Lack of access to proper menstrual hygiene services such as hand washing facilities can be an obstacle for girls to attend and participate in school. With the global COVID-19 pandemic, the need for hygiene and hand wash facilities in schools has been further enforced to prevent its spread.
To address this need, NatuReS Zambia, in collaboration with Lusaka Water Security Initiative, Lusaka City Council, the District Education Board, the Zambian Ministry of Health and Water Aid Zambia, officially handed over Jumbo Hand wash facilities to 58 schools under the Safe Back to School Campaign.

These Jumbo Wash stations allow many pupils to wash their hands at once, meeting the demand for handwashing facilities especially in overly populated schools in Lusaka’s most vulnerable communities. The stations contribute to a better provision with water, sanitation and hygiene services.

The handover event took place on the 27th of May at Kasamba Combined school in Matero, Lusaka, as part of the world menstrual hygiene day commemoration. On this day, hygiene in general and the access for girls and women particularly to safe and clean hygiene facilities, is in the global focus. During the hand-over, five schools evaluated as best performers on WASH in schools guidelines, were awarded certificates. Each of these schools received a 10000-litre capacity water tank, chlorine, cleaning agents and materials, hand washing soap, sanitisers and face masks.

By improving access to sanitation in schools, the hurdle for pupils, especially girls, to regularly participate in class, is lowered. Creating safe and clean learning environments hence plays an important role in Zambia’s development.

Author: Sonile Mutafya, NatuReS Advisor Zambia

The NatuReS Zambia team and LuWSI, in collaboration with a team of specialists from BlackForest Solutions (BFS), Landbell AG and Cleanhub will be conducting a free online workshop on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The purpose of the workshop is to introduce the concept of EPR, using the EPR toolbox and the concept of offsetting certificates for plastic waste, which can be seen as the first step towards EPR.

The workshop will be held on the 17th of June from 10:00 – 12:30 CAT.

Interested? Then get in touch with the LuWSI Secretariat at luwsisecretariat@gmail.com or directly join the meeting on your computer or mobile app (Click here to join the meeting)

The ability of a community to mitigate against adverse effects of Covid-19 by preventing its spread is crucial in fighting the current pandemic. Especially the success of sensitization campaigns depends heavily on the adequate communication within local communities. NatuReS Zambia, in collaboration with the Lusaka Water Security Initiative (LuWSI) and Lusaka City Council (LCC), demonstrates how response measures can be grounded and effectively carried out under the leadership of community governance structures. 

Building on the community engagement and empowerment processes implemented by LCC, Zambia Institute of Mass Communication (ZAMCOM) conducted a series of trainings for Ward Development Committees and Community Facilitators. Their capacity to build networks and effectively communicate with the communities is key in the implementation of Covid-19 prevention measures. The goal of the trainings is to build a pipeline of community-generated stories that link communities with media houses to give a practical expression of community views, experiences, lessons, ideas and knowledge on Covid-19. The more communities identify with awareness campaigns and prevention measures, the stronger is their ability to fight the spread of the pandemic.

This training series is also an important aspect of social change, as it represents an interactive avenue to communicate societal thinking and norms. It will help convey experiences from the perspective of communities and hence make it possible to better inform future interventions. Moreover, evaluating the effectiveness of measures and expanding lessons learnt and best practices within communities will ensure a stronger impact and eventually improve public health. 

Author: Sonile Mutafya, NatuReS Advisor, Zambia