WaterAid's plans in Malawi: 2005-2010

In its strategy for Malawi running from 2005 - 2010 WaterAid sets out its plans and activities.

By developing its links with government and building the capacity of its partners to plan, implement and monitor projects WaterAid aims to influence government and other organisations to allocate more resources to water, sanitation and hygiene as they are vital to poverty reduction.

This is crucial as the country faces significant challenges in achieving the MDGs. WaterAid has calculated that an extra $16 million needs to be spent every year if the targets are to be achieved. However, water sector funds actually fell by 37% from 2001/2 to 2003/4 and this seems unlikely to change quickly as water and sanitation were not prioritised in the country's poverty reduction strategy paper.

Overall, there are only a few donors supporting water and sanitation compared to education and health.

Mr Machangwa is in charge of the Lifuwu Clinic in Salima District, Malawi

Credit: WaterAid / Jon Spaull

"In 1999 there was a terrible outbreak of cholera and we had hundreds of patients suffering in this area. Dysentery is another frequent problem amongst the 10,000 people in our catchment area; in fact there were 51 cases of dysentery just this last July. It costs us about 200 Kwacha (£2) to cure a patient and in every one of these cases dirty water and poor sanitation are to blame. We try to tell people to boil their water, use pit latrines and wash their hands as a prevention of these diseases, but it's not easy for them. Boiling water means using lots of fire wood which is scarce and expensive and pit latrines without cement linings tend to collapse because of sandy soil. Lots of people also don't understand good hygiene practices."

The responsibility for water and sanitation has been devolved to local district administrations from central government but as yet the institutions that are meant to be responsible for the work haven't been established, no district plans have been drawn up and funds are yet to be transferred.

WaterAid will therefore work closely with local government to help build their capacity and coordinate plans to reach those most in need in the most appropriate ways.

This will be done by localising the MDGs and working towards specific targets in each area. WaterAid's mapping work, (described over page), which highlights the areas most in need will greatly help in this.

In future this mapping will be developed to show individuals in each community who are in the most need. This will ensure the poorest and most vulnerable, who are often excluded from water and sanitation services (for example the elderly, disabled and those with HIV/AIDS), gain access to these vital services.

The water point functionality rate has been surveyed in 24 of Malawi's 28 districts where it was found that 68% of water points were functioning.

Focus will therefore remain on rehabilitating broken facilities and ensuring a community management structure is in place to ensure their long term sustainability.

Work will also focus on the choices of technology that are available, to ensure that even the poorest can afford them.

Sanitation projects in particular will also explore how technology choice can respond to people's own priorities like dignity, status, privacy and convenience as well as health.

In future all project work will also look at the sustainability of water resources and also the risk of pollution, notably through naturally occurring fluorides and sulphides that exist in groundwater in some areas.