Rainwater Harvesting Programmes

YEP Water is funded by the Dutch government. Its aim is to ensure the continued availability of international professionalism and expertise in the water sector. The programme offers young professionals in the Netherlands and abroad the opportunity to acquire experience and take their first steps in an international work environment, via Dutch organisations. RAIN makes sure that young experts from its Ethiopia and Uganda programmes can participate in YEP Water. The participation of these young professionals not only promotes their personal growth, but also supports the strength and capacities of the local RAIN networks in Uganda and Ethiopia.

Learn more: go to www.yepwater.com

The right to water and the lack of sufficient and safe water for everyone are critically important issues. The Walking for Water programme teaches children about these issues and enables them to raise funds to resolve them. More specifically, schoolchildren aged 10–15 are sponsored by friends and family to walk 6 kilometres while carrying 6 litres of water in a backpack. The money they collect goes straight to water projects, for instance those supported by three Dutch Rotary Clubs (Soest-Baarn, Eemnes and Laren-Blaricum), Aqua for All (a Dutch organisation that provides low-income countries with knowledge and investments from the Dutch water sector), RAIN and its Ethiopian partners. The results of these projects are fed back to the schools, in order to show the children the impact they’ve had on improving access to safe water.

Learn more: go to www.walkingforwater.eu

In a nutshell, the aim of the WA-WASH programme is to improve hygiene and the sustainable access to safe water and sanitation in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Niger. The programme was launched in 2011 and runs until 2015. It introduces innovative, low-cost water and sanitation technologies, promotes hygienic behaviour, develops practical models of sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene service delivery, stimulates knowledge sharing, cooperation and synergy, and increases the capacity of national and regional institutions to replicate these approaches and models. Within WA-WASH, RAIN works on rainwater harvesting for domestic and productive purposes, particularly in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso.

Learn more: go to WA-WASH

In this alliance, RAIN and five other Dutch NGOs work together with dozens of local partners in eight low-income countries in Africa and Asia. Its five-year programme, which is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign affairs, started in 2011. The aim is to build and strengthen an environment in which local people can assert and realise their right to sufficient quantities of safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and hygienic living conditions, in order to improve their health, nutritional status and economic living standard. The alliance follows the FIETS strategy, pursuing Financial, Institutional, Environmental, Technical and Social sustainability. RAIN contributes its network and experience in rainwater harvesting, and is the lead on environmental sustainability.

Learn more: go to www.washalliance.nl

This programme is aimed at increasing worldwide food security by stimulating the global knowledge and application of rainwater harvesting (RWH) for food production. To achieve this objective, the programme has created an online community and built a global network of national and regional organisations, networks and professionals. The network’s members are all active in the field of RWH, share knowledge and experiences, and work together to tackle food security issues on the ground. Rainwater for Food Security is managed by RAIN and funded by IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), a UN agency tasked with eradicating rural poverty in low-income countries.

Learn more: go to www.rain4food.net

In this project, RAIN works together with its partners in Ethiopia, as well as IRC, Water Health and Quest-Consult. MUStRAIN is all about developing opportunities for multiple-use water services, making use of rainwater harvesting and household-led investment in decentralised water supply (self-supply). The project, which is supported by the Partners for Water Programme, has two phases. The first is focused on carrying out research and demonstration activities. These activities concentrate on developing communal MUS (Multiple-Use water Services) schemes in arid environments. The second phase is focused on documenting a wide range of MUS case studies in various environments in Ethiopia.

Learn more: go to www.irc.nl