Improving Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Rural Areas of Zimbabwe Extension

"The project is the second phase of the Rural WASH project which is now targeting in total 12 new districts. Plan will be implementing the project in Mutoko district is one of the 12 districts. According to the baseline survey conducted in 2016, the district water and sanitation situation has regressed significantly. An estimated 17.6% people in the district do not have access to safe water and 78.4% are without improved sanitation.  Although efforts to put new water infrastructure through drilling of boreholes was done in the past years, most of the boreholes are not functional with some in poor unhygienic condition. The national baseline survey that was carried out revealed that more than 60% of the boreholes in the 3 provinces were non-functional exposing populations to unsafe drinking water sources. With more than 80% of the population in rural areas using un treated water, the district can be considered to have a high water related disease burden.  The country had serious cholera outbreak (2008/2009) and the majority of the cases (72%) were from rural areas, a red flag indicator of poor WASH service delivery system in rural areas. The impact of lack of access to safe water and improved sanitation has a far reaching impact on the lives of children and their communities."