Vice President, Mutale Nalumango, has called for strong partnerships in addressing issues of water and sanitation in the country.
Mrs Nalumango explains that this is because of the integral part that improved access to clean water and enhanced sanitation plays towards achieving national development and the attainment of the vision 2030.
She says government has therefore increased the budgetary allocation to the water and sanitation sector.
She was speaking when she officially opened the second sanitation summit in Lusaka.
The Vice President added that government is also revising policies on water and sanitation to make them more responsive to the needs of the people.
Mrs Nalumango further said it was important that all stakeholders have come together and collaborated in finding solutions to the problems that are affecting the smooth implementation of improved water and sanitation projects.
“As you may be aware, access to proper sanitation and hygiene plays an important role in our lives, but access to these basic needs is still a challenge in some places hence this summit is key as it has brought key partners together to find solutions to these problems,” she said.
She has meanwhile expressed concern that rural and peri-urban areas have continued to face challenges in accessing enhanced water and sanitation services, a situation that has resulted in increased cases of water borne diseases.
The Vice President noted thatin order to address this problem, government has given financial support amounting to over US$1.5 billion to undertake improved water and sanitation projects in the 11 commercial water utilities in the country.
And a representative of the cooperating partners, Penelope Campbell, has thanked the Zambian government for making strides in improving access to clean and safe water and improved sanitation for the people.
Ms. Campbell, who is also United Nations Children’s Fund County Director, said there is need for government to work with the partners in ensuring that all the existing gaps in the provision of clean and safe water are addressed.
She stated that currently, Zambia is at 32 percent in terms of accessing basic sanitation, adding that this is the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa.
She added that this is why government must give priority to the sector by creating strong institutions and policies around sanitation.
“Poor sanitation has led to the increase in mortality and child morbidity. This is why government should make it a priority that issues to do with water and sanitation are given high attention in order to enhance human dignity,” she said.
There are two government officials who are just there sited and reading speeches written for them. One of them is Shushi Kasanda, the other is the VP. Her statement sounds like a recording from Zamtel call centre. Why do we have to wait for white people to give us standards to follow in terms of water and sanitation. They are telling us that we are at 32% the lowest in subsahara Africa. How is this even possible considering that Zambia holds over 50% of water bodies in the region. Our villages though using pit latrines do have clean way of taking care of waste.
‘Poor sanitation has led to the increase in mortality and child morbidity.’
This is not true. Infant mortality in Zambia has consistently fallen over the last 50 years. In 2018 infant mortality was 44.358 per 1000 live births. It has consitently fallen by 2.9% on average and in 2022 it is now at 40.606. The only time it increased was from 1979 to 1993 and this was due to the HIV-AIDS pandemic.
I do agree about the need to improve water and sanitation, but we should not use untruths, let us use FACTS.
i agree with water and sanitation system part of it, but the problem that needs to be tackled here is drainages,drainages, drainages!! Ppl are being located lands to build the houses and other related properties with no proper dranages installation systems in place that is absurd!! Well, isn’t the goverment’s resposibilty to ensure that all land owners have the access to drainage system installation!! or is it just gesturing that oh, here is your land and sort out the issue and tissue of the drainage shenanigans!!!!lol