Background and objectives:

Quelimane City, on the Cuácua River, suffers from cyclical floods as a result of a high water table and heavy rains. This project developed an urban development strategy in informal neighbourhoods, where approximately 80 per cent of the Quelimane population lives, with a special focus on water and sanitation conditions.

The overall objective was to promote a participatory development strategy by identifying and implementing innovative tools and solutions for improving water and sanitation conditions in degraded peri-urban areas of Quelimane City. Specific targets were to:

• Create adequate conditions and strengthen the capacity of the city council and the community in water, sanitation and slum upgrading projects.
• Plan and implement activities for improving drainage and road systems efficiency.
• Identify, test and apply sustainable solutions to facilitate access to safe drinking water.
• Reduce sanitation risks by proposing innovative technology and improving hygienic conditions.
• Set up an effective waste management system.

Activities:
The main activities included:

• Recruiting local project staff, creating appropriate working conditions within the city council and the Community Committees (CCs), construction of two community centres and implementing capacity building and awareness activities.
• Carrying out regular community consultations, fieldwork activities and surveys in selected slum areas; agreeing on management rules at the local level.
• Sub-contracting technical team for drainage/roads, preparing a participatory urban plan for selected slum areas, purchasing building material and implementing improvement work with the local population.
• Installing 10 new water points connected to the main supply system and building 20 rainwater harvesting systems.
• Building ecological latrines and improving hygienic conditions of two public services.
• Purchasing waste management equipment and implementing a waste collection plan

Results:
The following results have been achieved:    

• City Council of Quelimane equipped and capacitated.
• Two community centres constructed.
• Awareness campaigns, social events and training activities carried out on topics such as water, sanitation, health care, drainage maintenance, etc.
• An operational plan implemented mainly through labour-intensive activities for improving the drainage and road network efficiency prepared and approved by the municipal assembly.
• 10km of drainage channel cleaned and regularised, and a section of one kilometre of drainage channel that will benefit the entire city system paved, 20km of unpaved roads widened and consistently improved. 
• Plan for expanding the water supply network to the densely populated peri-urban slum belt prepared.
• Ten new water points installed in the most densely populated slum areas of the city.
• Twenty rainwater collection systems with auxiliary tank built.
• A system to maintain water supply improvements is set-up, agreed and tested at community level.
• Four public lavatories with auxiliary water facilities built in two important markets and two primary schools located in informal neighbourhoods.
• A sanitation plan developed in the densely populated peri-urban slum belt.
• Waste management equipment acquired.