Caritas Gweru - Environmental Health Promotion Project in Gweru Baseline surveys were conducted in towns/city of Kadoma, Gweru and Norton to collect information about residents’ perceptions of water and sanitation, refuse collection services and their opinion, comments and appreciation on the cost and quality of services and their relations with the respective town/city council. The findings were generally pointing out that there were mutual distrust between the residents and city councils and tensions due to waste management/ refuse collection disservice. This culminated in the collapse of dialogue between the city/ town councils and residents.

Against these findings, the overall objective of the programme is: ‘Water supply and sanitation services as well as solid waste management in the municipalities/cities of Gweru and Kadoma has improved and stabilized’. The project aims to achieve sustainability through the engagement and active participation of local authorities, private sector and communities. The programme will be implemented in pre-selected towns of Kadoma (population of 120,000 to 150,000) and Gweru (population of about 300,000) which were selected by GIZ on a need based criteria using the findings of the national evaluation of the status water and sanitation infrastructure for urban places of Zimbabwe carries out by UNICEF in 2010. The programme will target up to four (4) high/medium density areas in Gweru and Kadoma towns each. CAFOD will implement this programme through a consortium of organizations which includes Caritas Gweru as an implementing partner for CAFOD in Gweru, CRS working with Caritas Harare in Kadoma as an implementing partner as well as technical partners who include Institute of Water and Sanitation Development (IWSD), ZimAHEAD and Dabane trust. The CAFOD-led consortium will focus on participatory consultation during the first 2-month preparatory phase. Key to the approach is ensuring equitable opportunities for a diverse range of people to access information and inform the decision making processes around the development of the implementation strategy. The programme will use the following tools to get the views and opinions of the stakeholders; consultative meetings, focus group discussions, household surveys, key informant interviews (KII), observation/transect walks, interactive school drama, Face Book page and suggestion walls. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews will be used to collect gender specific concerns at schools and community centres. Feedback meetings will held where a draft report will be shared internally with the city council officials before presenting all other stakeholders meeting. The feedback will sensitise all stakeholders about the issues identified as well as the way forward in terms of forthcoming implementation programme which will last for a period of 9 months. 
The fundamental implementation methodology underpinning the programme is to support local development and ownership of ideas and actions.  The programme methodology involves joint community consultative meetings, formation of environmental health clubs, clean-up/anti-littering campaigns, IEC materials, road shows, social media and process documentation. All training provided through the project will use appropriate participatory and adult-centred methodologies, avoiding traditional “lecture” style teaching and involving participants actively to ensure a quality learning experience. Inherent in the above methodologies is the importance of relationship building between City Council and residents. The programme will seek to support new links and forums and strengthen existing networks for relationships to flourish and continue beyond the programme. In this way, the programme aims to strengthen the social contract between state and citizen to allow for a more deliberative democratic dialogue to take place with clear roles and expectations communicated by all relevant stakeholders.