VHP Recognized by Global Water 2020 as a Health Leader and Trailblazer

Global Water 2020 is a three-year advocacy and facilitation initiative designed to accelerate progress toward water access and security for all people in developing countries.

The first global baseline assessment of WASH in healthcare facilities was released by the World Health Organization and UNICEF in 2019. Data was gathered from 560,000 healthcare facilities in 125 low- and middle-income countries and the findings were devastating:

• 2 billion people must rely on healthcare facilities that lack basic water services
• 1.5 billion people must rely on healthcare facilities without sanitation facilities
• 45% of healthcare facilities in Least Developed Countries lack basic water services and 21% have no sanitation services
• 49% of healthcare facilities in sub-Saharan Africa lack basic water services
• 64% of healthcare facilities in Eastern and Southeastern Asia lack basic hygiene services

Nearly 100 commitments were made by widely diverse organizations representing investments exceeding $120 million. These commitments were accompanied by in-kind support and substantial advocacy focused on identifying and scaling solutions.

A recent booklet released by Global Water 2020 recognizes Village Health Partnership as a WASH in Healthcare Facilities Trailblazer and Health Leader for its work in Ethiopia:

Working with the Ethiopian Government, Afro Ethiopia Integrated Development, Engineers Without Borders and Water Engineers for the Americas and Africa, the Village Health Partnership (VHP) put together a WASH and Maternal Health Initiative that was initially focused on five health facilities in the West Omo Zone in Southwestern Ethiopia. Under Phase One and Two of the project, VHP cleaned health facilities and compounds; constructed fenced biohazard areas; created access to clean water; implemented handwashing stations in patient care areas; constructed maternity waiting areas with kitchens, showers and concrete pit latrines; and trained medical providers in clean and safe healthcare. In Phase Three, VHP plans to expand the program to four more medical facilities which will ultimately form a health system of care that covers the entire Zone. VHP will also develop a program for the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the project insure sustainability. If successful, VHP hopes to further expand the project to involve all 39 health facilities in the West Omo Zone and the neighboring Bench Sheko Zone.

Global Water 2020

The booklet includes 31 organizations who are leading the way on WASH in HCF. These diverse trailblazers demonstrate how organizations can prioritize and institutionalize WASH in HCF within their strategies and agendas; how they partner with countries and other stakeholders; how they build and rehabilitate WASH services in hospitals and clinics; how they develop accountability and monitoring systems; and what lessons they’ve learned and what more we need to know.