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  Home » Focus Areas » Promotion of participatory urban planning, management and governance » Activities » Addressing the urban water challenge in Kampala
Addressing the urban water challenge in Kampala
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Kampala, the capital city of Uganda has a population of 1,189,142 people. 44% of who live in unplanned and un-served and under serviced slums of Kampala. These informal settlements cover up to 25% the total area of the city. 65% of Kampala city’s population has access to clean and safe piped water, the rest get water from other unhygienic and highly contaminated sources.

Of the more than 430,000 residents of informal settlements, only 75,000 (17%) have access to piped water. Over 40% of the water distributed is unaccounted for due to malpractices such as illegal connections, meter failures and under-register delayed detection/notification and responses to leakage and pipe bursts as well as high operational physical losses.

Location: Kampala, Uganda
Branch:
- Water, Sanitation and Infrastructure
Partner: Ministry of Water Lands and Environment (MWLE), National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), Kampala City Council
Donor: UN-HABITAT Water and Sanitation Trust Fund
Theme:
- Water and Sanitation
Cost:
Inadequate sanitation and clean water are key indicators of urban poverty. The population in peripheral area of Kampala are affected by non-access to improved sanitation facilities, sanitation-related diseases, polluted water sources which often have devastating social, economic, and environmental effects on all urban residents. There is a high prevalence of sanitation related diseases such as diarrhoea, worm infestations, and malaria is also endemic.

The Ministry of Water Lands and Environment (MWLE) has the overall responsibility for initiating national policies and for setting national standards and priorities for water development and management. National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), is a utility and autonomous parastatal fully owned by the government and is principally charged with the water supply and sanitation to Kampala city. Kampala City Council is in charge of on-site sanitation for the City.


Working in Kampala

UN-HABITAT through its Water for African Cities Programme will work with the various Ugandan Ministries and implementing agencies to address the urban water challenge facing Kampala, with a focus on pro-poor communities particularly through small-scale extension of services in select poor informal communities.

UNHABITAT in liaison with the Government of Uganda has since 2004 reviewed the overall situation of water supplies in Kampala and proposals have been made for implementing the programme in the city. The principal issue resulting from the review and assessment was that although the Ugandan WATSAN sector has a good institutional structure in place, and has a number of donor supported activities ongoing, very serious water and sanitation as well as waste disposal and drainage issues still persist, particularly in the informal urban parishes of Kampala.

Based on identified issues and problems, and following a number of consultations with the main stakeholder institutions, non-governmental organisations and communities, an exhaustive selection criteria were developed to identify a low income area (parish) where the WAC II interventions could take place, a final programme document has been prepared for implementation.

The objective of the programme is to demonstrate integrated urban water and sanitation interventions for the urban poor with the aim of scaling up the successful outcomes in other parishes of the city at later programme phases.

The programme outputs and activities are in line with the UNHABITAT’S programme framework for the Water for African Cities Phase II, and covers two levels of interventions as follows:

Macro scale activities would contribute to the ongoing water and sanitation sector reforms and cover the broad areas of:

  1. Pro-Poor Governance mechanisms,
  2. Institutionalizing Water Demand Management in the NWSC,
  3. Urban Environmental Impact Behavioral Change Through Values Based Education Programmes,
  4. Monitoring and Evaluation.


Micro level interventions will focus on improving urban life in selected informal settlements of which the key areas of intervention will cover:

  1. Water supply for the urban poor,
  2. On-site Sanitation and low-cost sewerage;
  3. Solid Waste Management
  4. Neighborhood Drainage Component

Implementation of above outlined component areas will emphasize community mobilisation and capacity building with a strong gender focus to ensure full involvement of beneficiaries in all aspects of the interventions aimed at eventual sustainability of outcomes.

City Manager Contact
William Tsimwe Muhairwe
Managing Director
Plot 39, Jinja Road
P.o.Box Box 7053, Kampala, Uganda.
Tel : 256 41 315000 ; 256 41 315139 /315141
Fax : 256 41 346532 / 345531
Email : william.muhairwe@nwsc.co.ug

Name and Contact of Focal Officer for Gender / WAC programme
Eng. B. Paddy Twesigye
Project Manager (City Focal Person)
Planning and Capital Development Department
National Water and Sewerage Corporation
Plot 39 Jinja Rd.
P.O. Box 7053, Kampala
Uganda
Email: paddy.twesigye@nwsc.co.ug

     
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