Member Profile: ESTAMOS

ESTAMOS Organizaçao Communitária is a local Mozambican NGO that is based in Niassa Province, northern Mozambique and also has a programme in Maputo, the country’s capital. Founded in 1996, ESTAMOS is recognized as one of the most innovative and influential NGOs working in Mozambique, winning numerous awards for its programmatic excellence.

Key contact: Feliciano dos Santos, Executive Director, feliciano@teledata.mz

ESTAMOS became one of the main partners of WaterAid in Mozambique in the late 1990s, and has done integrated water supply, sanitation and hygiene work in both rural Niassa (4 districts) and Maputo as well as supporting other NGOs in other Provinces in Mozambique with water and sanitation support (Zambezia and Cabo Delgado). ESTAMOS is conisdered a leader in watsan issues in the country stemming from their solid field work.

ESTAMOS' vision is "to provide a contribution for the reduction of absolute poverty in the country, as well as to be acknowledged by the civil society as well as by local communities as a reference with regards to its technical capabilities, the sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness of its activities, in awareness and education campaigns for the prevention and mitigation of HIV / AIDS, Water and sanitation as well as for its extensive and innovative sustainable development actions."

ESTAMOS has a wide variety of initiatives, including a comprehensive HIV/Aids initiative, a range of activities focused on food security and an extremely strong water, sanitation and hygiene initiative. In terms of water supply and sanitation, ESTAMOS has:
• Led the broadening of technical options available to communities by changing sector policy to include rope pumps and ecological sanitation
• Has an on-going M&E program that confirms high levels of project-level sustainability
• Has developed an innovative software component to water supply and sanitation that has led to sound project management and regular O&M at community level
• Has been featured in a series of publications (World Water Forum, Japan) and films on its innovative work
• Focuses its work in districts and bairros in Maputo to help these areas go from low levels of water and sanitation coverage to high, sustained levels of coverage
• Provided training support to other NGOs in Niassa, in Maputo and in other provinces (Nampula, Zambezi) designed to strengthen Mozambican civil society in water supply, sanitation and hygiene