The GSF programme in Malawi accomplished an important milestone moment in late 2011 with the completion of a detailed baseline study of GSF working areas. The baseline study confirmed the results that will be achieved during the programme’s five years, helped target the initial programme interventions and acted as a useful advocacy tool to engage and mobilize local government resources.
Sub-grantees have provided training to over 50 local government officials; together with the officials they have triggered 208 communities, leading to 41 open defecation free communities and 52,000 people with improved toilets. Initial demand creation and awareness activities have been supported by follow-up visits and further capacity building initiatives to increase the number of local entrepreneurs’ providing sanitation services, including construction of improved toilets.
There are 28 districts in Malawi, and the GSF programme targets six of them. In each of these, the District Coordination Team (DCT), led by the Government of Malawi, has taken a central role in planning and coordinating the implementation of GSF-supported activities. DCTs have worked with Plan Malawi and the sub-grantees to integrate their plans with existing resources available to the local government and maximize the engagement of local government health workers and other district-based staff.
As a result, local government staff have been provided thorough training on sanitation and hygiene demand creation, promotion and follow-up by the GSF sub-grantees. Targeting some of the poorest and least covered areas, the joint working of local government and civil society organizations supported by the GSF is enabling increased reach, coordination and support to improve access and use to sanitation.
The National Sanitation and Hygiene Coordination Unit (NSCHU), as Programme Coordinating Mechanism (PCM), guides the Malawi programme. The NSCHU, a multi-stakeholder group, was included in the Government of Malawi’s sector policy but in practice only began operating after the GSF programme inspired increased coordination and joint planning and programming amongst key sector actors. Plan Malawi, a leading actor in the sector, is the GSF’s Executing Agency (EA), and its work is overseen by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Country Programme Monitor (CPM).
