Sudan Drinking Water Safety Strategic Framework (SDWSSF).

This Drinking Water Safety (DWS) Strategic Framework (SDWSSF) is a nationwide sectoral document aiming at providing strategic direction to the scaling up of access to Safe Drinking Water (SDW) across Sudan in order to ensure that, when drinking water is provided, the system will be appropriately designed and the drinking water effectively protected to minimize faecal contamination and elevated levels of toxic chemicals, and guarantee effective and sustainable treatment processes. The purpose is to achieve the Vision for which all people in Sudan have sustainable access to and use safe drinking water, contributing to the upholding of a range of human rights and the longer term prosperity and development of Sudan. This, by (i) providing clear strategic direction, leading to increased harmonisation of approaches by all stakeholders across sectors, including government, non-governmental organisations and the private sector; (ii) increasing understanding of the cross-sectoral responsibilities and the contributions related to the supply, monitoring and sustainability of SDW, including but not limited to: education, health, nutrition, dignity, gender equality and economic development; and (iii) encouraging increased collaboration, partnerships and engagement across sectors. The document includes a number of cross-cutting issues regard gender and equality issues, as well as the consideration of the areas related to the sustainability, seasonality, environment, climate change and Disaster Risk Reduction.
Strategic objectives designated by the Policy are as follows 1. Supply sector (i) improve the protection of water resources; (ii) select, site, design and construct systems that maximise the safety and sustainability of drinking water supplies, including populations in refugee and IDP contexts; (iii) strengthen management processes and commitment and action on operation and pro-active maintenance that will underpin the availability of sustainable SDW; 2. Demand sector (i) strengthen hygiene promotion to facilitate actions to improve sustained access to SDW at household level; (ii) increase the effectiveness of the process of enforcement/activation of laws to act as a motivator for drinking water suppliers to improve the consistency of SDW in Sudan; 3. Quality sector (i) strengthen commitment to monitoring, evaluation, surveillance and documentation; (ii) increase their regular practice and quality.
To make agriculture more sustainable in the water sector, the Policy proposes to (i) increase collaboration between the institutions responsible for enforcement across the agriculture, environmental and water sectors and with the Localities; (ii) the regulation of agricultural practices to protect water sources; and (iii) monitoring the healthy environment in the sector.
To help reduce poverty in rural areas, action must also be taken through the increasing of government commitment to funding water treatment chemicals for drinking water supplies in longer term, reducing reliance on supply by UN agencies and other development partners.
The Strategic Framework emphasizes the role of community management of water resources and invites to (i) identify the stakeholders with a role in protecting, selecting, siting, designing, constructing, managing and operating and maintaining the drinking water system and who will be the owner of the system including the community who will benefit from the supply, and involve them in all stages of the process; (ii) increase the implementation and monitoring of Water Safety Plans (WSPs) at all levels including the consideration of gender and equity at each stage; and (iii) involve all groups in the community in DWS related processes and ensure benefits for all.
In order to increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters, the document aims to (i) increase the sustainability and safety of drinking water systems, including from the effects of climate change across the seasons, and improving SDW related behaviours; and (ii) undertake geophysical studies, increasing the range of water resources, repairing water points and monitoring water resources.
As for the Governance, it is necessary (i) clarify the institutional responsibilities for Safe drinking water (SDW) across Ministries and between all stakeholders and strengthen inter-sectoral coordination; (ii) review the legal status and responsibilities of each key institutional actor in relation to SDW and update legislation to respond to any gaps and to reduce points of overlap; and (iii) clarify legal and practical responsibilities for enforcement/ activation of laws, specifically to clarify the role of the MoWRIE and SWCs in certifying drinking water is suitable for drinking.