A message to SNV SSH4A Results Programme staff and partners
SNV’s SSH4A Results Programme (SSH4A RP) is a pioneering results-based financed (RBF) WASH programme that was implemented across eight countries [1] for the period 2014 to 2020. With the programme soon ending, below is a message from the Programme Monitoring Unit (PMU) of SSH4A RP to the hundreds of country-based and international SNV staff and partners who collaborated in reaching these exceptional sanitation and hygiene results.
The PMU held its final payment decision meeting with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO, formerly DFID) of the Government of the United Kingdom last 7 April 2020, and this went very well. With this, the SSH4A Results Programme formally comes to a close, at the end of this month (April 2020).
Over the last six years, our multi-country programme has led over 4.2 million people to gain new access to improved sanitation, and almost 2 million people to gain access to a handwashing facility with soap. These are truly amazing results!
As a team, we have met all the programme extension [2] targets with 1,479,931 people gaining new access to basic sanitation (70% above target), 1,821,785 people gaining new access to improved sanitation, as per the WHO/UNICEF’s Joint Monitoring Programme sanitation ladder (600% above target) and 728,622 people gaining new access to handwashing with soap (500% above target).
Behind these numbers there are amazing stories that I am sure you hold dear to your hearts: vulnerable people who now have a decent toilet; business enterprises that are now producing/selling sanitation and hygiene products; health workers and volunteers who are now confident to face their leaders with facts and workable approaches; SNV staff whose knowledge has grown in leaps and bounds and so forth…
Coming in May 2020... seven-part externally verified country result endline briefs on SSH4A Results Programme outcome levels on access to toilet; hygienic use and maintenace of toilets; and access to a handwashing facility with soap.
Indeed, we celebrate the SSH4A teams in all the countries for the great job that they have done. It has not been easy, but your dedication, commitment and tireless efforts have led to these achievements. The learning and exchange between countries has been very rich, generating many (practical) lessons that were translated into actions and implemented successfully. The face-to-face interactions during our learning events were truly memorable, leading to greater professional interactions and deepened bonds of friendship.
As the programme draws to a close, let us take pride in our achievements, even when the globe is facing a serious pandemic and our lives and work have undergone major adjustments. However, under these circumstances we cannot celebrate the achievements with you in person at this moment. We therefore would like to take the opportunity to once again say that we value deeply the contributions you and the teams have made to increase sanitation coverage and deepen hygiene practice within this SNV programme.
As some of you transition into new projects within SNV and others move on from SNV, we want to wish you well and great success in the days ahead!
We have you and your loved ones in our thoughts. Stay safe and in good health.
Signed,
On behalf of the SSH4A RP PMU team (Anne Mutta, Antony Ndung’u, Henry Owaga and Purity Muhoro),
Fanuel Nyaboro
Photo: BCC in action in an SSH4A RP programme district in Uganda (SNV in Uganda)
Notes
[1] From an original nine-country project, SSH4A RP was brought down to eight countries in 2016, following security concerns in South Sudan.
[2] SSH4A RP was initially conceived to conclude in March 2018. Following discussions and considering the importance to contribute to district-/area-wide sanitation, in 2016, a second phase of the RBF programme was approved by FCDO (formerly DFID). Through the extension programme, more districts in the rural areas benefitted from SNV’s rural sanitation approach.