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Last year, the Government of Liberia released a revised public health law that included updated provisions for sanitation regulation. Learn more about the requirements of latrines, discharge of sewage, and penalties for violating the law by downloading CWSA’s two-page briefer.
“Quee” Stools and “Quee” Pans are still relatively new to Liberia and sales and installation of these toilets is one of the ways to provide safe sanitation to many Liberians. The standard toilet products are made out of plastic and the slab at the base for installation uses concrete and steel rods - and while these materials are strong and durable, they can be costly for rural and vulnerable communities.
To address this challenge, the Countywide Sanitation Activity (CWSA) partnered with Evergreen Waste Recycling Institute (EGRI) to design and prototype that can be produced at a lower cost, without forfeiting the strength and durability of the standard design. The prototype uses recycled plastic mixed with sawdust or sand as a base for the installation and uses bamboo to reinforce the concrete slabs and culverts. Bamboo is extremely resilient and using it is an environmentally friendly and tailored solution for CWSA’s target counties, where bamboo is readily available.
The prototype is still undergoing analysis in the lab, however, CWSA hopes to test the prototype soon and conduct a cost analysis for end users to drive market demand. Once complete, CWSA will seek government approval to release them into the market for sale. This work is one small step towards strengthening sanitation markets in Liberia and ensuring access to safe sanitation is available for all.
According to the World Bank, 8.33% of Liberia’s GDP must be invested in WASH to meet SDG 6.1.2, but only 0.00387% of the National Budget was appropriated across six WASH institutions and 98% of Liberia’s 2023 WASH projects were funded by donors. This is a statistic that CWSA believes can be changed by continuous and collective action.
Since the election of the County Councils and their inauguration across CWSA’s five project counties in 2023, a welcome development in the decentralization agenda of the GoL, CWSA started engaging them to bring greater prioritization around sanitation – including the need for increased financing.
County Councils in Grand Bassa, Montserrado, Lofa, Bong, and Nimba have already taken a step towards change by acknowledging the importance of countywide sanitation and the current gap in national budget allotments. In January, the County Council’s committed to addressing this gap through:
Counties have had the authority to fund different social and development projects for a while, however, this is the first time that City Councils have committed to setting aside funds and associated resources exclusively for sanitation.
In the next two months, CWSA will reassemble Council Members for the adoption and approval of their respective resolution and support City Councils in identifying and selecting the first tranche of sanitation projects for the new fiscal year.
A core focus of World Water Day, an annual United Nations Observance, is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030. This year, the theme will be Leveraging Water for Peace. In commemoration of this day, CWSA will host a symposium discussing the symbiotic relationship between clean water and safe and improved sanitation and actionable strategies to achieve a more stable and prosperous future for Liberia.
The USAID-funded Countywide Sanitation Activity (CWSA) aims to achieve a permanent end to open defecation (OD) across five counties in Liberia: Montserrado (rural), Bong, Lofa, Nimba, and Grand Bassa.
The objective of ending OD permanently will be accomplished through a coordinated network of public, private, and community actors, enabling Liberian households, to build improved toilets. The five-year project was awarded to Population Services International (PSI), which leads a consortium of organizations including Concern Worldwide, Athena Infonomics, and Gusceman Incorporated. This award runs from September 1, 2022 through September 30, 2027.
The consortium will achieve its project objective through interventions in the following four result areas:
Contact:
Learning and Communications Manager, CWSA
Mathew Ndote
Chief of Party, CWSA
