Challenge .
The majority of people in Uganda live in rural areas and rely on natural resources for their livelihoods. Many communities lack easy access to clean water, meaning they live with the risks associated with waterborne diseases, such as cholera and typhoid. The water is oftentimes collected by children, interrupting time they could spend attending school. To ensure their water is safe families are required to collect or purchase wood or charcoal for burning, leading to more and more deforestation. Levels of air pollution and CO2 emissions are especially high in homes or close to homes as a result of burning firewood and charcoal to boil water.
Solution .
This project refurbishes existing and installs new freshwater boreholes in areas that currently don’t have access to clean water. The boreholes provide communities with easy access to potable water, for cooking and for use in farming. Where possible boreholes have also been developed into production wells, distributing water to several villages. Family members, especially women and children no longer need to walk to distant water sources and spend time collecting wood to boil water before consumption, freeing up time for study and other activities and reducing the risk of waterborne diseases.
Impact .
Refurbishing and installing boreholes ensures easy access to clean and safe water for families. This will also mean sufficient and free water will be available for irrigation of agricultural land and for tending to the needs of animals, contributing to the development of the local subsistence economy. The project will have positive impacts on people’s health and wellbeing by reducing the adverse health effects associated with unsafe water usage. Women especially will be able to benefit from the reduce amount of wood needed for boiling water, reducing the amount of time they need to spend on collecting it. This also means children and girls in particular will also have time to attend school.
This will lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of wood for purifying drinking water – as such installing and maintaining boreholes will result in significant carbon being avoided thereby generating carbon credits. All installed boreholes will be accompanied by community hygiene education programmes implemented by experienced partners in Uganda.
Stakeholder consultations.
Access the Stakeholder-Consultation-Report
All SCIF projects aim to be community-led and owned, we place the highest value on full engagement from all relevant stakeholders throughout the duration of the projects. We especially prioritise feedback from stakeholders in the planning stages of our projects. A local stakeholder meeting was held for the Safe Water project in Masaka in November 2022.
Following this meeting, a Stakeholder-Consultation-Report was prepared, detailing the entire meeting, including participants, minutes and a summary of stakeholder feedback received.
Additional information on the project design can be found in the following reports:
Access the SCIF_Project-Design-Document
Access the SCIF_POA-Design-Document
Access the SCIF_Design-Consultation-Report
Stakeholders who would like to provide additional feedback or who could not attend the meeting in person, can submit feedback to us through the Stakeholder Feedback Round.