The Department of the Interior and Local Government is now building the capacities of its regional water and sanitation (WATSAN) partners and stakeholders to ensure that local government units (LGUs) are able to implement their water and sanitation projects more effectively.
“The Department needs to ensure that Regional Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) Hubs are ready to train and guide the waterless LGUs to design, build, maintain and operate water, sanitation and hygiene projects and facilities,” said DILG Officer-in-Charge Catalino S. Cuy.
He added that they are strengthening the capacity of the Regional WATSAN Hubs to assist them in managing its water programs and to make sure that its target beneficiaries – the waterless LGUs – will be equipped with proper know-how in operating and maintaining water projects in a sustainable manner.
The Regional WATSAN Hubs, composed of civil society organizations, state universities and colleges, non-government organizations, water districts, and the private sector, are expected to mentor, coach and assist the target beneficiaries of the DILG water programs.
The DILG, through the Office of Project Development Services, currently manages two water programs – the Sagana at Ligtas na Tubig sa Lahat or SALINTUBIG Program and the Assistance to Disadvantaged Municipalities Provision of Potable Water Supply.
Just recently, the DILG conducted a four-day training course dubbed as “Sustainable Delivery of Integrated Safe Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (iWaSH) Programs, Systems and Facilities for SALINTUBIG and ADM-Provision of Potable Water Programs, “to strengthen the capacity of the Regional WATSAN Hubs in providing capacity building programs, services and knowledge products to waterless communities.
“The DILG values its partnership with the Regional WATSAN Hubs which is why regular capacity development programs are vital not just to enable them but to forge a long-term and dependable alliance with them,” said Cuy.
Throughout the training, there were sharing of best practices, status and updates of DILG-funded water projects and trainings, and other capacity development activities conducted by the Regional WATSAN Hubs. A workshop on the Institutional and Implementation Arrangements, as well as review of the Memorandum of Agreement between the DILG and the Regional WATSAN Hubs were also facilitated.
“The training is just the initial salvo of the eight modules the Department will hold for the Regional WATSAN Hubs in the forthcoming months,” said Cuy.
He also added that they wanted to make certain that the Regional WATSAN Hubs are capable and well-trained so that they can equip the waterless communities and municipalities efficiently and effectively.
In the succeeding modules, topics such as implementation of the iWaSH concepts, systems and processes; social preparation; community organizing; communication and knowledge management; and iWaSH systems management will be discussed, among others, and will be implemented until December 2017. | DILG-PR
