The Korea Environment Corporation (KEC) will launch a new project next month to improve the quality of drinking water and the overall sanitation environment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In the first such case of Afro-Korean cooperation, the KEC has established a consortium with Water Sanitation for Africa (WSA), an inter-governmental agency, that will work toward providing cleaner water. The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), which specializes in official development assistance projects, will also take part in the project.
The project has been estimated to require some KRW 4.2 billion, equivalent to about USD 4 million, over the next four years. It will be carried out in the Idiofa Territory, in Bandundu Province, about 655 kilometers east of Kinshasa. At the core of the project is the establishment of an overall clean-water scheme to include sanitation facilities, a monitoring system, the performance of test-operations as well as support for the village’s continued self-management of the clean-water infrastructure.
After years of conflict and economic recession, the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains at a very low level in terms of living conditions and sanitation levels. The Idiofa Territory, where the project will be carried out, has no proper water supply system. People in the region are thus being exposed to contaminated water and its associated waterborne diseases.
As part of the project, some 30 mechanized wells, as well as public health care centers, restrooms and rainfall storage tanks, will be established throughout 20 villages in the Idiofa Territory. In addition to these facilities, there will be an effort to improve the quality of water flowing in the nearby streams and rivers.
These activities will be supplemented with local capacity building. For each village, a committee will be formed, allowing and encouraging the residents to take part in and to take the lead on the project. The project is expected to empower the people to run their own clean-water system at the end of the four-year test period.
Director Lee Sun-woo, in charge of overseas projects at the KEC, said, “We find this project very meaningful in that it helps provide people with improved and sanitized conditions, and it also provides an exemplary model that shows the close cooperation that can be built between Korean and African organizations.”
By Lee Seung-ah
Korea.net Staff Writer
slee27@korea.kr
In the first such case of Afro-Korean cooperation, the KEC has established a consortium with Water Sanitation for Africa (WSA), an inter-governmental agency, that will work toward providing cleaner water. The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), which specializes in official development assistance projects, will also take part in the project.
Workers from the Korea International Cooperation Agency aim at providing cleaner water in the Idiofa Territory. (photos courtesy of KOICA)
The project has been estimated to require some KRW 4.2 billion, equivalent to about USD 4 million, over the next four years. It will be carried out in the Idiofa Territory, in Bandundu Province, about 655 kilometers east of Kinshasa. At the core of the project is the establishment of an overall clean-water scheme to include sanitation facilities, a monitoring system, the performance of test-operations as well as support for the village’s continued self-management of the clean-water infrastructure.
After years of conflict and economic recession, the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains at a very low level in terms of living conditions and sanitation levels. The Idiofa Territory, where the project will be carried out, has no proper water supply system. People in the region are thus being exposed to contaminated water and its associated waterborne diseases.
As part of the project, some 30 mechanized wells, as well as public health care centers, restrooms and rainfall storage tanks, will be established throughout 20 villages in the Idiofa Territory. In addition to these facilities, there will be an effort to improve the quality of water flowing in the nearby streams and rivers.
These activities will be supplemented with local capacity building. For each village, a committee will be formed, allowing and encouraging the residents to take part in and to take the lead on the project. The project is expected to empower the people to run their own clean-water system at the end of the four-year test period.
Director Lee Sun-woo, in charge of overseas projects at the KEC, said, “We find this project very meaningful in that it helps provide people with improved and sanitized conditions, and it also provides an exemplary model that shows the close cooperation that can be built between Korean and African organizations.”
By Lee Seung-ah
Korea.net Staff Writer
slee27@korea.kr
The Afro-Korean cooperation project has just been kicked-off in the Idiofa Territory. (photos courtesy of KOICA)
