National WASH Coalition
The Malawi WASH Coalition was established in early 2004. It acts as a loose network for NGOs and individual members, with about 80 registered so far. This includes government departments, international organizations and donor agencies.
Focus
The network aims to help institutions to achieve improved coordination of the Malawi WASH sector and to monitor the country’s progress towards the Millennium Development Goals on water supply and sanitation.
Milestones and achievements
Supporting Policy and Institutional Development:
Malawi has introduced the Sector Wide Approach (SWAP). In line with this, the setting up of a national WASH coalition was endorsed by Water Environmental Sanitation (WES) Aid Group and the WASH NGO Network. The network participated actively in sector reforms, supported the development of the sanitation policy and argued for improved coordination of the Malawi WASH sector.
Water point mapping:
One activity with potentially far-reaching impacts has been to create an inventory of rural improved community water points. This mapping exercise looked at the positioning of water points and how many people had access, as well as at the length of time they could keep operating. The coalition found that only 62% of the water points were currently working, while almost half of those surveyed were less than five years old. This raised major concerns about maintenance, and called for more effort, greater coordination and better leadership. Through their membership of the coalition a number of government departments were involved in the inventory exercise, which is now an official activity.
