Ministry of Water and Energy Prioritizes Equity and Accessibility for 2019 EFY
Addis Ababa, (AMECO)— Ethiopia’s Ministry of Water and Energy has pledged to prioritize making water and energy services more equitable, accessible, and effective in the upcoming 2019 Ethiopian Fiscal Year (EFY), following a joint performance review with regional bureaus evaluating the 2018 EFY.
While national clean drinking water coverage has reached 76%, Minister of Water and Energy Eng. Habtamu Itefa (PhD) emphasized the urgent need to bridge regional disparities.
“It is essential to sustain the strengths achieved during the 2018 fiscal year, but moving forward, our primary focus will be on rectifying identified shortcomings and narrowing the gap between regions,” Dr. Habtamu stated.
Alemu Mengesha, Executive for Strategic Affairs at the Ministry, reported that significant progress was made over the past year in water resource management, as well as drinking water and sanitation services nationwide.
At the regional level, Deputy Head of the Amhara Region Water and Energy Bureau, Tilahun Shimeles, told AMICO that extensive work took place during the past fiscal year. Efforts focused on constructing new infrastructure and completing ongoing projects. He confirmed that the region successfully achieved its goal to increase drinking water coverage by 2 percentage points during the 2018 EFY.
Looking ahead, the Ministry and regional bureaus aim to build on these milestones to ensure every region benefits equitably from national utility expansions in the 2019 EFY.
