LANDS, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister Davis Marapira has said the Government’s key drive is to ensure water security and safety for the citizenry across the board.
He said the country cannot return to glory without addressing service delivery issues related to water, sanitation and hygiene which are considered Vision 2030 accelerator enablers.
Addressing the 2022 Joint Sector Review (JSR) meeting for the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Gweru, Deputy Minister Marapira who is responsible for Agricultural Colleges, Water Resources, and Irrigation Development, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, said Vision 2030 requires that WASH issues be addressed to transform the country into an upper middle income economy.
“Zimbabwe cannot return to glory without addressing service delivery issues related to water, sanitation and hygiene which we consider Vision 2030 accelerator enablers. It is the Government’s key drive to ensure water security and safety for the citizenry across the board,” he said.
Deputy Minister Marapira said the JSR process proffered an opportune platform for joint programming and joint mutual accountability with WASH sector players.
“The meeting was historic in that the Government met with all seven constituencies including donors, development partners/NGOs, civil organisations, the private sector, utilities and the media at once in line with the whole of Government approach enunciated by President Mnangagwa,” he said.
“He has directed that we should leave no one behind, no place, no village and no one behind as we seek to restore our Zimbabwe to glory.”
Deputy Minister Marapira urged other stakeholders to participate in building the country.
“The WASH sector has not been spared from the ruinous effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the economy. The pandemic was a rude awakening to strengthen WASH service delivery since water, sanitation and hygiene are key for infection prevention and control and on the shield side of the pandemic,” he said.
Deputy Minister Marapira said the Government takes cognisance of the institutional make-up of the WASH sector where there is the National Action Committee (NAC), which is the inter-ministerial coordinating body for WASH under the stewardship of the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development.
The NAC sub-committees are chaired by the Government and these include the urban WASH sub-sector, which is chaired by the Local Government and Public Works ministry, the Rural WASH sub-sector is chaired by the Rural Infrastructural Development Agency (Rida) while the Water Resources Management sub-sector is chaired by the Department responsible for Water Resources.
“To bring about a whole of society approach to service delivery, the WASH Sector recently inaugurated sector working group whose brief and mandate is to ensure that there is joint programming and mutual accountability in the sector,” said Deputy Minister Marapira.
He said the Government is aware of the fact that regulation of drillers, bulk water suppliers, service providers, tariff setting, and customer protection among other regulatory functions have not been performing as expected.
To this end, he said the Water and Zimbabwe National Water Authority Acts are currently under review to pave the way for the establishment of water and wastewater regulatory functions in a strengthened Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Department.
“The National Sanitation and Hygiene Policy is currently under review to align it to the African Sanitation Policy Guidelines and I am informed the drafting team was in Kadoma this week on a drafting mission,” said Deputy Minister Marapira.
He said a WASH Climate Change Response Strategy will be a priority in 2023 with proposals to unlock green climate financing having been jointly developed.
Deputy Minister Marapira said the ministry has pioneered a number of Presidential programmes as an innovative way to unlock the much-needed development finance.
“The much-publicised Presidential Rural Development Programme will prioritise 35 000 boreholes through drilling and a blitz rehabilitation of non-functional water points wherein high yielding boreholes will be solar powered for horticultural gardens, domestic piped water supply, fisheries, livestock watering amongst other multiple uses of water,” he said.
The Deputy Minister said in the same vein, the Government is looking forward to an urgent development of a concept note for a Presidential campaign to eliminate open defecation.
“We can’t be famous for defecating in the open. The risks to humanity through diarrhoea, cholera and to livestock production and productivity due to measles cannot be tolerated. I invite you colleagues on this trajectory as we seek to eliminate cholera by 2028,” he said.
Deputy Minister Marapira commended the efforts being made to strengthen the research agenda through the reconfiguration of the sustainability sub-committee into the research, development and sustainability subcommittee under the leadership of the National Institute of Health Research in the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
“I am aware that they are working on quite a number of pro-poor technologies from the life pump, bio-sand filters among others and call upon them to expedite approvals of ongoing pilots to benefit the masses. Human capital development in the sector remains a focus area and we continue to emphasize strengthening the human resource capacity to fortify our WASH sector,” he said.
Deputy Minister Marapira said the WASH operational, coordination and leadership training capacitated the country’s 10 provinces to be able to plan, respond and coordinate WASH programmes during emergencies.
Deputy Minister Marapira said the WASH sector is largely vulnerable to floods and droughts due to climate change, adding that there is a need to develop resilient WASH systems.
“The time is now to also unlock financing opportunities from the Green Climate Fund, the Damage and Loss Fund recently established at COP27,” he said. – The Chronicle
