Strategy to guide Malawi investments in sector

The 10 year National Sanitation and Hygiene Investment Plan and Strategy (NYSHIPS) which government has developed, will be a guiding tool for investing in the country’s sanitation sector, a senior government official said Friday.

Mc Lawrence Mpasa, director of sanitation and hygiene in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation said this when he showed the document to other government officials and the media in Lilongwe during a second series of the familiarisation workshops that his ministry has organised in all the three regions of the country.

Mpasa said the strategy, which covers the period 2013 to 2022, has been developed to provide a common strategic framework for investing in the sanitation and hygiene sector over the next ten years, effective 1st January, 2013.

“This is an all-encompassing investment framework covering thematic pillars of sanitation as identified by the National Sanitation Policy, national rural areas, urban areas, schools and health care facilities,” he said.

Mpasa said the document will aid Malawi identify quantifiable needs for investment in the sanitation sector during the ten years and also identify stakeholders in charge of spending in the sector.

He also said the blue-print will help Malawi single out the level of investment needed or how much financial resources are required to invest in given areas.

“The government has developed this plan and strategy to enable it attain its vision of ensuring sanitation for all in Malawi and its mission of ensuring that all people in Malawi own and have access to improved sanitation facilities, practice safe hygiene, re-use or recycle waste for sustainable management of the environment and socio-economic development.”

In order to develop the investment plan and strategy, a sanitation study was undertaken for both urban and rural settlements with financing from African Development Bank through National Water Development Project (NWDP).