An Inter-regional workshop on strengthening evaluation, regulation and implementation of Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage (HWTS) was held in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa 3-5 May 2016. More than 50 participants from the Ministry of Water Irrigation and Electricity, Ministry of health, WHO, UNICEF and HWTS manufacturers attended the workshop. The participants were from Ethiopia, Kenya and Ghana.

The objectives of the workshop were to review the status and implementation of national strategies and policies on HWTS, including existing approaches to addressing HWTS in emergencies, share lessons learned in policy formulation and implementation, and discuss key needs and solution in improving HWTS implementation, including regulation, monitoring and evaluation of use, and utilizing lessons learned to improve implementation approaches.

In his opening remark, Dr Taye Balcha; Head of Office, State Minster, Federal Ministry of Health said that Ethiopia has given priority for the provision of safe and quality drinking water to its people to protect them from water borne diseases and other health risks related to water.

“Promoting safe water storage and handling at community level is also among the key intervention of the health extension program.” Dr. Taye said.

Dr. Paul Mainuka, who represented Dr. Olusegun Babaniyi, the Acting WHO Representative, provided an overview of the work that WHO is doing with the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity and other stakeholders to address the safety of water through the implementation of comprehensive risk assessment and management approaches, also referred as Climate Resilient Water safety Plan (CR-WSP). CR-WSP is financially supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID)

He noted that WHO and UNICEF co-host the International Network on House hold Water Treatment and Safe Storage with a mission to contribute to significant reduction in waterborne disease, especially among vulnerable populations, by promoting HWTS as a key component of water sanitation and hygiene programs. The network brings over 140 implementing agencies, donors, academic and governmental organizations in working towards the common goal of protecting health through safe water.  In his concluding remark, Dr Mainuka reaffirmed WHO’s commitment to support efforts related to water safety and ensuring follow up. eHe

Dr Samuel Godfrey, Chief of WASH UNICEF Ethiopia said that while addressing the use of HWTS products by national governments and manufacturing of the products are increasingly being observed, the need for increased evaluation and regulation of HWTS products to ensure expected health gains achieved is still apparent.

He also noted that although a variety of HWTS products are available with performance ranging from little to considerable pathogens removal; many countries have neither the resources nor the capacity to evaluate HWTS performance through recognized international criteria.

According to him, in order to support the Ethiopian Growth Transformation Plan 2 (GTP-2), WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program is providing financial and technical support for national water quality survey that is being undertaken by Central Statistical Agency in collaboration with Ministry of Water Irrigation and Electricity.

The need to mobilize resources to support implementation of national strategies in HWTS; implementing concrete actions to engage the private sector and made HWTS products accessible for low income populations, and capacity building to strengthen HWTS evaluation and regulation were key issues addressed in the workshop.