DAR ES SALAAM: THE Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has spent nearly 3bn/- for construction of infrastructure for clean and safe water in Mbeya Region, as part of implementation of its project on ‘Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)’.
The CRS revealed this on Thursday in Dar es Salaam, at an event to mark 60 years of its operations in Tanzania.
The two-day event that started on Wednesday, pulled different stakeholders of the water sector, including local government officials, religious leaders, consumers and youths.
Apart from water sector, the meeting also discussed about child development issues and how to sustain the CRS projects.
CRC Country Manager Ms Kellie Hynes, said: “we gathered to discuss the important sector in the communities where we work, that is clean and safe water. We have been working in Tanzania for 60 years. We currently work on project in Mbeya, we are constructing 93 water points.”
She underlined the importance of engaging the youth in development matters.
“What is important for us in the future is engage more local leadership and local innovation in our projects,” she stated.
Mr Innocent Kaiza, a representative of villagers who benefited from the WASH project, said their Ikwizi village never had clean and safe water since it was established.
“We have been using unsafe water from the river that is located about 14 kilometres from the village, but the WASH project has come to help us,” he said.
On the second day of the meeting, participants dwelt on discussion about inclusive parenting.
Mr Charles Fungo, the CRS Child Inclusive Parenting Project Manager acknowledged and was happy that they have been receiving cooperation from the stakeholders in the project.
The programme engages local partners and communities to serve thousands of children and their families.
The CRS deploys an approach of integrating the programme into the on-going maternal, child health and nutrition interventions within existing national and sub-national systems.
Mr Sebastian Kitiku, the Director of Child Development Department at the Ministry of Social Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups, said the ministry and the CRS have been closely working together.
He argued that government’s partnership with stakeholders is crucial in implementing projects for welfare of the children.
