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Government has called for stronger collaboration and urgent action to build a climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector, warning that climate change continues to threaten access to safe water and sanitation services across Zambia.
Ministry of Water Development and Sanitation Permanent Secretary Romas Kamanga said the country must strengthen resilience in the WASH sector to protect vulnerable communities from the growing impacts of climate change.
Kamanga said this during the validation Workshop on the WASH Climate Rationale for Zambia held in Lusaka on Wednesday.
He praised government officials, cooperating partners, civil society organisations and development agencies to the validation workshop, describing the meeting as an important milestone in shaping Zambia’s climate response within the WASH sector.
Kamanga lauded UNICEF, the Swedish Environmental Research Institute and other partners for supporting the development of the climate rationale document and for their continued commitment to strengthening Zambia’s WASH systems.
“The discussions between the WASH and environment sectors held in September last year helped define the relationship between climate change and WASH services in Zambia, while also identifying practical actions to improve resilience,” he said.
Kamanga said the workshop was aimed not only at validating the climate rationale document but also at building national ownership of the proposed priorities and actions.
“The purpose of this workshop is not only to review and validate the climate rationale document but also to build ownership. We must ask ourselves whether the priorities identified are clear, relevant and aligned with Zambia’s needs,” he said.
Kamanga explained that the proposed adaptation and mitigation measures included climate-resilient infrastructure, improved technical standards, early warning and monitoring systems, financing mechanisms, institutional coordination, inclusive services and community engagement.
“No single institution can implement the proposed actions alone, hence the need for collective participation from government agencies, development partners, service providers, civil society and communities,” he stressed.
The Permanent Secretary urged stakeholders to contribute through financing, technical assistance, policy development, service delivery, monitoring and advocacy efforts.
Kamanga warned that climate-related failures in WASH systems disproportionately affected poor households, rural communities, residents of informal settlements, women, girls and persons with disabilities.
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He added that inadequate water and sanitation services in schools negatively impacted children’s health, dignity and learning outcomes, while healthcare facilities without safe water placed patients, mothers, newborns and health workers at risk.
“A climate-resilient WASH sector must therefore be an inclusive sector. It must protect the dignity, health and future of the most vulnerable people in our society,” Kamanga said.
He further proposed the establishment of a task force to monitor implementation of the action plan, improve coordination, track progress and address bottlenecks.
Kamanga said the climate rationale document provided a strong evidence-based foundation for action and positions the WASH sector to better engage in national climate processes while helping to mobilise climate finance.
He called on all stakeholders to actively participate in refining the document and commit themselves to implementing its recommendations.
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