COWASH IV and Max Foundation Launch WASH and Nutrition Integration Initiative
Following five months of intensive preparation, COWASH IV and the Max Foundation have officially launched the first phase of a new initiative designed to integrate Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) with Nutrition and Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture (NSA). The joint team commenced the Woreda-level implementation by conducting a comprehensive capacity-building training in the Central Ethiopia Region for 50 government experts, health extension workers, and local enterprises.
The curriculum focused on three critical pillars designed to ensure the programme’s long-term success. The first pillar addressed maternal and child nutrition, with the Max Foundation leading sessions on adolescent health and infant growth monitoring for health and nutrition experts. This was followed by a focus on nutrition-sensitive agriculture, a collaborative effort with the Seqota Declaration team to train regional experts on how to integrate nutritional goals directly into local farming practices. To ensure the private sector can support these objectives, the final pillar, led by COWASH IV team, provided business skill development for sanitation enterprises, covering financial planning, cost structures, and market segmentation.
The rollout follows a successful action plan validation mission to Fofa Woreda, the initiative’s selected pilot site. During this mission, the joint team inspected health centers to verify that tools for growth monitoring were in place and confirmed critical integration points with local health, agriculture and energy offices. By aligning the action plan with the Woreda’s specific priorities and existing systems, the project aims to ensure that the integration of WASH and nutrition is both sustainable and locally led.
This multi-sectoral initiative marks a strategic shift in how rural development programmes address the intersection of health and agriculture. By empowering local experts to cascade this knowledge to their communities, the programme aims to move beyond traditional infrastructure, embedding health and economic sustainability directly into community-managed WASH services. The initiative is set to enter its next phase in the coming months, as health extension workers and Woreda experts begin cascading the training directly to community members.
Belay Dinku’s All-Women SLA Group Leads Shera Village to Open Defecation Free Status
The Shera village in Agata Kebele, Geta Woreda, Central Ethiopia, has achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, a significant health achievement led by an exemplary and highly motivated Shera Saving and Loan Association (SLA). This group, which was established in 2022, is unique among those formed by COWASH IV as all 30 member households are represented by women.
The SLA is chaired by Belay Dinku, who credits the crucial training provided by COWASH IV on leadership, management and financial governance for her success. Belay’s effective leadership ensured all her members built improved household latrines, laying the ground for the entire village to achieve ODF status.
COWASH IV facilitates the establishment of these SLA groups to financially empower communities to construct their own improved household latrines, while also providing crucial training programmes. In the wider Agata Kebele, COWASH IV has facilitated the establishment of five SLAs, all of whose members successfully built improved household latrines, leading to the Kebele being officially declared ODF.
The shift in the Shera village’s sanitation practice is profound. Belay recalls the past when people relied on natural spaces, such as the Enset (false banana) fields in their backyards, for defecation. Now, with the construction of improved household latrines, environmental hygiene has become the norm. Belay also highlights the significant change in behaviour and health outcomes adding that when she was a child, her hands often itched due to poor hygiene caused by the lack of proper latrines. She says, there is a lot of change now where they actively maintain environmental and personal hygiene.
This commitment to hygiene and the quality of leadership is evident to anyone who visits their village. Abebech Gebreyohannes, the Kebele’s Health Extension Worker, specifically commended Belay for her leadership skills in effectively mobilizing her SLA members to save. Derbe Melese, the SLA’s Treasurer, agrees, noting that Belay effectively manages the group despite having many responsibilities at home. Beyond her village, Mifta Sherif, the COWASH IV Community Managed Project (CMP) Advisor at the Woreda, says Belay and her group have become a model for other SLAs due to her strong leadership.
Financial Independence and Future Goals
The Shera SLA group’s disciplined approach included saving 10 Birr per week. Belay remembers their collective determination: during construction, when members were short of money, they each sold a chicken to make up the difference and add to their savings.
Now that all members have achieved their goal of constructing an improved latrine, the group has chosen to keep meeting regularly to discuss sanitation and hygiene issues, with the kebele’s health extension worker attending to provide ongoing advice and training. Their next goal is to bring water directly to their houses using their pooled SLA savings. Their long-term vision also includes starting a local small business to produce and sell liquid soap for themselves and the community and installing solar systems in their households.
This financial independence is supported by COWASH IV’s infrastructure efforts, which included the construction of a community water point, ensuring Belay and her community have a nearby safe water supply.
Learn more about Belay’s inspiring journey and our work in SLA by checking out our documentary titled: “Building with Savings: Community Ownership” –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA4ljAarcCs&t=3s
Bringing the Stories Home: COWASH IV Communities Watch Their Documentaries
COWASH IV team is showing its documentary series titled “Empowering Communities, Transforming Communities” back to the communities whose stories are captured in the films from five of its project regions. The six-part documentary series, celebrates the spirit of community ownership and leadership. Beyond their work implementing and managing WASH infrastructure, the communities played the central role in the production, telling their own stories with genuine honesty and in a compelling manner. During regular fieldwork travels, the project team shows the films to these communities often to an overwhelming response and appreciation.
In a dedicated trip on November 14, 2025, the COWASH IV team traveled to The Edo village, in Sidama Region, to screen the documentary titled “Beyond WASH: A Success Story,” which was filmed in their area. Team members notice a great joy and a warm welcome from the gathered residents, who were deeply moved to see their stories shared with neighbors and friends on screen. Another film in the series, “Building with Savings: Community Ownership,” was recently shown during a gathering in Wengecho and Geta Villages in Central Ethiopia.
The project emphasizes that these community leaders are central to its work, demonstrating that community ownership is key to generating sustainable and lasting change that goes beyond the establishment of physical infrastructure.
In addition to the community viewings, the documentaries have been used to share best practices with high-level audiences including International, Federal, regional and Woreda-level stakeholders who have participated in the project.
COWASH IV and Max Foundation Partner to Integrate WASH and Nutrition
COWASH IV and the Max Foundation, an international non-governmental organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children and mothers, have established a partnership to integrate their works in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Nutrition and Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture (NSA). A joint team from the two organizations is developing a pilot that explores how Max Foundation’s Healthy Village (HV) approach can be effectively integrated within COWASH’s successful WASH systems. This partnership’s first phase focus will be on capacity building and joint learning to prepare for a strong, complementary collaboration in the future.
The partnership seeks to leverage COWASH’s existing community footprint to accelerate progress on child health and nutrition outcomes across Ethiopia. The HV program will add crucial components of nutrition and NSA, with a focus on the first 1,000 days of life, which includes children under two and pregnant and lactating women.
The partnership follows earlier discussions between COWASH IV and the Max Foundation team about the possibility of adding nutrition-focused work to COWASH’s existing efforts. These initial talks were followed by an assessment visit to COWASH IV project Woredas, which took place in Central Ethiopia from August 25–28, 2025. The visit provided valuable insights, enabling the team to decide on integration points and select pilot woredas to strengthen both sectors and benefit communities.
During its visit, the joint team met with local leaders and representatives from various government offices, including the offices of Agriculture, Education, Finance, Health and Water. The team also had a discussion with community members, WASH committee leaders and members of Savings and Loan Associations established for constructing improved household latrines. These meetings focused on the current groundwork, the available opportunities for implementing the potential partnership, and the needs for integrating nutrition programs. Both community members and local officials expressed strong enthusiasm for the idea, noting that nutrition work has been a critical challenge in their area.
This integrated approach aims to go beyond the established COWASH IV system by leveraging existing government structures, such as Health Extension Workers (HEWs) and Agricultural Development Agents (ADAs). The goal is to strengthen frontline capacity and embed nutrition into routine services. The collaboration also seeks to develop a market-based ecosystem that ensures families can reliably access the products and services they need to stay healthy, from improved seeds and fortified flours. To achieve this, the partnership will integrate COWASH IV’s work in SLAs and Market-based Sanitation Centers (MSCs) to create a demand and supply chain for improved seeds and fortified flours, extending beyond sanitation supplies.
The partnership leverages COWASH’s strong community presence to cost-effectively add the Health Village program’s nutrition and NSA components. By creating a holistic, scalable model, this collaboration aims to accelerate progress on diet quality, child growth and learning outcomes, while protecting the gains made in WASH. This direct alignment with government priorities, such as the One WASH National Programme and the National Food and Nutrition Strategy, will allow for rapid expansion at a marginal cost.
COWASH IV National Steering Committee Concludes its final Meeting
The COWASH IV National Steering Committee successfully concluded its final meeting for Phase four yesterday, October 15, 2025, at the Capital Hotel. The committee reviewed the project’s significant progress, assessed key operational issues, and discussed the way forward.
The committee meeting, which included representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Water and Energy, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, and the Embassy of Finland, was co-chaired by Ambassador Asfaw Dingamo (PhD), State Minister of the Ministry of Water and Energy and Tomi Särkioja, Head of Cooperation at the Embassy of Finland.
COWASH IV Chief Technical Advisor Neil Chadder presented project updates for the committee, including major works completed in the Ethiopian Fiscal Year 2017 (EFY 2017) and outlined plans for EFY 2018. Mr. Chadder also presented a general overview of the utilization of funding received from the Governments of Ethiopia and Finland. Following this, Assegid Teklu, COWASH IV Project Finance Coordinator at the Ministry of Finance, provided a detailed financial report specifically on the Government of Finland’s fund utilization in the project.
The committee held critical discussions on challenges, forward plans, and the official COWASH Phase V programme document, marking the final official review for Phase IV.
Key Achievements
A major highlight of the meeting was the announcement that, with one year remaining, COWASH IV has already reached over 1 million beneficiaries (1,003,325) against its target of 1.1 million, as of the end of July. In EFY 2017 alone, the project delivered substantial infrastructure and capacity improvements, including the construction of 1,235 water points, directly benefiting 307,487 people. COWASH IV has also constructed water points in 160 schools and 112 health posts, improved latrines in 29 schools and 61 health posts and Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) centers in 31 schools. Furthermore, a critical focus on capacity building resulted in training provided to 14,068 individuals.
Since the beginning of Phase Four, the COWASH has also established 292 WASH saving and loan associations to foster financial independence for household latrine construction, and 26 market-based sanitation centers to provide accessible and affordable sanitation supplies to rural communities.
To strengthen its impact, COWASH IV launched community conversation flipcharts and started training volunteer community members who will facilitate community conversations in EFY 2017 aiming to reinforce its Social and Behavioral Change efforts. The project continues to raise awareness and engage actively with school staff, WASH and gender clubs, and local communities to drive positive long-term change in hygiene practices.
Overall, the final COWASH IV Steering Committee meeting successfully highlighted the project’s achievement and concluded the meeting by agreeing to move forward with the presented plan and the points discussed.
COWASH Kicks Off Training for Volunteer Community Conversation Facilitators
The COWASH IV team is currently conducting a training program across seven project regions for volunteer Community Conversation Facilitators from local communities. This initiative is a major step forward in our efforts to bring positive behavioral change in sanitation and hygiene.
The training program, which launched on September 16, 2025, in Gumaye, Jimma Zone, is designed to build the capacity of local volunteers and Woreda experts, including WASH savings and loan association (SLA) members and health extension workers. It aims to equip them with the skills to lead and facilitate effective, weekly or bi-weekly community conversations. To guide these interactive sessions, the COWASH IV team has developed a specially designed flip chart, now available in four local languages.
Since its launch, the COWASH IV team has successfully conducted training in five Woredas in the Oromia and Sidama Regions. The team will continue this training in 18 additional Woredas in the coming weeks. A total of 230 volunteers will participate, and 92 community conversation groups will be formed to discuss crucial topics over eight consecutive sessions.
These flip charts will guide discussions on essential topics including building and using improved latrines, alternative latrine products, hand washing, safe water handling and storage, menstrual health and hygiene, and gender and disability inclusion in WASH.
This training program aims to foster in-depth, locally-led discussions that will lead to lasting behavior change. Halima Nasser, a WASH SLA member from Kersa Woreda in the Oromia region, shared that the training has significantly built her capacity, providing her with critical knowledge that she is now eager to share with her community. She emphasized that beyond providing the necessary information, the programme built her confidence and gave her the skills to deliver the training effectively.
Abdulbasit Jemal, another trainee from Kersa Woreda, shared his enthusiasm, saying the training program is critical for both the trainees and the community. While his SLA group had already started social and behavioral change work, he noted that they were limited and lacked this kind of knowledge. He confirmed that with their gained skills, they will actively work to bring about change in their community.
All participating volunteers were elected from the community based on the provided criteria for the Woredas. Ebsa Feyisa, Social and Behavioural Change specialist at COWASH IV, says success of the initial training is already evident applauding the volunteers for their active involvement and dedication to making a real difference in their communities.
Ending a 3km Trek: A Community's Journey to Safe Water Supply in Bale
For the community of Weltayi Kubsa Kebele in Bale Goba, daily life once included an exhausting 3-kilometer trek up a mountain to fetch water from the Hululicho Spring. Located at 10,000 feet above sea level, the journey to the spring is now a thing of the past.
In May 2017, the Ethiopian Fiscal Year, COWASH IV constructed a 3km piped line from the spring to the village, bringing safe water supply directly to the community. The new system, which includes a spring capping structure, a reservoir and two community water points, provides a reliable water supply for 475 people from 97 households. This initiative is a vital step toward a healthier and more productive future for the community.
The Hululicho spring is also one of two pilot sites for the COWASH IV’s Green Legacy Initiative, which addresses climate and environmental risks. The program, which started in February 2025, complements the project’s Water Safety Planning efforts.
The COWASH IV team conducted a follow-up visit on August 12 and 13 to the Bale Goba and Dinsho Woredas to monitor the Green Legacy initiative’s progress. The team met with Woreda administrators, partner office heads and technical experts to discuss the initiative’s implementation and sustainability.
In both Woredas, land for tree planting had already been prepared. In Goba, the COWASH team helped transport around 1,000 trees prepared by the Office of Agriculture to the piloting site. The team, along with Woreda technical experts, visited the site in Weltayi Kubsa Kebele, at the upper Hululicho Spring, where the team provided on-the-job training to community members and WASH Committee members on the importance of integrating the Green Legacy Initiative with water supply efforts. The team also along with the WASHCO members planted indigenous trees just upstream of the spring source to help ensure the water’s sustainability for years to come.
Strengthening Sanitation Supply Chains to rural Ethiopia
Continuing its commitment to enhancing sanitation access and strengthening local business, COWASH IV is advancing its initiative to reinforce sanitation product supply chains in rural Ethiopia. This week marks a step with the ongoing transportation of 200 plastic toilet slabs from Addis Ababa to Market-based Sanitation Centers (MSCs) in Chirone and Selekelaka Woredas, located in Sidama and Tigray Regions, respectively. These supplies were purchased by the COWASH IV team on behalf of the MSCs at the end of last week (July 12, 2025).
This latest distribution builds on COWASH IV’s approach to strengthening sustainable supply channels for MSCs, enabling them to thrive as viable businesses. Beyond initial setup and supportive supervision, COWASH IV’s comprehensive support empowers MSCs to provide accessible and affordably priced sanitation products to their customers, primarily COWASH IV water beneficiary households and WASH Saving and Loan Associations established by the project. This also helps them establish robust working relationships with suppliers for their future procurement needs, generate profits that contribute to long-term WASH business sustainability, and effectively promote sanitation products within communities, thereby expanding essential services and improving hygiene practices in rural areas.
Building on Efforts to Restore Sanitation Product Supply Chains in Tigray
The current initiative extends COWASH IV’s work in restoring sanitation product supply chains in Tigray following the end of conflict in the region. In December 2024, COWASH IV facilitated the purchase and distribution of 100 medium plastic toilet slabs to MSCs in Degua Tembien and Endamekoni Woredas. In addition, the project team facilitated the purchase and distribution of 110 medium plastic toilet slabs to Endamekoni Woreda in February 2025.
This earlier effort was crucial for strengthening supply chains, improving access to essential sanitation products for COWASH IV community water point beneficiary households and supporting the growth of local businesses by empowering MBSCs in a challenging environment.
COWASH IV federal and regional teams were instrumental in connecting these MSCs with suppliers for improved toilet slabs in both the current and previous initiatives. The Project advocated for these MSCs to receive priority, considering their financial capacity and specific product interests, ensuring a smooth and equitable procurement process.
These continuous actions, from targeted support for MSCs to restoring and strengthening supply chain efforts, underscore COWASH IV’s commitment to ensuring sustainable and resilient sanitation access for rural Ethiopia, fostering lasting change and healthier communities.