Supporting partnerships with local actors to improve water supply services for the sustainable prevention of cholera in Kalemie, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Solidarites International (SI), as part of its program “Improving access to safe water for sustainable prevention of Cholera in Kalemie, DRC”, supported local actors to establish a partnership in order to ensure efficient management of standpipes. The lack of safe water, which is mainly provided through the piped water scheme, is one of the main causes of the recurrent Cholera outbreaks and standpipes are the main water access points for the most vulnerable communities of the affected areas. The partnership was formally established through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) binding Civil Society Organizations (CSO), Water Service Provider (WSP) and the representative of Government in charge of water regulations at local level. The partnership arrangement resulted in an improvement of the management of the standpipes and led to targeted communities having access to piped water; this improved safe water supply services in Kalemie and certainly contributed to the reduction of Cholera cases

Rapid response to efficiently counter cholera: lessons from a 45-days intervention in Eastern DRC

Since the 1970s, the Democratic Republic of Congo faces recurrent cholera outbreaks and frequent sporadic cases. Numerous zones in the eastern provinces are hotspots and endemic pockets that cause epidemics that can even spread to cities and villages hundreds of kilometres away. In 2017, the Democratic Republic of Congo experienced its biggest cholera epidemic since 1994. SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL intervened in two health zones in North Kivu, two highly underfunded and forgotten affected areas. Thanks to the rapid reactivity and flexibility of the response, the epidemic curve of cholera cases was rapidly controlled. Several lessons from this intervention are worth highlighting and sharing

Micro-Hotspots of Risk in Urban Cholera Epidemics.

Targeted interventions have been delivered to neighbors of cholera cases in major epidemic responses globally despite limited evidence for the impact of such targeting. Using data from urban epidemics in Chad and Democratic Republic of the Congo, we estimate the extent of spatiotemporal zones of increased cholera risk around cases. In both cities, we found zones of increased risk of at least 200 meters during the 5 days immediately after case presentation to a clinic. Risk was highest for those living closest to cases and diminished in time and space similarly across settings. These results provide a rational basis for rapidly delivering targeting interventions

Fluctuation of Groundwater Levels and Recharge Patterns in Northern Ghana

Evaluating groundwater levels and recharge patterns is part of sustainably managing the water supply and predicting the possibility of water shortages, especially in light of climate change, extreme events (floods/droughts), increasing population and development. In the northern region of Ghana, groundwater is increasingly relied upon as a source of potable water for rural populations, but seasonal and inter-annual fluctuations of groundwater levels and recharge patterns are not always known. The fluctuation of groundwater levels on a seasonal basis shows that groundwater levels at all sites increase in response to seasonal precipitation. On an annual basis, all sites show an overall net decline of groundwater levels over the study period, which may be associated with below-average departures of precipitation during five of the seven study years. The variability of recharge patterns among five sites is attributed to the spatio-temporal variability of precipitation and hydrogeologic site uniqueness. The overarching potential benefit of this study is to facilitate closing knowledge gaps and contribute to a foundation for a more robust evaluation of groundwater resources in the area, especially as more data become available