Guidelines for the development of small-scale rural water supply and sanitation projects in East Africa : a policy and planning framework for activities funded by USAID under the Title II (Food for Peace) Program and by other donors

The provision of water supply and sanitation services addresses some of the most critical needs of people. Safe water and good sanitation are essential to the protection of community health by limiting the transmission of infectious diseases and by assisting in the maintenance of a sanitary home environment. At the same time, they contribute greatly to the enhancement of human dignity and economic opportunity by freeing people, mainly women and young children, from the drudgery of water carrying and providing more time for them to engage in other activities.
CRS is particularly concerned with the poor and marginalized populations living in rural settlements and peri-urban slums. These areas have urgent and immediate needs for safe drinking water, appropriate forms of sanitation and excreta disposal, and access to water for agricultural and other domestic purposes. The common factor in all of these needs is health – its maintenance, its protection, and its improvement.
This document presents general technical guidelines for the planning and implementation of small-scale water supply and sanitation activities. They intend to assist CRS and its partners in improving the effectiveness, environmental protection and long-term sustainability of water and sanitation activities in the rural, and often food-insecure, areas of East Africa. They are meant to be used to direct project development efforts so that positive outcomes are maximized and negative outcomes are minimized, and require threshold decisions concerning the significance of environmental impacts that various types of actions, including water and sanitation activities, may have.