PAWD Project ends as IWRM gains momentum in Zambia

By Pelekelo Liswaniso

DECEMBER is a month of festivities and reflections in most countries in Africa and Zambia ‘s water sector will particularly be taking stock of achievements and failures, if any, of the Canadian funded Partnership for Africa’s Water Development (PAWD) project whose four-year financial support comes to an end.

Specialists in the country’s water sector are meanwhile reviewing the final draft of Zambia’s Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Water Efficiency Implementation Plan for water related sectors, which is strongly linked to the country’s Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) and the long-term 2030 vision before the PAWD project comes to an end

PAWD Project Manager Chimwang’a Maseka confirmed in Lusaka that the PAWD project ends in December 2007 but was confident that groundwork had been laid to implement IWRM in the country’s planning and development process.

The overall purpose of the PAWD project was to contribute towards the achievement of water-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) targets supporting sustainable water resources management in Africa by facilitating action-oriented planning and implementation in selected African countries.

In other words, the overall goal of PAWD was to support African countries in the sustainable management of their water resource as a contribution to eliminating poverty, improving well-being and protecting natural resources.

The specific objective of the project was to facilitate IWRM at the national and regional level through action-oriented planning and implementation of IWRM frameworks, integration of water in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and strengthened partnerships in selected African countries and regions.

Beneficiaries of this project included stakeholders involved in water management in the selected countries in the region and ultimately, the beneficiaries will be the population in general who will access water and sanitation and improved livelihood.

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has over the years supported the implementation of the PAWD in selected African countries, which include Malawi and Zambia in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.


CIDA decided to channel the support through the Global Water Partnership (GWP) working with the country water partnerships, in this case the Zambia Water Partnership, (ZWP), to facilitate the process since the GWP network has developed technical expertise in IWRM and is a platform for multi-stakeholder groups.

Mr. Maseka said IWRM planning is underway in Zambia under the water sector reform process specifically under the Water Resources Action Programme (WRAP) process and other initiatives such as PRSPs and Environmental Management programmes.

The PAWD process, he said, has added value by increasing stakeholder capacity and awareness in IWRM and consolidating the various activities and plans.

He said the IWRM/We Implementation Plan has become a tool to guide the implementation of water programmes in the FNDP and the national budget in a coordinated and integrated manner in order to maximise economic efficiency, environmental suitability and social equity.

Already, the Zambian government, through the Ministry of Energy and Water Development has supported calls for developing countries to prepare national IWRM and Water Efficiency plans proclaimed at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa.

A key target agreed at the Conference and endorsed by the Heads of State was for countries to prepare national integrated water resources management and water efficiency plans by 2005.

And in Zambia, the planning, management, development and utilisation of water in a sustainable way has not been effectively undertaken.

During the just-ended 8th IWRM symposium in Lusaka, Energy Minister, Kenneth Konga admitted that while Zambia had attained significant progress in reducing the number of people without access to safe and adequate water supply, there was still a huge challenge in addressing sanitation service provisions and that Government would embrace IWRM process in its development plans.

The Minister also expressed fears that Zambia may not meet the MDGs on sanitation by 2015, hence the need to ensure that the planning and utilization of water is done in a sustainable way unlike at the moment when the process is rather sluggish.

Mr. Maseka however, cast some hope saying efforts to move towards IWRM was gaining momentum and have been initiated specifically with the Water Sector reforms and the 1994 National Water Policy in Zambia that advocates the implementation of IWRM/We plan.

The plan is seen to be a tool, which will bring together the various multi-sectoral initiatives and serve as the guideline for stakeholders implementing various initiatives to realise optimal results.

“The process of developing the IWRM/WE plan Implementation Plan has reached an advanced stage,” Mr. Maseka said, noting that the key stages followed in the process included the preparation of a discussion document containing the situation analysis of the water situation in the country.

Another stage was the presentation of the discussion document to stakeholders through the national workshop for directors in various government ministries and their heads of departments of planning, which was held in Ndola early this year, to kick-start a consultative process at catchment, provincial and sectoral level including the Water Sector Advisory Groups (Water SAG).

The water SAG is a forum that government has put in place to improve the coordination within the water sector. It includes all stakeholders from government departments, donors, civil society and other agencies that are active within the water sector and they meet quarterly to plan and review progress in the water sector

The final draft of the IWRM/WE Implementation Plan is now ready and water specialists and other stakeholders are being asked to submit their submissions and comments on the report which covers the period 2007-2030.

The IWRM/WE Plan states in part that economic development and improved well-being of the 11.7 million Zambians is dependent on an efficient planning process to reduce the pervasive poverty in the country.

IWRM has been defined by GWP as a process which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, in order to maximise the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.

Operationally, IWRM approaches involve applying knowledge from various disciplines as well as the insights from diverse stakeholders to devise and implement efficient, equitable and sustainable solutions to water and development problems.

As such IWRM is a comprehensive, participatory planning and implementation tool for managing and developing water resources in a way that balances social aand that ensures the protection of ecosystems for future generations.

Water’s many different uses, for agriculture, for healthy ecosystems, for people and livelihoods, demands coordinated action.

An IWRM approach is an open, flexible process bringing together decision-makers across the various sectors that impact water resources, and bringing all stakeholders to the table to specific water challenges facing them.

In Zambia, majority of the population lives in income deficit and suffer from other deprivations such as little access to water and sanitation and poor quality services.

Poverty is high in rural areas in comparison to the urban areas but lately poverty has rapidly increased in urban areas due to failing industries and the subsequent rise in unemployment.

Now that IWRM has been embraced in the country’s FNDP, is there hope for a positive turn-around in the development of the people?