Integrated Sanitation and Sewerage Infrastructure Project (ISSIP I): Community Development and Capacity Building

Objectives :

The project contributed to sustainable improvement in sanitation and environmental conditions for resident communities and the water quality in the selected drainage basins within the two main canal command areas of Mahmoudeya and Mit Yazid in the Egyptian Delta in the Beheira, Gharbiya and Kafr El Sheikh Governorates through the provision of improved wastewater collection and treatment systems and reduction of pollution in the surrounding water canals and drains. ISSIP priority areas were estimated to include about 1 million of the 1.35 million people in the two Command Areas – Mahmoudeya and Mit Yazid. The primary beneficiaries under the JSDF grant were  the smaller villages in the rural Delta within the ISSIP project area. A total of 30 villages benefited from direct support for delegated management systems and a secondary target group was the larger villages and communities in about 14 village clusters that benefited by use of the community participation strategy.

Specific Objectives:

• Developed and promoted institutional capacity of local institutions and communities, capacity of key local stakeholders, and accountability mechanisms between local authorities and beneficiary communities, for better service delivery in the rural sanitation sector,
• Enhanced capacities of  different governmental and non-government stakeholders responsible for sanitation implementation to plan, design, construct, operate and maintain the sanitation investments,
• Monitored ISSIP and JSDF implementation outputs and outcomes through active engagement,
• Promoted hygiene practices, social mobilization, communication, and sustainable rural sanitation services.

Services delivered by NSCE :

Part A: Support for delegated community management of decentralized sanitation systems-

Activities:

• Developed a community development strategy including social mobilization, communication, training, workshops and consultation to inform communities on the functioning and benefits of decentralized sanitation systems,
• Organized village-level meetings and consultations with stakeholders,
• Held pre-construction participatory planning meetings and trainings  at the village group level covering technical and financial issues,
• Formed community groups to be the local interface between the community and the Water and Sanitation Companies (WSCs) and provided technical training to the community organizations covering technical, financial and managerial aspects,
• Trained  WSCs in demand of responsiveness, decentralized system technology, small system operation & maintenance, and legal framework & supervision responsibilities,
• Provided  legal support to the WSCs and the service providers/operators in coordination with PM-TA, HCWW and WSCs,
• Assisted and supported the WSCs in taking a supervisory role in the O&M processes and auditing performance using local NGOs and training providers,
• Set up a community outreach team for a group of 2-3 villages where decentralized sanitation was part of the comprehensive community development strategy and implementation plan,
• Developed  and supported  the formulation of targeted awareness campaigns on community ownership, cost-recovery and sustainability.

Part B: Capacity Building for social mobilization, hygiene education and communication in rural sanitation-

Activities:

• Developed and implemented social marketing, hygiene promotion and communication strategy initiatives with appropriate tools that enhanced community awareness and ownership of sanitation services,
• Developed social and participatory planning processes, with activities targeting women, and carried  out stakeholder meetings and focus group discussions,
• Implemented  hygiene education activities at the household level and developed appropriate key messages for hygiene promotion,
• Formed social mobilization teams for hygiene promotion and communication.

Part C: Participatory Local Results-based Monitoring and Evaluation and Public Disclosure System

• Sub-Component C1 – Community-based monitoring of community satisfaction

Activities:

• Conducted in-depth baseline assessment to find baseline values of key indicators,
• Organized community-level training for carrying out participatory surveys,
• Carried out annual participatory surveys on all the decentralized villages,
• Provided feedback for national dissemination activities through semi-annual and annual reporting,
• Conducted annual regional workshops for the representatives of two pilot areas in the Delta, two biannual workshops for national dissemination and cross-fertilization with JSDF other programs,
• Developed methodology for data collection.

• Sub-Component C2 – Public Disclosure System

Activities:

• Incorporated web-based information dissemination on the project website,
• Developed an appropriate public disclosure system in project villages,
• Supported HCWW to set up a hotline for the customer complaint system,
• Delivered user training on accountability tools and reports implementation problems and effective community participation in M&E processes.