The Fergana Valley, a large enclosed basin of around 70,000 sq. km by mountain ranges, is one of the most populated regions in Central Asia. The Valley is shared by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The population living in rural areas has limited access to safe drinkable water and is currently lacking sanitation systems. Diseases related to water and lack of hygiene represent a threat for public health, especially for babies and children under 5. Because of the several challenges people are facing, the International Secretariat for Water (ISW) decided to work in this region in 1998.

With the aim of creating and strengthening civil society organisations capable of managing issues relating to water, hygiene, sanitary conditions and community development and thanks to the financial support of the SDC and NOVIB, the ISW has introduced a community approach to water resource management among certain rural communities.

The overall approach of ISW in the context of the “Regional Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project” based on the following aspects:

• Building the capacities of water users and committees by holding regular sessions to share information and transfer skills in order to ensure that all the project components are properly understood.
• Community mobilisation and participation in all project phases, to enable the water committee to establish ownership of the process.
• The creation and strengthening of local civil society organisations such as water committees, women’s organisations and youth councils, able to cooperate with local authorities with the aim of self-sufficiency.
• Technical and environmental assessments in order to design appropriate water systems and sanitation structures in line with the technology available, the community’s financial capacity, their expectations regarding service levels, impact on water quality and availability etc.
• Learning by doing and sharing while creating opportunities to share experiences among the different project partners via annual site and workshop visits.

Eight years after it began, the Rural Water Supply Project has been carried out in 28 villages, significantly improving the living conditions of more than 80 000 people. The work of ISW has led to the creation of the main network operating in the Ferghana Valley that brings together different water management stakeholders and that should make it possible to cover even more villages in the years to come, while consolidating the network.

A new phase of the project is currently in progress and will lead to the creation of 24 new villagers associations for drinkable water: 12 in Uzbekistan, covering more than 40 000 inhabitants, (bringing the number of associations up to 30 and the affected inhabitants to roughly 100 000), and 12 in Tadjikistan, covering about 40 000 inhabitants. The project aims to put all the actors together to bring out the best synergies. The approaches related to hygiene are defined and implemented with the active participation of local services as well as doctors, nurses and teachers.

Project Director: Mr. Olivier Normand

Clean Water in Central Asia - an SDC Project Manager talks about the importance of Self-Help
article by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
November 2008