Sanitation committees( SMC) has been key. One of the women, Melita,, has lived in the Chamanculo C bairro since birth and has had to live with the problems caused by poor sanitation. When Melita and her neighbours applied for a new sanitation block, Melita decided to become the Vice- President of the SMC. Melita notes:“ My role has always been to mobilize people to help solve our toilet problem and fortunately, perhaps because of the suffering we were experiencing, the people in this group contributed in good time and, much sooner than we imagined, we received the great‘ Blessing’ of our lives!”
The Maputo Municipal Council( MMC) is optimistic but recognizes that there is a long road ahead to achieve universal sanitation coverage in the city. There are encouraging signs that the improvements in the enabling environment is helping to trigger more investment, including by the World Bank, bilateral donors and international NGOs.
Despite some doubt from stakeholders at the start of the program, as it draws to a close, they have renewed confidence that shared facilities can help the city of Maputo reach its goal of universal access. Not only has the program strengthened MMC’ s commitment to shared sanitation but it has also built the council’ s capacity to support sustainable citywide services in the future.
About the Author
Following eight years as Programme Director for two country programmes, Baghi now leads WSUP’ s work in mobilising and supporting investments in WASH. A chartered civil engineer and water resources expert, Baghi previously worked for a major UK consultancy accumulating over three decades’ experience in programme, organisational and financial management. As Project Director and Regional Director he successfully led major development projects in developing countries, including in water and sanitation.
Designing, Testing & implementing improvements to sanitation & water supply
Lusaka is the capital and largest city in Zambia, and one of the fastest developing cities in Africa. It is home to nearly 2.4 million people, with around 65 % living in low-income communities.
Access to improved sanitation in the city has actually fallen over the last 15 years and nearly half the population has no access at all.
Most of those living in low-income communities lack access to sewers, so residents use pit latrines and septic tanks. If these aren’ t emptied regularly then waste flows into the groundwater which contaminates the environment and nearby water supplies.
Challenges to improving water and sanitation services in Lusaka include problems with infrastructure, as supply of basic services struggle to keep up with demand. Other challenges include water loss, limited investments and risks to groundwater in the city.
What are we doing to help?
Since 2008, Water & Sanitation for Urban Poor( WSUP) have been working with the city’ s water utility, the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company( LWSC), to manage water and sanitation services for low-income residents.
Through this, water supply networks have been extended in many low-income communities including Chainda, Chazanga, Bauleni, Linda, Kanyama, Mtendere East, John Laing and Msisi. We’ ve achieved this by supporting the transformation of LWSC’ s business model to include the community-based management of water supplies in each district.
In Kanyama and Chazanga in particular, we’ ve provided technical assistance to LWSC to develop business models that are designed to be managed by communitybased water trusts and are economically and environmentally sustainable. With LWSC providing the overall management, these community-based models are promoting the uptake of services in low-income communities.
Supporting investment through the Lusaka Sanitation Programme
Water & Sanitation for Urban Poor( WSUP) are working with LWSC on the US $ 180 million Lusaka Sanitation Programme. The pit-emptying service we’ ve developed with LWSC forms the basis for on-site sanitation services that will be scaled up under this programme. We’ re also working with LWSC to establish a toilet database, keeping record of where toilets in Lusaka’ s low-income communities are, how full they are and when they need emptying. This will also make it easier to scale up pitemptying businesses. Improving access to water Working with LWSC, we’ ve helped 300,000 low-income communities across Lusaka access safe, affordable water services by providing communal water kiosks, pre-paid dispensers, and public standpipes. This has been achieved by setting up agreements that allow community-based water trusts to provide services on behalf of the city utility. By working with LWSC and its delegated managers, the water trusts, we’ ve strengthened the quality of services provided to low-income customers.
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