Delivering clean water with the Government of Zambia through drought and flood

In 2024, rains didn’t fall as usual in 84 of 116 districts in Zambia, and the drought was expected to last a year. A drought response appeal was launched by the President of the Republic of Zambia on 16 April 2024, which indicated that 6.6 million people were in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

The WASH sector was activated by the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) in December 2024, led by the Ministry of Water Development and Sanitation (MWDS) with UNICEF. UNICEF, together with the Ministry called to Standby Partners for assistance and Irish Aid responded, deploying Temesgen Endale for an initial period of six months. This bolstered capacity ensured that the Ministry could coordinate the activities of UNICEF and other sector partners in drilling boreholes, rehabilitating dysfunctional boreholes (for human consumption, and for domestic animals), the delivery of WASH and hygiene kits, and safe water treatment and storage at the household level.

Temesgen and the Zambia National WASH Cluster needed to ensure that the response was accountable to those who are affected by the current emergency but also ensure strengthens systems that could be sustained beyond his short-term deployment. Temesgen’s deployment was critical in ensuring the cluster could complete needs assessment and analysis, strategy development and monitoring of activities.

Temesgen, working closely with the national staff designated to support the WASH sector after him, also needed to support the planning of UNICEF emergency WASH response, including emergency preparedness and planning for most likely scenarios of possible flooding and water-borne disease. Towards the end of his original deployment period, the La Nina climate hit and UNICEF requested his extension to respond to outbreaks of Cholera and Mpox.

In Nakonde district, the first cholera hotspot, Temesgen provided instruction on the use of water quality testing devices, to monitor chlorine levels in drinking water. Through his work, Temesgen supported UNICEF in providing safe drinking water to over 60,000 affected people through the rehabilitation of water sources, and in reaching over 500,000 people with hygiene items improving water safety at household level.

Temesgen Endale demonstrating the use of colour comparators for measuring chlorine levels in drinking water, as part of UNICEF's handover of WASH supplies to the Ministry of Health in Nakonde district. @Ing’utu/UNICEF Zambia