In December 2022, Oxfam Consults undertook a consultancy for the East Africa and Yemen region (EAY) of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) to assess the quality of NRC’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure programming in the EAY region.
Oxfam Consults produced an assessment report of NRC’s current WASH infrastructure work in five countries: Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, and Tanzania. Recommendations and technical issues were identified, highlighting areas that Oxfam Consult could potentially provide support in future. The findings of the assessment were that the policies and strategies at the global level provide a reasonable framework for country-level programming. High staff turnover was identified as a challenge, and the use of standard procedures/designs was noted as needing to be ‘embedded’ in day to day working practices.
Proposed future support actions include:
- The development of a regional WASH strategy;
- A regional workshop for sharing experience and good practices;
- Training on good engineering practice;
- Training on systems-based approaches;
- Training on community engagement;
- Technical trainings and improving knowledge sharing.
The final assessment report was submitted to NRC EAY in March 2022.