Programme

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Access to safe and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene reduces child mortality and stunting, improves learning outcomes, and is vital for health and wellbeing

Children practice handwashing outside their Mphala in Chipata, Eastern province. — UNICEF Zambia/Schermbrucker/2025

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The challenge

Across Zambia, children and their families struggle to access safe, reliable Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services. Poor WASH conditions affect every aspect of life, posing critical threats to children’s health and well-being. A lack of safely managed water and sanitation facilities accelerates the spread of cholera, diarrhoea, and other waterborne diseases. Every year, these illnesses cause deaths among children and contribute to malnutrition and stunting, impairing children’s physical and cognitive development.

Among the most critical WASH challenges Zambia faces is a lack of water and sanitation in healthcare facilities. Without handwashing stations, drinking water, or the ability to effectively clean facilities, mothers and newborns see heightened risks of infection and death. Further, a lack of proper WASH facilities in schools affects attendance and educational outcomes, particularly for girls during menstruation. Climate change amplifies these challenges, damaging WASH infrastructure during floods and reducing water availability and access during droughts.

Child washing her hand. — UNICEF Zambia/2024/Schermbrucker

Summary of Water and Sanitation Situation in Zambia

As per the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program Estimates; retrieved in 2023-2024:

13% of healthcare facilities lack any water service
21% of schools lack basic water access
17% of schools lack basic sanitation
27% of households lack basic water access
Among the poorest quintile, 60% of households lack access to a basic water service
63% of households lack basic sanitation
82% of household lack basic hygiene facilities

The solution

To ensure healthy, safe, and prosperous futures for Zambia’s children, guaranteeing WASH is crucial. UNICEF Zambia’s WASH programme is dedicated to this task, enhancing equitable WASH access across the country. In collaboration with the Zambian government, partners, and local communities, UNICEF strengthens the enabling environment for WASH; supports the construction and rehabilitation of water supply systems; and promotes improved sanitation and hygiene. Together, UNICEF and its partners are upgrading WASH services in healthcare facilities, schools, and communities in more than 114 districts across Zambia’s 10 provinces. UNICEF also works at the national level to support the creation of systems which facilitate sustainable and climate resilient WASH services at scale.

UNICEF-Supported solar powered WASH facility in Mwansabombwe, Luapula province. — UNICEF/Zambia/2024/Nalungwe

Key interventions include facilitating policy and strategy development, strengthening institutional arrangements, advocating for improved sector financing, providing policy implementation support, building capacity at national and sub-national levels, enhancing sector coordination, strengthening knowledge management, and ensuring inclusive, sustainable WASH service delivery. To ensure no one is left behind, the programme focuses on vulnerable and marginalised groups in Zambia, including children and women. By fostering people-centric, long-term WASH solutions, UNICEF is helping to build a healthier, sustainable future for Zambia’s children.