Madagascar > Programme description
1. How long has Medair been in the country?
Medair has been in Madagascar since 2002, first implementing a water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) project in the south, in the Fort-Dauphin region. During this period, Medair also began to respond to the consequences of cyclones, a major one being Cyclone Gafilo in 2004, where we provided an emergency response to help re-establish access to clean water in the most affected villages.
In January 2006, after completing four years of activities in the south, Medair established a new base in Maroantsetra, an area in the northeast of the country that is especially vulnerable to cyclones and floods. We have worked from our Maroantestra base ever since.
2. What is Medair doing in the country?
Improving access to water
In Madagascar, Medair specialises in disaster risk reduction (DRR), in improving WASH, and in emergency projects, with a strong emphasis on building the capacity and resilience of local actors in rural areas. Our expertise is particularly beneficial when dealing with the ongoing threats of cyclone emergencies: assisting with mitigation (how to prepare for and protect against cyclone damage); emergency response (how to re-establish access to clean water); and recovery (how to improve WASH situations).
If a cyclone strikes, we are prepared to respond in any part of the island to re-establish access to clean water. In 2011, we responded in two regions to people affected by Cyclone Bingiza. In parallel, we run DRR activities with a focus on construction and training that helps lead to stronger shelters, better cyclone preparedness, and long-lasting improvements to clean water accessibility. Our DRR activities aim to build community resilience and reduce vulnerability to future disaster risks.
Lack of knowledge about basic hygiene has a serious effect on the health of the population. Hygiene promotion, clean water points, latrine construction, and coaching of local communities in relation DRR are the main activities of Medair throughout the year.
There is a strong focus on capacity building for the communities, local authorities, and local contractors. Medair puts energy−not into doing the work ourselves−but rather into training people to do it themselves, with the aim of helping communities build long-lasting local capacity.
3. Where are we working?
Maroantsetra
In Maroantsetra, the main goal of our work is to initiate and support local sustainable development through different type of projects, mainly DRR and WASH. All projects are run with a strong capacity building component.
The region surrounding Maroantsetra is very remote, with only one poor “road” linking the region to the rest of the country. Most of the population relies on contaminated river water to drink. Even the families using open wells are not safe, because most of the wells are contaminated by faeces, due to inappropriate usage and poor construction. Only sealed wells with hand pumps ensure access to clean water.
All of Madagascar
When cyclones strike, Medair is prepared to respond to emergencies throughout the island.
4. How many people are working for Medair in Madagascar?
Medair employs approximately five internationally recruited staff (IRS) and 50 nationally recruited staff (NRS) in Madagascar.
