According to the most recent Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) Report by
UNICEF and WHO, 84% of people in Honduras have access to improved water
sources and 66% have improved sanitation facilities. While these numbers
are impressive, they do not provide a complete picture of water and
sanitation access in Honduras. In the rural areas where Water For
People–Honduras works, only one municipality was close to 84% with
access to safe drinking water when our work there first began in 2007,
and none of the communities had access to water that met government
quality and quantity standards.
Water For People in Honduras
Water For People first began supporting water and sanitation efforts in Honduras in 1997. From 1997 to 2006, Water For People–Honduras worked with partner organizations in over 90 rural communities. In 2007, it developed a regional strategy to target specific districts and to provide everyone in these areas (communities, schools, and health clinics) with access to safe drinking water and sanitation. To achieve this goal, Water For People–Honduras partners with local governments, the private sector, and local NGOs to strengthen support for comprehensive water and sanitation services through-out the districts. Water For People–Honduras’s work is focused in mostly rural communities throughout the municipalities of Chinda, El Negrito, Ilama, and San Antonio de Cortés.
Regions
At only 43 square miles, the northwestern municipality of Chinda in the department of Santa Bárbara is composed of 14 rural communities totaling approximately 5,000 inhabitants, most of them Lencan Indians who farm for a living. Rugged subsistence agriculture dominates the economy, but where they can, the farmers of Chinda grow coffee and grains to sell in regional markets. When Water For People–Honduras first started working in the region in 2007, none of the 14 communities met the government standard’s for water quantity and quality. By the end of 2011, Water For People–Honduras hopes to achieve full water and sanitation coverage in the municipality.
Neighboring Chinda, the municipality of Ilama has a population of approximately 3,000. The majority of people in this rural municipality are subsistence farmers. Water For People–Honduras recently completed a FLOW baseline assessment of the region and is starting its first programs in communities and schools this year.
San Antonio is a 114-square-mile municipality in the department of Cortés in northern Honduras. Seventy-five percent of the population—26,000 people—live in 44 rural communities in this mountainous region. Many San Antonians practice subsistence agriculture, raising beans and corn on small farms. Others work in sugarcane factories or raise animals for sale and consumption. Most villages have a primary school and some sort of health care center within several miles, but lack basic services like electricity, trash removal, and dependable roads. Of the people in the region, 42% have access to improved water supply, while 57% have access to improved sanitation facilities.
El Negrito is a 326-square-mile area in the Yoro department of Honduras. Over 46,900 people live in the 89 mostly rural communities in this beautiful land, half of which is mountainous, while the other half is defined by the Sula Valley. El Negrito is one of the poorest and least developed areas of Yoro, with its inhabitants earning an average of $3.20 (US) per day. Most depend on subsistence farming to support their families, raising beans, corn, and the occasional chicken or pig on small family plots. Approximately 7% of the population has access to safe drinking water, while 61% has access to improved sanitation.
Partners
Water For People believes long-lasting water and sanitation solutions can be achieved when key local role- players—the local private sector, civil society, and local government—are supported. As such, Water For People is deeply involved with key local stakeholders, including the Municipality of Chinda, Municipality of San Antonio, Municipality of El Negrito, Municipality of Ilama, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, SANAA (Honduras National Autonomous Water and Sewerage Service), Honduras Public University (UNAH–Valle de Sula), and multiple nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and private sector companies.
Work in 2011
Water For People–Honduras is continuing to work with key sector actors at the local and national level’s to increase access to safe drinking water, improved sanitation and hygiene education. In 2011, programming will take place in 38 communities and 19 schools. Upon request from the mayor of El Negrito, Water For People–Honduras is training local government officials to use Field Level Operations Watch (FLOW) to collect municipality-wide water and sanitation baseline data. National agencies in Honduras are looking at ways to acquire data from all municipalities.
