Case Study
Nicaragua – Hurricane Mitch reconstruction programme for rural water supply, sanitation and environmental health (1999 to 2001)
In late October of 1998 Hurricane Mitch struck the isthmus of Central America leaving an unprecedented swath of destruction, including thousands of dead and injured and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to residential housing, transport infrastructure, schools, clinics and drinking water supply systems.
Nicaragua was one of the worst hit countries in the region and estimates at the time indicated that the hurricane destroyed or severely damaged water and wastewater supply systems serving over 800,000 people. In addition it was assessed that over 10,000 household level latrines in rural areas were damaged or destroyed. The worst-affected parts of Nicaragua were those in the north of the country bordering Honduras.
USAID-Nicaragua funded a major reconstruction programme for rural water supply, sanitation and environmental health, with a total budget of $9.783 million, and managed by the Environmental Health Project (EHP). Aguaconsult worked in support of EHP throughout the course of the reconstruction project, from the detailed design of the programme, to providing technical advice to NGO partners during implementation, and leading a major internal review at the close of the activity.
Over the course of the two-year period, over 215,000 people affected by the hurricane were provided with access to services. The reconstruction programme also placed a heavy emphasis on health and hygiene as part of an integrated approach to water supply and sanitation. In addition, the programme design was developed to integrate the newly constructed systems into existing support mechanisms provided by both central and local governments.
This experience demonstrated that it is possible to implement a large-scale rural programme and to achieve relatively high quality results in a short time-frame. One of the most significant aspects of the reconstruction programme was its strategic impact in terms of re-defining the emphasis of water supply and sanitation project interventions with a true health focus.
Over the course of the two-year effort, the programme consistently reinforced this conceptual shift in emphasis from a water and sanitation intervention, which includes a health component, to a health intervention with water and sanitation infrastructure components, amongst others.
The impact of this change in approach was clearly recognised and welcomed by key players, including the Environmental Health Director of the Ministry of Health, who spoke of a “new paradigm” for water and sanitation interventions, very much placing them at the centre of preventative health efforts.
