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Published on: 19/07/2022

EWTI staff celebrating the completion of their WASH Systems Academy training in EthiopiaEthopia at a glance 2021

"I found this training very useful in that it provided me with an understanding that helps me see why most of the WASH endeavours are really not impacting after so much effort and resources spent on them. The quest for sustainable WASH became more systematic to me and I hope after completing the other two or three trainings I will be able to build a better perspective on WASH."
- Daniel Dirba Megeresa, Sanitary Engineer, EWTI.

A lack of capacity at different levels – including government - was one of the key gaps identified in the Ethiopian WASH sector2.

In 2013, the government established the Ethiopian Water Technology Institute (EWTI) to address this. But EWTI could only educate 1,300 people per year, so in order to reach more WASH professionals3, IRC Ethiopia started to collaborate with EWTI in 2019 on capacity building.

The partnership started by providing 25 EWTI staff with a training of trainers in the first half of 2021. We tailored four modules of the WASH Systems Academy to the Ethiopian context. Training was then provided to 37 trainees from the regional Water Bureaus, District Water offices and urban utility staff in Oromia and Amhara regions.

Poor internet connectivity and a lack of hardware, meant that most trainees needed training in the basic use of computers.

Incorporating these skills, providing hybrid courses, and promoting them on social media means that the number of sector professionals, government and NGOs, university staff and students registered currently stands at 583.

Seven universities have also asked EWTI and IRC to start providing the training to their students.

Progress toward the 2030 vision of Mile district*

Progress toward the 2030 vision of Mile district*


Footnotes

1   Number of partners, collaborations, or working groups with whom we worked closely on programme implementation in 2021
2   Growth and Transformation plan 1 (GTP1) 2011- 2015
3   Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Ethiopian Water Technology Institute Demand Survey on Technical and Vocational Education and Training Work Completion Report, December 2015 Japan International Cooperation Agency

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