Partners for Development

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Partners for Development

‘Tis The Season To Be Giving

Giving Tuesday brings together people, nonprofits, families, and businesses across the country to give to charitable organizations and share their resources with those in need. Since 2012, #GivingTuesday is celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The day kicks off the giving season in the US as charitable giving increases throughout the holiday season.  

There are many ways, besides giving money, that one can give to those in need on Giving Tuesday. These ways include giving a helping hand to someone in need; volunteering at a hospital, meal kitchen, etc.; giving food to the homeless. Giving Tuesday is about these and countless acts of generosity that can brighten up a smile or change a life.  

Over the years, PfD has been fortunate receive Giving Tuesday donations from numerous supporters, which has enabled us to continue our impactful work. Our work includes water and sanitation improvements in Nigeria, developing the pineapple value chain in Benin, and developing interventions for malaria prevention and control in Cambodia. Not only do we aspire for these communities to be healthy and economically empowered, we want these changes to be sustainable. As a result, we work closely with local organizations in these communities. 

One of our most impactful projects is WADA, which is being implemented in Nigeria. Through WADA, PfD is ensuring that communities in Abia and Cross River States gain improved access to clean water and sanitation facilities. We are working to build water and sanitation facilities in 58 rural communities in the two states. Nma Oyebiya is one of the beneficiaries who could not afford to construct a pit toilet due to his low income. PfD, with the support of community leaders and Water, Sanitation and Health Committee (WASHCOM) members, constructed an improved toilet for community members such as Nma.  

In addition to WADA, PfD supports girls’ education in Nigeria through the Anne Johnson Memorial Scholarship Fund (AJMSF). The AJMSF provides scholarships for girls who are at the middle and high school levels. This scholarship is a great source of support for poor and low-income families who want to educate their girls and broaden their future opportunities. Additionally, the AJMSF helps to remedy the disparities in the education of boys and girls in Nigeria. 

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We are proud of our outstanding work and couldn’t have done it without your support. We implore you to, once again, choose PfD as your Giving Tuesday beneficiary. Visit our site to learn about the work that we do and the impact that your donation will have on underserved communitiesYour support on #GivingTuesdayand every dayallows us to expand our impact. Thank you for your generosity! 

 

Today we mark the 22nd annual World Water Day.  The theme: ‘Water and Sustainable Development.’  On 28 July 2010, through Resolution 64/292, the United Nations General Assembly explicitly recognized the human right to water and sanitation and acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realization of all human rights.  And yet 748 million people still lack access to improved sources of drinking water (UN, 2014).  Read on to find out how PFD celebrates World Water Day every day and what YOU can do to make an impact.

PFD has a long history working to improve Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services and uses a local capacity building approach to ensure that the
Water Day Image 2WASH programming leads to sustainable development.  In Cambodia, PFD has reached over 160,000 rural residents and increased access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation services. From 1992-2002 PFD assisted in the formation of 300 Village Development Committees, installed over 5,000 community and household water points and 1,200 latrines, as well as rehabilitating 199 rural schools, establishing 64 community rice banks and creating a family gardening program involving 1,627 families.

In partnership with UNICEF, PFD is now working in three states of Nigeria (Delta, Edo and Ekiti States) to strengthen the capacity of local Institutions and WASH committees (WASHCOM) to drive Community-Centered WASH Service Delivery.  PFD has trained 163 LGA-Level facilitators on implementation of Expanded Guidelines for Local WASH Committees (WASHCOM) Formation and Training on Community WASH Management. By engaging these local committees and local organizations, such as the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), PFD ensures that the communities are fully involved in their own development and enables them to create locally based solutions to meet the most pressing community needs. PFD will continue to engage with the identified WASHCOMS, delivering training and supporting the community groups to register and become connected at the federation level.   Through trainings to strengthen local and regional organizational capacity, local communities will be able to share their progress and lessons learned as well as brainstorm new solutions.

Elsewhere, such as in Benin, PFD is enabling farmers to implement better irrigation techniques for their farms. Through USDA’s Growing Resources for Enhanced Agricultural Enterprises and Nutrition (GREEN), PFD has facilitated trainings on improved cultivation techniques including irrigation, and increased farmers’ access to credit to implement the trainings. Over 70% of the water withdrawn from rivers and aquifers across the world is used in agriculture, so improving irrigation techniques can help protect this precious resource (FAO).
“Approximately 10% of the global burden of disease worldwide could be prevented with improvements to water, sanitation and hygiene and better water resource management worldwide. The burden of water-related diseases falls disproportionately on developing countries and particularly on children under five, with 30% of deaths of these children attributable to inadequate access to water and sanitation” (OECD, 2011)

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What can you do?

If you have read this far, you have already learned more about the importance of water for the world and its importance for sustainable development! You too can make an impact on World Water day. Continue to celebrate World Water Day by sharing on social media and tagging @Partners4dev on Twitter or following us on Facebook. Support Partners for Development WASH programming and our other projects around the globe and donatehere.

Throughout all of December we will be sharing stories from our staff, board, partners, and others from around the globe. We can’t wait to share all of the hopeful, engaging, and positive stories from our work. We will be using the hashtag #IamPfD on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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Be sure to share the posts that you find engaging and inspiring with friends and family and don’t forget to donate and take an #unselfie of you making a donation and share it with us and use the #IamPfD for a chance to win prizes from PfD.

The CDC reports that improved water, sanitation and hygiene could potentially prevent 9.1% of the global disease and 6.3% of all deaths. Therefore, PFD and UNICEF –are teaming up in Nigeria to Strengthening Capacity of Local Institutions to Drive Community-Centered WASH Service Delivery. The project will help improve access to safe drinking water and improve sanitation facilities in three southern states of Nigeria.

Wash photoLess than 20 % of households in the three PFD target areas are using improved water sources and less than half of households in these areas have improved sanitation facilities (Nigerian Ministry of Health). Drawing from past experience working in Nigeria and implementing WASH programming in Cambodia, PFD will work with local organizations to empower communities through trainings and other tools to create sustainable improvements providing

water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services.

Key to PFD efforts are two things: sustainability and integration.

Building a strong foundation is vital to sustainability. The foundation for this program: Community Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Committees (WASHCOM). PFD will work within local communities of six Local Government Areas (LGA) each in Delta, Edo, and Ekiti states to organize and empower 600 WASHCOMs through training, mentoring, and other methods. The training of trainers is a key part of building capacity to ensure sustainability. State level workshops will train project staffs and volunteers to facilitate the project interventions in their communities and continuous mentoring of trainees will allow for the internalization of their new skills. Additionally, by creating a forum in each community, community members will have a space to share and learn best practices for the implementation of WASH activities. The forums will also provide a foundation so each community can continue to address WASH problems and adapt to changing needs in the future.

Going forward, WASHCOMs will serve as a platform for integrated programing. With a community structure in place, PFD and UNICEF will be able to address different community needs, providing reproductive health and family planning messaging, a platform for community peacebuilding and social bonding, and trainings for facilitation.

We know that integrated programming works: PFD’s programs done in unison have proven to be far more successful together than they are alone. When PFD integrated breastfeeding and maternal health messaging into its microfinance program in Nigeria, researchers found the number of women who exclusively breastfeed their infants increased.

The key to these successful sanitation interventions is not just the visible infrastructure, but also the corresponding education and community awareness. Working in the isolated and underserved northeast region of Cambodia, PFD improved rural access to safe water and sanitation in a country where less than 30 percent of the rural population has access to safe water and less than 10 percent to adequate sanitation.

Essential to this process is working with and through local organizations – PFD’s modus operandi. By strengthening the capacity of local organizations and equipping local CBOs to manage the work it both increases the level of community participation and provides a foundation for local ownership. Within the water and sanitation programs in Cambodia, PFD integrated health, nutrition, and food security activities, recognizing the interconnected nature of development and the need a multifaceted approach.

Follow the links to learn more about PFD‘s programs in WASH and health, and our work inCambodia and Nigeria!

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