ApaSan (Swiss Water and Sanitation Project Moldova) Phase 2
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ApaSan contributes to improved quality of life and public health of the rural population in Moldova through increased sustainable access to safe drinking water and environmental sanitation (WES). The project fosters the scaling-up of replicable models for decentralized rural WES services delivery and management introduced by SDC over the period 2001-2008.
The support of SDC to the water supply and sanitation sector in Moldova started in 2001 with the WatSan Humanitarian Aid (HA) program that resulted in building collective water points, water distribution systems with yard connections, septic toilets and blocks of Ecosan toilets for schools in numerous rural villages. In 2008 SDC adopted a longer-term development approach and converted the HA intervention into the “Swiss Water and Sanitation Project in Moldova (ApaSan)” whilst contracting Skat Consulting Ltd. as implementing agency. ApaSan started its activities in Dec. 2008 with a start-up phase of 5 months followed by the Phase 1 of 25 months. Phase 2 of the Project started in June 2011 and has been designed for a four years period. ApaSan’s Project goal is to contribute to improved quality of life and public health of the rural population in Moldova through increased sustainable access to safe drinking water and environmental sanitation (WES). In phase 1 ApaSan built on the achievements, expertise, partnerships and positioning established by SDC’s WatSan Programme and has embarked on a scal-ng-up of the services delivery models developed by the agency over the period 2001-08. A multilevel approach aiming at the empowerment of relevant Moldavian sector actors to assume their roles and responsibilities in the services delivery models was adopted, where the facilitation of WES systems implementations was considered as a facility for learning processes, capacity building, institutional development, policy dialogue and financial mobilization efforts. ApaSan phase 2 now aims at triggering the fundamentals allowing the local institutions, under the drive of the government, to engage into wider scaling-up of decentralized WES services delivery models as part of the solution to achieve the national objectives and plans in the sector Objectives System ApaSan Phase 2 (June 2011 - May 2015):
The approach focuses on demonstrating sustainable decentralized WES service delivery models, building the local capacities for their implementation as well as creating an enabling environment to allow their large scale replication. Expected outputs of the Project include service delivery models for water supply, on-site sanitation and small-scale waste-water collection and treatment systems that are proven to be sustainable in practice and well documented; available capacities of public administration on commune and raion level, communities, NGOs and private sector for planning and implementation of the models; a community of practice for learning and experience exchange for WES practitioners in Moldova; a knowledge management system for decentralized WES anchored within a major national actor; strong partnerships for policy dialogue on the improvement of the legal and strategic framework for WES as well as active work groups on the revision of norms, standards and regulations for the application of decentralized WES models. A key aspect of the policy dialogue is to attract other international donors and leverage additional funds for the large-scale replication of the models promoted. The estimated 8’000 direct beneficiaries of ApaSan are leaders and members of CBOs, representatives of LPA and of the state administration directly responsible for WES services provision and sector development as well as the different types of support services providers in the WES sector. By developing and introducing innovative approaches and models to basic WES services delivery, ApaSan contributes to the improvement of the services and makes quality services more accessible to communities. Hence, the indirect beneficiaries of the Project are those estimated 60’000 men, women and children in rural communities who will benefit from the improved WES services provision and hygiene conditions supported or triggered by ApaSan. The institutional anchor for the ApaSan is a MoU between the Ministry of Environment (MoE) and SDC. A national steering committee, a consultative body with multi-stakeholder representation chaired by the Minister of Environment, provides strategic guidance. Services provided:
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ApaSan (Swiss Water and Sanitation Project Moldova) Phase 1Scaling-up of replicable models for decentralized rural water supply and sanitation services delivery and management introduced by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
SDC's assistance to Moldova started in 2000 primarily through humanitarian aid projects. The support focussed on infrastructure interventions, mainly in the water supply sector in rural areas to the area of maternal and child health. In 2005, SDC’s Department for Cooperation with Eastern Europe and CIS took over the strategic management of the programme whilst maintaining the existing humanitarian activities. So far the WatSan activities focused on 6 districts in the West of the country. All rehabilitated and built drinking water systems use sources that are tested and protected and do not need pre-treatment. 14 water supply systems with household connections and 8 systems with communal distribution points serving more than 23,000 beneficiaries have been completed so far. Furthermore, 24 toilet blocks for schools with more than 13,000 pupils were constructed, and dry toilet models (Ecosan type) including wastewater treatment were installed in some further schools. In addition, more than 32,000 people received hygiene education regarding health issues linked to the consumption of bad quality water. Up to now, SDC's local coordination office has directly implemented the project. As the humanitarian intervention reached its end in 2008, the project is transferred to and managed by Skat since December 2008. The following strategic orientation is given to the project:
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