NGOs CALL FOR INCREASED BUDGET TOWARDS WASH IN 2025 NATIONAL BUDGET

 The Zambia NGO WASH Forum is concerned that the annual budget allocation to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) has been declining over the last 4 years.

Forum National Coordinator, Bubala Muyovwe-Mumba, has called for increased allocations to WASH in line with the 8th National Development Plan (NDP) average target of 3.5 Billion Kwacha per annum, with a target to bring it to 5% of annual budgets by 2030.

Ms Mumba justifies that it is estimated that Zambia lost between 0.4% and 2.9% of its annual GDP in 2022 due to a loss in productivity and wages because of infections, loss of life, and medical costs.

This information was revealed during a National Budget Consultative Meeting in Lusaka organized by the Ministry of Finance.

Ms Mumba said that the budget should be aligned to support the actualization of the 5.7 Billion Dollars target under the Zambia Water Investment Programme.

She specified that approximately 394 Million Dollars per year is needed to achieve Zambia’s 2030 WASH goal.

According to Ms Mumba, investment in WASH needs to significantly increase if the country is to reach its 2030 targets on water, sanitation, and hygiene.

She mentioned that the 2022 Joint Monitoring Report indicated that Zambia needs to work, on average, five times faster and harder to meet the WASH targets of SDG 6 by 2030 and Vision 2030.

The Forum National Coordinator stated that the move will result in no revenue loss as the government only needs to realign certain budget lines.

The WASH Champion said that the country will make huge savings from reduced healthcare expenses and improved human productivity in the long term.

Ms Mumba urges the government to pursue private-sector financing in the provision of WASH services to diversify and complement government funding in the sector.

“Currently, the country imports pipes, chemicals, and water meters, among others, which has significantly increased the cost of producing water and maintaining infrastructure. The savings on VAT will enable the Commercial Water Utilities (CUs) to finance the rural water supply and sanitation expansion programme as well as serve urban and peri-urban areas. The justification is that tariffs for water supply have not been adjusted for the past 5 years, making CUs fail to break even to optimally meet the service level guarantees (SLGs) stipulated by the regulator NWASCO. On Revenue Implication, in the short term, there will be a reduction in government revenue due to zero rating. Projected increases in sector investments will result in increased revenue,” she said.