Learning paper
USAID Transform WASH
Eight years in review
A summary of progress and lessons from USAID Transform WASH’s market-based sanitation initiative in Ethiopia, focusing on expanding affordable water, sanitation and hygiene products and services.
This document summarises the considerable progress made by USAID Transform WASH (T/WASH) in improving market-based sanitation in Ethiopia. The T/WASH initiative, spearheaded by PSI and partners SNV, IRC, and Plan International from 2017 to 2024, focused on refining market-based models to enhance the availability and demand for high-quality, affordable water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) products and services in Ethiopia. The initiative received significant support from the Federal Ministry of Health (MOH), UNICEF, and other development partners, leading to the establishment of market-based sanitation (MBS) around 2019/2020. T/WASH began its operations in 2017 in nine woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) and gradually expanded into additional woredas and regions. By 2024, T/WASH had concluded direct support in selected intervention woredas, with a total of 30 woredas being awarded a “graduation certificate”. The initiative, funded by USAID was managed by four organisations, each contributing to different aspects of the project. This summary provides a comprehensive overview of the implementation strategies, major achievements, and key lessons learned, and offers access to a wealth of resources, all in one compact narrative.