15.2 Growth and Transformation Plan II

As you read previously in this Module, the targets of the OWNP were developed from the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) and Universal Access Plan (UAP), with the National Hygiene and Sanitation Strategic Action Plan. The first GTP covered the period from 2010 to 2015 and a revised version, GTP II, was launched in 2015 and will cover 2016 to 2020. The overall objective of GTP II will be further development of the national economy and to contribute to the plan for Ethiopian to be a middle-income country by 2025. GTP II recognises the challenges for WASH over the next few years. Several of these, including climate change and industrialisation, are discussed in further detail in the following sections. Other challenges have been identified including:

• problems of good governance, especially of urban water supply schemes where leakage management is an issue
• weak integration and coordination between stakeholders in the urban development programme, especially within key ministries
• high costs and delays in delivering imported spare parts and installation materials.

In terms of impacts and change affecting WASH, the main strategic directions for GTP II reinforce many of the principles of the OWNP such as good governance, building capacity, empowerment of women, support for private sector development, support for pastoralist regions, community mobilisation and strengthening of M&E (MoWIE, 2015). For water supply and sanitation infrastructure, GTP II aims to upgrade the water supply service to the level of middle-income countries by 2020 and establish urban wastewater management systems. But probably the most significant changes are new water supply service level standards.

The new criteria for access are set at a higher level than they were in the OWNP. The goal for rural water supply is now a minimum service level of 25 litres per person per day (previously 15 litres) within a distance of 1 km (previously 1.5 km). For urban supply, the new criteria vary with the size of the town. Table 15.1 shows the classification of towns based on population size and the required amount of safe water to be supplied to a single person per day.

(Note that for towns in levels 1 to 4, the water should be available at the premises; for level 5, the minimum service level is within a distance of 250 m.)

Changing the criteria for water access could have a significant impact on the OWNP. As you know from Study Session 14, these criteria are used as the basis for planning the number and location of new water schemes, so these new criteria will affect both physical and financial plans.