Access to safe water and adequate sanitation remains a challenge in Zambia with 49 percent of rural families without safe water and 68 percent lacking sanitation. From 2021 to 2024, DAPP Zambia implemented the Child Aid WASH Project in Mwinilunga, Kasempa and Kalumbila districts of North Western Province, addressing major community challenges related to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
Access to safe water and adequate sanitation remains a challenge in Zambia with 49 percent of rural families without safe water and 68 percent lacking sanitation. From 2021 to 2024, DAPP Zambia implemented the Child Aid WASH Project in Mwinilunga, Kasempa and Kalumbila districts of North Western Province, addressing major community challenges related to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
The project was anchored on community structures including Community Action Groups, Village-WASH Committees, Area Pump Menders, WASH Champions and School Peer Educators. These structures, along with the support of traditional leaders, continue to promote and enforce the required WASH standards to ensure sustainability beyond the lifespan of the project. Additionally, communities have started to embrace the low-cost self-supply technologies such as manual drilling, rope pumps and solar pumps to improve access to water for domestic and productive use.
Families who have invested in these technologies have water for domestic use at their own homes and water for irrigation, thereby increasing horticulture production throughout the year. An external end-of-project evaluation highlighted significant achievements, confirming that the integrated approach has successfully improved WASH, boosted local capacity, and fostered sustainable community practices as demonstrated in the illustration below.
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Project Full name: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
Principal Partner(s): Sign of Hope
Other Partner(s): Government Line Departments and Humana People to People
Location: Kalumbila, Mwinilunga and Kasempa districts of North-Western Province