WaterAid, Gvt Push District Councils to Implement ECD WASH Guidelines
The dissemination meeting drew district officials from Salima, Lilongwe, Mchinji, Ntchisi, Dedza, Kasungu and Nkhotakota to align on operationalizing the new national ECD WASH standards.
LILONGWE, Malawi - WaterAid Malawi is urging district councils in the Central Region to develop concrete plans for implementing new national guidelines on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) standards in early childhood development (ECD) centers, writes Martin Kamlaike.
The call came at a regional dissemination meeting Wednesday in Lilongwe, where WaterAid and the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare shared the 'National Minimum Standards and Guidelines for WASH in ECDs in Malawi.'
Justin Hamela, Deputy Director of Child Affairs at the ministry, said the guidelines aimed to bring uniformity after an assessment found significant gaps and variations in ECD facilities across Malawi.
"We identified there are a lot of gaps and un-uniformity in ECD centers. When partners want to support, for example a kitchen or toilet, they would just take any design," Hamela said.
"So we thought we should come up with standards that would guide partners and councils."
Hamela said the ministry hopes the new guidelines, developed with WaterAid's support, will help address waterborne diseases and improve learning environments by ensuring quality WASH facilities in ECDs.
However, he acknowledged Malawi's struggle to implement well-drafted policies, saying these ECD WASH guidelines are anchored in the ministry's existing ECD policy requiring quality facilities.
"Within the ECD policy, there is a measure for quality WASH facilities in every center. What we have done is extract that into detailed guidelines," Hamela explained.
On concerns over ECD caregiver shortages, Hamela said the ministry is transitioning from volunteer staffing to a professional permanent workforce to raise quality, supported by putting caregivers on government honoraria.
For his part, WaterAid's Lloyd Mtalimanja said the NGO identified a glaring lack of any WASH guidelines for ECDs, leading to an "on-the-ground chaos" with no standards applied.
Mtalimanja admitted securing implementation funds is always a challenge in Malawi but said WaterAid and partners advocate for ECD budget increases, helping boost allocation from 803 million kwacha in 2019/20 to 3 billion kwacha in 2020/21, though still short of targets.
"We go beyond policies by initiating ways to implement them. One aspect is ensuring resources are available from government, development partners and others," Mtalimanja stated.
The dissemination meeting drew district officials from Salima, Lilongwe, Mchinji, Ntchisi, Dedza, Kasungu and Nkhotakota to align on operationalizing the new national ECD WASH standards.