A Water Aid official has observed that Zambia would not attain the Millennium Development Goal to halve the population of people who have no access to basic sanitation in the country if efforts towards this goal remained slow.
Water Aid country Representative Maheshi Mishra said there was therefore need to urgently address sanitary conditions under which thousands of Zambians were living.
Mr. Mishra was speaking during the commemoration of the world water day which
officially fell on 22nd March but was held yesterday in Chipembele ward of Monze district in Southern province.
He said it was evident that without safe water, sanitation and improved hygiene practices among Zambians, poverty reduction efforts would continue being undermined thereby impeding efforts towards the attainment of the MDGs.
Mr. Mishra said that MDGs relating to sanitation would only be achieved in Zambia if extraordinary efforts to reverse the current situation were applied.
He said that Water Aid had been supporting district efforts to realise the MDG relating to water supply and sanitation.
Mr. Mishra said since last year, his organisation invested more than K1 billion in delivering water supply and sanitation in needy areas around the country.
He said that there was still a lot that needed to be done in Monze and other areas of the country to improve sanitation.
He said that with commitment shown by the leadership in Monze, the district had the potential to become a model for the whole country.
He said Water Aid and its partners have demonstrated their effort to reverse the problem of providing clean water and sanitation as a basic human right.
Mr. Mishra said intensive efforts and targeted investment would enable the country to rapidly scale up sanitation.
He said that if efforts shown at the district level by Water Aid partners such as Monze District Council, Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) and others were to continue, sanitation coverage would be enhance in the district in the next four years.
He said Chipembele ward was an example of how government, non-governmental organisations, local authorities, traditional leaders and local communities could work together to ensure that rural communities acquired access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene.
Mr. Mishra expressed gratitude that a number of villages in Chipembele ward
in Monze district had attained almost 100 per cent basic sanitation requirements.
He said that this meant that each household had a latrine, a hand washing facility close to the latrine, a bath shelter, a dish rack, refuse pit and a clean homestead surrounding.
The Water Aid country representative further called upon the leadership in Monze district
to formulate a district wide water and sanitation plan with a clear focus on addressing sanitation gaps by having a goal aimed at bringing sanitation coverage rate at par with coverage rate for water supply.
He said that there was need to also involve traditional leaders to motivate communities on the importance of sanitation.
Mr. Mishra said formation of the district sanitation task force to spear head the scaling up of sanitation the district by involving various stakeholders that had properly defined coordinating mechanisms would be another strategy.
And Monze District Commissioner Joyce Nondo said at the same function that government’s commitment towards improving sanitation in both urban and rural areas had been unwavering in the district.
Mrs. Nondo said that efforts to this effect could be seen from the progress made
by the water sector in the district.
She thanked Water Aid World Bank and UNICEF for their efforts towards achieving a satisfactory water and sanitation development in Monze district.
The news coming in fromZimbabwe is not good for Mugabe. The old man is finally going .It is a shame for SADC to try and defend him all along. Now a new leader will emerge in Zim and i hope he sorns the whole rotten SADC region.I am glad the Zimbos have made a change we had enough of Mugabe. I hope SADC leaders will appologise to Morgan Tshivangarai . Morgan you deserve it
#1. Comment on the article at hand. There is another article on the elections in Zimbabwe where bloggers can share their views on that matter. Now, the matter at hand is the water situation in Zambia and whether we will be able to reach the MDG to which I agree with Mr Mishra. If you look at that picture, you see a woman with baby at the back and a toddler beside her. She will have to push the wheel borrow with those three water containers, with baby at the back. The small boy may help to carry the yellow container which he is about to lift which is a question of child abuse and where the hell is the man. It bring in mind the issues of woman right and child abuse.
# 2, Mugabe you are right, Mxotiswa must be a new blogger. Water and sanitation is one of the biggest problems in zambia, yet we have perennial rivers to supply domestic water. It is the same problem with HEP, we have plenty of rivers which dont dry up during the dry season, yet electricity has become a sorce of concern. We have pipo starving yet we have many rivers which can be used for irrigation. The list is endless. the biggest problem is leadership in our country. This time around we need a group of men and women to do something for once for zambia.
The latest report on news24 says: Zambia on red alert.This is in response to the fears allayed by analysts regarding the situation in Zimbabwe.
It looks like the old man is not ready to leave power.
Mugabe shouldjust leave power his succesor
Africans are renawned for opposite planning.
The goverment should link the chinese and indian investment with bringing their methods of sustainable development to rural and comboni Zambian communities. For example the indians are exparts at converting communal comboni toilets into energy sources producing methane gas for cooking. The chinese are experts in their rural cooking methods, using an indigenus cooker that uses 40% less firewood. Also they are experts at collecting rain water for rural communities with in house methods of purification using local materials.
My old man used to tell me how they would use one bucket of water to bath the whole family when he was a boy. In my childhood days, fetching water every morning was the order. This is the third generation and I still have to fill the tub for my children with galons of water every time I’m in Zambia. “Some things never change!” (Tupac).
prof mutengo comment pls
Africa politics stink and African leaders are a shame to society. Mugabe please do what is right and drink some rat poison.
i think am missinga point here, aere we talkinga bout the problems in zim or water sanitation in zed?
I wish someone would tell the whole truth about the water and sanitation problems in all of Zambia. All you have to do is drive down any small side street off Cairo rd in Lusaka the capital of Zambia and there is raw human sewage in muddy ditches that run along side of buildings and homes. Contaminated ditches of water and people without healthy amounts of clean water to drink or clean themselves. The news tells the story as if the problem with water and sanitation is only in some areas of Zambia, the truth is the problems are every where in Zambia. No wounder there is so much disease in that country, no one wants to look at the whole picture. The people deserve more !!!
To be honest, its sad to note that with all the revirs that God has given us freely, We fail to ultilise them, But i must say its the Leadrship that is failling the pipo. :((
GNdCCs
Thank you againfor this fascinatingread.