Internal Review of NCA South Sudan’s Three Years Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Program

Background:
NCA started operations in Sudan in 1973, with a large multi-sectoral, highly operational program in Eastern Equatoria. During the drought in 1998 NCA expanded its support to Wau in the then greater Bahr el Ghazal (BEG) region. After the CPA, the greater BEG region was sub divided into various states, one of them being Warrap State where NCA later moved to continue provision of services to the people of this region.
In 2010 NCA received approval for funding for a three year programme from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs which sought to support capacity building for governance and sustainable peace, gender justice and to contribute to securing sustainable access to basic social services and food security in Eastern Equatoria State. There was a particular focus on Magwi and Lafon Counties but some ongoing activities in Warrap and Bahr al Ghazal States were also included in order to secure a smooth phasing out period over the forthcoming two years (see annex TOR). In 2011, NCA SS received funding from UNICEF for providing  WASH services to internally displaced people, returnees and host communities in Warrap State.

Purpose/objective:
• To evaluate the performance of the NCA WASH sector in meeting the objectives and targets in the project logframe
• This review aims at providing NCA with a clear perspective on the lessons learned and the best practice recommendations for the design of future WASH interventions in South Sudan.
• To identify any additional capacity needs with regard to the implementation of effective responses
• To evaluate the connectivity between WASH activities and NCA’s country and global strategies with a particular focus on recommendations regarding the development of linkages between thematic resources and tools within NCA and their application at field level
• To ensure the coherence of NCA’s WASH programme with Government and cluster strategies

Methodology:
In order to achieve the purposes of this the internal review of NCA SS WASH programme, the author planned to use qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection as a mixed methods approach. At each site a range of data collection methods was used for information gathering and verification of information. The geographical review area will be EES and Warrap State, South Sudan. The reviewer planned to use a relatively small sample size due to time limitations applying purposive sampling. The purposive sampling was carried out by NCA SS WASH officers in the two states.
Data collection was prepared using a matrix where the review factors such as relevance and impact. Each review factor had between two and four review questions. To each question indicators were developed. A criteria was assigned to each indicator (Table 1). The criteria was decisive for the use of a data collection tool and the source of information. A second matrix for the investigation of sustainability was developed based on Harvey & Reed (2004).

Key findings and recommendations:
- The NCA WASH programme is very relevant in relations to needs and national policies..
- Capacity building of government systems and  staff remains a key issue
- The activities, outputs and indicators are consistent with the overall goal. The quality of indicators would profit if they include “how” criteria in addition to “what” criteria
- The program is effective in achieving most of the expected results and objectives. However; the reductions in funding versus initial plans have not been adjusted so that targeted levels are higher than actual achieved. The targets need to be adjusted to financial resources available.
- There is a need for more professionalization and systematic approach to the component of hygiene in the programme.
- The strategy of using private companies for for water and sanitation facilities based on competitive bids has been cost effective
- More emphasis should be placed on assessing technologies to case specific locations; ie boreholes versus Rainwater harvesting vs catchment harvesting.
- Within sanitation the technologies of pit latrines in schools needs to be re-assessed as there are too many pupils per toilet stance resulting in non-sanitary conditions
- Several snapshots of programme impact within selected geographic locations indicate high impact in relation to water accessability and consequence for e.g perceived health.
- The emphasis on training Village Water Committees (VWCs) for Operation and Maintenance O&M has positive effects with varying degrees of understanding of roles and responsibilities. Follow up of VWCs is key and needs to be strengthened specifically with emphasis on preventive maintenance.
- Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and School Hygiene Clubs are important mechanisms for increased focus on hygiene in schools
- Sense of community ownership was assessed to be strong as to initial contribution to installation but with varying degrees per location of materializing into funding for maintenance.
- NCA operational role in the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) with provision of free spare-parts in the supply chain leaves for future vulnerability as to sustainability Key recommendations;
- Increase focus on capacity building of government institutions working in the  WASH sector
- Increase internal NCA capacity for follow up, M&E and capacity building
- The sanitation sector needs to be strengthened at both household and public facility level
- Strengthen the sanitation and hygiene component in schools through more active training and follow up of PTAs and School Hygiene Clubs
- Increase pre-assessment of technologies in water provision based on geographic specific best options in relation to accessibility, effect, reliability and sustainability (boreholes, rainwater harvesting, water catchment technologies)
- Approach the water sector with a broader perspective where domestic and productive use for e.g animals are interlinked
- Community ownership requires more systematic follow up of Village Water Committees as well as local government