls marrying early (and 
having many children) because they lack alternatives to marriage, 
and older women can spend more time on productive endeavors on the 
farm, related to pastoralist livelihoods, or working on small 
business activities.  Moreover, many noted that when women and girls 
 
must travel long distances to retrieve water, they are exposed to 
safety and security hazards that can be mitigated when nearby safe 
drinking water sources are established. 
 
4. (U) Working to bring safe water sources closer to communities, 
the Save the Children USA representative noted that they have 
partnered with USAID to implement community-school WaSH partnerships 
 
in four major regions of Ethiopia.  The programs address emergency 
water needs and also test community water supply systems.  CARE 
added that the multi-donor food program, the Productive Safety Net 
Program (PSNP), incorporates successful WaSH initiatives that 
include rural irrigation schemes, time saving potable water options, 
 
and health-related sanitation programs.  IRC added that it is 
involved in water care and maintenance programs in and around 
refugee camps, creating 200-300 meter bore holes and large-scale 
water storage capacity.  The NGOs pointed out that by encouraging 
the development of community-based WaSH committees similar in 
structure to PTAs (to collect and manage fees at community water 
points, for example) that include women as members, WaSH initiatives 
 
also have the capacity to empower women at the community level. 
These types of bottom-up structures, according to the NGOs, can also 
 
expose communities to small-scale democratic institutions and 
concepts. 
 
------------------ 
GoE Responsiveness 
------------------ 
5. (U) According to the group of USG WaSH Partners, the Government 
of Ethiopia is both engaged and interested in WaSH development, 
particularly in the infrastructure, or hardware, of water. The group 
 
noted that, in Ethiopia's top down system, government policies exist 
 
at federal level down through to the rural level, but that problems 
 
arise because the rural communities lack resources to implement 
policies.  It is at the rural, local community level that NGOs feel 
 
they have the most value-added to bring to the table, focusing on 
building capacity and provide training vs. handing over hardware. 
 
------------------------- 
WATER AND FOOD INSECURITY 
------------------------- 
6. (U) According to a representative from UK-based Merlin, 
approximately 14 million of an estimated 77 million Ethiopians are 
on food assistance.  He noted with concern, however, that this group 
 
of chronically food insecure is increasingly being overlooked as 
disaster response funding gains momentum.  Disaster response funding 
 
is designed to confront food emergencies that are generally linked 
to a lack of access to safe drinking water. In the Merlin 
representative's opinion, this a short-term exercise of putting out 
 
fires that is crowding out funding for the real underlying and 
fundamental cause of food insecurity.  He urged the group to 
prioritize their objectives and not forget this chronic food 
insecure baseline as funding for emergencies continues to flow. 
 
7. (U) With the onset of climate-based changes, in addition to 
continued population increases that will further stress limited 
natural resources, the NGOs called upon USAID to use its vast 
experience in WaSH-related activities to strengthen national and 
regional institutions so that they can plan and prepare for change. 
 
U/S Otero agreed that with approximately USD 500 million WaSH 
funding invested around the world, USAID's experience in this field 
 
is unmatched.  Acknowledging a nexus between environment and 
security that carries foreign policy implications, she discussed the 
 
fact that she is elevating water at the State Department. U/S Otero 
 
also encouraged the group of NGOs to coordinate with USAID and 
Department of State embassy colleagues to arrange meetings with 
visiting Congressional delegations, using the opportunity to explain 
 
the full myriad of Ethiopia's complexities to the USG officials. 
 
------------------ 
Funding Challenges 
------------------ 
8. (U) The NGOs present at the USAID-hosted WaSH meeting with U/S 
Otero took the opportunity to express frustrations with funding 
cycles.  They emphasized that multi-year funding, around two-four 
years, is extremely important to developing, implementing, and 
maintaining sustainable WaSH programs.  Time is needed to develop 
water sources for communities, to establish partnerships with the 
local government and the community, to instill the notion of 
ownership for sustainability, to procure supplies, etc. The NGOs 
also commented that WaSH earmarks are too restrictive, requiring 
reports on numbers of people reached versus encouraging innovation. 
 
They would prefer a flexible environment where they would have some 
 
space to experiment, scaling up successful, innovative pilots.  U/S 
 
Otero closed the meeting by expressing her gratitude for all the 
hard work and dedication of the NGO community to effect positive 
change in Ethiopia. 
 
9. Nicole Goldin, Special Assistant to Under Secretary Maria Otero, 
 
cleared this cable. 
 
#YATES