Sierra Leone August, 2026 — The government of Sierra Leone, with the support of GOAL Sierra Leone and Charity: Water, has formally handed over 112 new water points and sanitation facilities to communities, schools and health centres in Moyamba and Kenema districts. The 12-month intervention will target some 35,000 people and is part of wider efforts to plug the country’s stubborn water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) gaps.
The package includes 42 water points in Moyamba and 70 in Kenema using boreholes, hand-dug wells and solar-powered reticulation systems. Besides the water points, the program has installed nine toilet blocks in three peripheral health units and three schools, and five solar-powered piped water systems to serve specific institutions. The handover ceremony was attended by national and local officials, traditional leaders, program staff and community representatives.
Ministry of Water and Environmental Sanitation “Government alone cannot solve Sierra Leone’s WASH problems,” Dr Sao-Kpato Hannah Isatta Macarthy stressed. “The government cannot solve the country’s WASH challenges alone,” she said, calling for more partnership between ministries, local councils, traditional authorities, development partners, NGOs and communities. The minister pointed out the value of water not only for household needs but as an enabler for agriculture, food production and small businesses and how better access to water can reduce the time and burden on women and girls who spend hours fetching water.
The intervention addresses significant national WASH gaps. According to the UNICEF National Outcome Routine Mapping exercise, 62.6% of the population in Sierra Leone had access to basic water services, 13.6% had access to basic sanitation and 25.1% practised open defecation. More recent data suggest that access to drinking water in rural areas increased from 38.2 per cent in 2010 to 54 percent in 2022, but rural communities continue to be disproportionately underserved.
GOAL, which has been working in Sierra Leone since 1999, said the handover marked a change in its approach from providing standalone infrastructure to building systems that communities can maintain. “This is a major milestone for our WASH programme,” said GOAL Sierra Leone Country Director James Rialc Mathians, reflecting the organisation’s long-standing engagement in the two districts and its expanded activities across all 16 chiefdoms of Kenema since 2018. The agency says GOAL’s national WASH work will benefit more than 470,000 people by 2025.
GOAL Program Manager Getu Debella said the project was a deliberate integration of infrastructure, behaviour change and local capacity building. Water, facility and school management committees were formed and trained for daily management. Community technicians and pump mechanics were given technical training to maintain and repair systems. Village Savings and Lending Associations (VSLAs) were established to improve financial resilience and support ongoing operations.
The package featured community-led sanitation and hygiene activities. We have implemented Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) and Community Led Action in 69 communities, out of which 30 have become Open Defecation Free. The project involved a sanitation marketing pilot with ten private businesses and training for local masons to offer affordable sanitation solutions to households and institutions.
But while the handover was celebrated, stakeholders cautioned that the real test of the investment will be what happens next. Chairman of the Southern Regional Council of Paramount Chiefs, PC Fayia S.B. Sovula, urged communities to take ownership, saying that external assistance would not be permanent. He said development partners will not stay forever and encouraged communities to develop their own capacity to manage and maintain the facilities.
The handover disperses responsibility among a wide range of actors: The government and GOAL will be responsible for the initial delivery and training, but it is up to local councils, traditional leaders, Water Management Committees, schools, health facilities and community members to protect and sustain the new assets. If retained, the facilities should improve health outcomes, support education and livelihoods, and boost dignity and resilience to climate and other shocks.
The use of solar-powered systems across several schemes under the program is intended to help provide more reliable water supplies, especially for institutions such as schools and health centres where reliable water is essential. The goal of its model, GOAL said, is to reduce the frequent breakdowns that can leave communities without safe water and build local business and technical capacity to respond quickly when repairs are needed.
The handover is one of a number of recent initiatives to improve access to sustainable WASH services in Sierra Leone. The challenge for government and partners is to continue to scale such integrated approaches, to ensure maintenance funds are available, and to strengthen local systems and markets to keep pumps and toilets working for the long term. “The new facilities are a real step forward for the people of Moyamba and Kenema, but their ultimate value will depend on sustained commitment by communities, local institutions and partners to operate, finance and secure them.
