Paper Details

The objective of this paper is to present successes achieved in the field by building the capacities of community members, using the Village Level Operation and Maintenance (VLOM) of hand pumps concept document developed by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.. Activities carried out in 17 selected states in Nigeria included training on maintaining current, valid and up to date data on hand pumps in the states. Other activities included establishing the roles of stakeholders, capacity building for community members on repair and rehabilitation of hand pumps and the establishment of an effective supply chain. Results achieved in the participating states showed that the capacity of the artisans was enhanced. In addition, about 486 non functional hand pumps were rehabilitated, 540 ‘Water Sanitation and Hygiene Committees’ (WASHCOMs) were established during the community mobilization and 22 Spare parts outlets were established. Two states achieved a complete inventory of water sources in the states during the exercise and five of the states achieved wide participation of Local Government Areas (LGA) on capacity building of local mechanics. The paper recommends that VLOM components should be integrated in all new water supply projects and in the implementation of relevant policies.