The Government of Ethiopia, along with UN agencies and civil society organisations (CSOs), have invested significant resources and shown commitment towards the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector’s progress and long-term sustainability. However, millions of Ethiopians still lack access to clean and reliable WASH services, the key to health and wellbeing. According to the latest WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme data, in 2017, only 11% of Ethiopian households had access to a safely managed drinking water service, 7% to a basic sanitation service and 8% to a basic level of hygiene (WHO/UNICEF, 2019).

Noting these imperative challenges, members of the Water and Sanitation Forum (WSF) within the Consortium of Christian Relief and Development Associations (CCRDA) have supported the efforts of the Ethiopian Government to implement WASH programmes that transform the lives and livelihoods of the people living in rural and urban areas of the country.

This report presents data from 2017/2018 from 29 WSF members (CSOs) working on WASH in different parts of Ethiopia, the regional distribution of their WASH programmes, their total budget allocations and the total number of people who benefited. As an overview, known CSO contributions reached over 8 million people through the implementation of 658 WASH programmes with a total financial allocation that exceeded 2 billion Ethiopian Birr.
It also provides key recommendations and ways forward which relate to a) fostering the geographic diversification of WASH programmes; b) encouraging CSOs' involvement in emergency areas; c) revisiting the urban sanitation and hygiene situation; d) focusing further on approaches to WASH that address gender disparities; and e) strengthening the existing national WASH platforms to foster further collaborations in the WASH sector and plan for more targeted WASH interventions.