Oxford to help establish safe drinking water for schools and clinics in Zambia
Guided by a Presidential Decree in 2022, the Government of Zambia is focused on delivering safe drinking water to all public facilities. The University of Oxford’s water programme is supporting this work with the pilot of a results-based contract in Mumbwa District, with the goal to deliver a national model to all public facilities by 2030.
“No country in Africa has managed to reliably deliver safe drinking water services in all public schools and healthcare facilities. Zambia aims to be the exception, and we are delighted to be supporting their ambitions,” says Rob Hope, Professor of Water Policy at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford.
In collaboration with Uptime Global, Oxford researchers (Prof Rob Hope, Prof Katrina Charles, Dr Sonia Hoque and Dr Saskia Nowicki) have co-designed the SafeManzi model which addresses the common challenges of institutional and financial sustainability. The institutional contribution of SafeManzi is to incubate a professional service provider to deliver high quality services to all facilities in the district. The service provider is paid on the verified delivery of rapid repairs (72 hours) and water safety outcomes. Regular monitoring and assessment identify water quality problems with payments structured to ensure managed actions treat bacteriological contamination. Financial sustainability is increased through demonstrating a more efficient and transparent contacting model which could be scaled nationally.
As part of the research, MSc Water Science Policy and Management student, Justina Muchelenje, conducted interviews in schools in Mumbwa to understand the status and challenges of water supplies for schools and clinics. Her findings identified key gaps and funding challenges for school and clinic managers to be able to maintain and monitor safe water.
The SafeManzi model has been co-designed following a MOU signed by the Permanent Secretaries of the Ministries of Local Government and Rural Development, Education, Health, and Water Development and Sanitation, and Uptime Global in October 2024. The pilot phase will run until December 2025 with plans under discussion for scaling the work to the Provincial level with government and development partners.
Read the working paper: Results-based funding to provide safe drinking water services for public schools and healthcare facilities in Zambia
