UNICEF Bolivia WASH 2018-2024

WASH: During the programme a total of 166 new Family Sanitation Units or MOSAFAs (abbreviation in Spanish) were implemented in Montero, expanding decentralized sanitation coverage. In Cobija, 43 MOSAFAs have been built together with a fecal waste treatment plant. These units provide access to high-quality basic sanitation services and are specifically designed to meet the needs of the beneficiary families, who have been selected based on vulnerability criteria associated with lack of access to sanitation services and child protection. In addition to improving people's health and well-being, the MOSAFAs also promote improved hygiene practices. The programme's success has been evidenced by the ownership and new initiatives taken by the Montero municipality. The municipality in collaboration with the cooperative water and sanitation utility (COSMOL) have with own resources constructed urine diverting dry toilets in the public school 12 de Abril school. The municipality is also financing the construction of 25 new MOSAFAs. Despite the progress made, the programme is faced with the financial challenges in the Cobija municipality, which has made it difficult to continue building 34 additional sanitary units, which has been the planned counterpart from the municipality. Another significant achievement has been the inclusion of the dry ecological toilets and MOSAFAs as urban sanitation solutions in the national agenda, as a result of advocacy efforts with the Ministry of the Environment and Water and the Vice-Ministry of Drinking Water and Basic Sanitation. Hygiene promotion: The hygiene promotion activities have benefitted 5 156 students and more than 195 teachers in over 34 selected schools in Montero and Cobija. Furthermore, a menstrual hygiene management (MHM) programme has been implemented to eliminate taboos and stigmas, as well as ensure training and provision of facilities and material for adequate MHM in schools in Montero and Cobija. Child protection: 46 families in Montero and 54 families in Cobija have been able to participate in the protection program, in which Family development plans have been implemented. The families have also participated in workshops on positive masculinity and parenting skills. Furthermore, the successful operation has continued for the new kinder garden, an environmental-friendly centre developed in coordination with the programmes climate change component, with capacity for 50 boys and girls, from 6 months to 5 years of age. Actions linked to climate change: The development of the Community Resilience Strategy in the intervened neighborhood in Montero has allowed the creation and formation of an Environmental Committee and the organization of the youth for the development of projects providing solutions to climatic threats prioritized in twelve blocks in Montero. This process has promoted solutions to flooding, solid waste management, illumination blind spots to reduce social risks, and the promotion of sustainable food production and consumption. Emergency support: The program has had two additional components linked to emergencies with additions of funds to the contribution. The first emergency component was a specific forest fire/COVID-19 emergency response in the Chiquitanía region, to be implemented between December 2020 and October 2021. The second component, was implemented during the first semester of 2024 responding to heavy floods and affected population in Cobija, Pando. The latter support focused on supplying clean water, hygiene kits and care for the safety of children and young women in shelters.

The objectives of the contribution are to: - Strengthen capacities at the subnational level (including the Montero and Cobijas GAMs and utilities in the area of intervention); strengthen capacities at the national level (including the MMAyA and the VAPSB) and build synergy between rural institutions and the AAPS, EMAGUA and SENASBA, through cascade training. - Assist with increasing sustainable and equitable access to sanitation services in neighborhoods and in schools in the area of intervention and, consequently, support the fulfillment of the sanitation targets of the 2025 Patriotic Agenda and the 2030 SDGs, and promote the scaling up of sanitation, implemented in a decentralized manner. - Promote the adoption of healthy hygiene habits (behavioral change), including MHM and WASH in schools, in clinics and in childcare facilities, strengthening gender equity and violence prevention. - Advocate for addressing the main WASH challenges in public policies targeting national and WASH sector authorities. These responses to theses challenges are: i) scaling up sanitation, promoting decentralization and an integrated approach in water, sanitation and hygiene actions, ii) increasing/strengthening efforts to address climate change, risk management and resilience, iii) contributing to the sustainability of water and sanitation services, iv) contributing to implementing sector policies, regulations, standards and manuals, v) building the basis for contributing to the SDGs, while strengthening the sustainability and quality of the water, sanitation and hygiene services, in normal and emergency situations. - Develop alternative management models for implementing decentralized sustainable sanitation systems (dry toilets) that close the sanitation cycle. - In addition, a new compoment as a emergency response to the massive flood that has affected Cobija municipality and its population has been added (Mar 2024). The response will focus on i) Psychological support, prevention of separation and violence, ii) provision of domestic filters for water treatment at the point of consumption, iii) community-level water system replacement and restoration, iv) promotion of hygiene habits in shelters, and v) procurement and distribution of hygiene kits to affected families.