The Sanitation Project That Exceeded Expectations

Concerted efforts between government agencies, international financial institutions, non-profit organizations, and local communities successfully addressed multiple facets of Zambia’s sanitation crisis.

“The success of the Lusaka Sanitation Project in Zambia demonstrated that targeted and coordinated interventions can have an important positive impact on disease and pollution reduction, which in turn supports the socio-economic development of densely populated urban areas,” explains the team behind the project. “The insights gained can provide valuable references for comparable endeavors in other nations facing similar issues.”

The World Bank, the European Investment Bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the African Development Bank financially supported the Lusaka Sanitation Project, whose approach encompassed infrastructure development, community engagement, behavioural change campaigns, and policy reforms. The project exceeded all its targets; it allowed the improvement of sanitation for some 345,000 people, faecal management services that benefitted 263,898 people, and the construction of 117,000km of sewer network – 2,226 customer connections built – benefitting 17,000 people.