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US-RI partnership gives 2.4 million people access to drinking water

A job well done: Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo (fourth left), USAID Indonesia environment office deputy director Heather D’Agnes (third left) and National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) head of drinking water and sanitation Eko Wiji Purwanto (right) pose with volunteers involved in the USAID-IUWASH program that has developed better drinking water and sanitation management in Central Java at an event in Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday

Suherdjoko (The Jakarta Post)
Semarang, Central Java
Thu, March 17, 2016

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US-RI partnership gives 2.4 million people access to drinking water A job well done: Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo (fourth left), USAID Indonesia environment office deputy director Heather D’Agnes (third left) and National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) head of drinking water and sanitation Eko Wiji Purwanto (right) pose with volunteers involved in the USAID-IUWASH program that has developed better drinking water and sanitation management in Central Java at an event in Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday. (thejakartapost.com/Suherdjoko) (fourth left), USAID Indonesia environment office deputy director Heather D’Agnes (third left) and National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) head of drinking water and sanitation Eko Wiji Purwanto (right) pose with volunteers involved in the USAID-IUWASH program that has developed better drinking water and sanitation management in Central Java at an event in Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday. (thejakartapost.com/Suherdjoko)

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span class="inline inline-center">A job well done: Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo (fourth left), USAID Indonesia environment office deputy director Heather D'€™Agnes (third left) and National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) head of drinking water and sanitation Eko Wiji Purwanto (right) pose with volunteers involved in the USAID-IUWASH program that has developed better drinking water and sanitation management in Central Java at an event in Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday. (thejakartapost.com/Suherdjoko)

A US-Indonesia partnership has helped 2.4 million people in 54 regencies and cities across Indonesia to get better access to clean, safe, drinking water.

The 5-year partnership between the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Indonesian government under the Indonesia Urban Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (IUWASH) program has also improved access to sanitation for 250,000 people.

USAID Indonesia environment office deputy director Heather D'€™Agnes says that over five years, USAID has invested US$40.7 million under the IUWASH program to help the Indonesian government address drinking water and sanitation issues.

'€œWe have coordinated with the National Development Planning Agency [Bappenas]. Clean water and sanitation are two of the most basic necessities when improving the quality of the people'€™s health and prosperity. We are very proud of this partnership,'€ said D'€™Agnes at the IUWASH program closing ceremony in Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday.

'€œIn Central Java, we have helped to supply clean water, sanitation and hygiene services in 10 regencies and cities. USAID is partnering with the Indonesian government to alleviate poverty and to develop a strong and democratic society for the common prosperity,'€ said D'€™Agnes.

In Central Java, IUWASH worked with counterparts in Batang, Klaten, Kendal, Kudus, Rembang, Salatiga, Semarang city, Semarang regency, Sukoharjo and Surakarta.

Under the partnership, IUWASH improved the work performance of 10 tap-water companies in the province. To enable families from low-income brackets to gain access to healthy drinking water, IUWASH together with the tap water companies supported micro businesses, benefiting 8,054 low-income families. Among the partnership's other achievements was the guarantee of a raw-water supply thanks to climate change adaptation planning.

'€œThe IUWASH program has now ended. However, I hope that in the future, this program can be continued and expanded, either in the assisted regencies and cities or in other cities in Central Java that are still facing problems with access to drinking water and sanitation,'€ said D'€™Agnes.

IUWASH chief of party Louis O'Brien said, "The main IUWASH activity in the field of drinking water is focused on efforts to improve the work performances of tap-water companies so they can expand their services for the people.'€

Together with communities in its targeted areas and several corporate social responsibility programs, IUWASH has built 1,080 absorption wells in Batang, Salatiga and Semarang regency. In the sanitation sector, around 15,000 individual households in Central Java have been given improved access to sanitation and around 8,000 households communally.

Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo admitted that to have a good sanitation practices, half of the local population had to be willing to change their behavior.

'€œI visited Wonosobo and many people there still practice open defecation in rivers. I asked them to build a toilet in their houses but they rejected that because they were used to defecating in rivers. During this program, I asked a family that was building a house to make a toilet in one of its rooms. I've found that [striving for] good sanitation means that we have to change people'€™s behavior,'€ said Ganjar, while praising the USAID and IUWASH partnership. (ebf)

 

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