Understand the program logic. A key finding of this evaluation is that hand pump installations have had no observable impacts on health outcomes. This may not be surprising considering what is known in the literature on how water source, storage, and consumption is related to specific water-related illnesses, such as diarrhea and respiratory infections. A critical assumption underlying the RWSA program logic was that the increase in access to an improved water source would improve the quality of water stored and used in the home. However, given water storage practices in rural Mozambique, there is a high risk of contamination within household storage containers; i.e., post water collection contamination. Rather than an assumption, this should have been a key factor considered in program design. In the future, MCC will ensure that interventions with cross-sector benefit streams, such as water and health, will require peer review to ensure critical assumptions are understood and more thoughtfully considered in program design and more thoroughly addressed in project implementation.
Lesson Learned