Resources / Strategy To Accelerate Access To Sanitation And Hygiene, July 2011 - June 2015

Summary

Zimbabwe has a long history of championing innovative approaches to safesanitation improvements. While specific technologies such as the VentilatedImproved Pit Latrine (VIP) rejuvenated improved sanitation access worldwide,the use of social marketing strategies, such as the Participatory Health andHygiene Education (PHHE), provided a strong impetus to positive behaviorchange. The National Action Committee (NAC) for rural water supply andsanitation created in the mid-1980s has over the years not only providedleadership in the sub-sector, but also assured co-ordination of efforts, crosscuttinglearning and become a repository of valuable experiences and lessons.

The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, as part of its overall mandate ofproviding quality health to all Zimbabweans, has and will continue to lead in allefforts to ensure sustainable provision of safe sanitation to all. Experiences todateindicate that total access to safe sanitation is best achieved by participatoryefforts, involving community groups as key beneficiaries and owners ofinterventions. My Ministry acknowledges the shortcomings of subsidy basedsanitation interventions and to this end has led efforts to revise sanitation andhygiene approaches nationally. While the shift from a supply led to a demandled sanitation approach has its own challenges, key among them capacity ofservice providers and customers, my Ministry is fully committed to lead thesubsector and address these changes.

Building on this commitment, the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare welcomesall efforts at strengthening the re-branded NAC, which has assigned theresponsibility and financial resources for rural household sanitation, hygiene andhousehold primary water improvements to this Ministry. I assure the WASHSector in general of my Ministry's commitment to take on this mandate, firmlyand boldly and to continue to chair the Sanitation and Hygiene Task Force in theimplementation of this Sanitation and Hygiene Strategy.This Strategy outlines key focus areas and strategic actions to ensure that

Zimbabwe achieves zero open defaecation within the foreseeable future. Witheffective promotion, communication and co-ordination, it is possible that asignificant number of rural communities and urban local authority areas will beopen defaecation free in the short term and sustainably maintain such a status inthe long-term. To achieve this noble objective, it is important that the WASHSector works in a co-ordinated manner, with clear designation of roles andresponsibilities. This strategy is only but one tool by which the sector can havea common shared-vision on issues of mutual concern, especially around theprovision of safe sanitation, water and hygiene.I commend this Sanitation and Hygiene Strategy to all WASH Sector Policymakers, managers, practitioners and financiers as a guide to achieving theshared vision of sustainable access to safe water, sanitation and hygienenationally and eliminating open defaecation in Zimbabwe.