Malawi National Water Policy - 2005

The Government of the Republic of Malawi, realizing the dependency of the economy on water resources and its impact on poverty reduction, considers the conservation, management, development and utilization of water resources as one of the priorities on its national development agenda which require supportive policies and legislation.

The Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development has come up with policies and guidelines for proper implementation of various activities in the Water and Sanitation Sector. The sector faces a number of challenges and threats and equally it has a number of opportunities. The National Water Policy outlines strategies on how to tackle these issues in an integrated manner in order to effectively contribute towards achieving the National Development Agenda.

The Water and Sanitation Sector faces a number of challenges which include the degradation of water resources, inadequate service coverage, inadequate financing, increasing water demand as a result of increasing population, HIV and AIDS prevalence, insufficient capacity, lack of integrated approach to water resources management and development, climate change and climate variability, lack of mitigation measures for water related disasters and inadequate promotion of hygiene and sanitation. On the other hand, the sector has opportunities such as availability of relatively abundant water resources, political will, active women and youth, donor support, willingness of private and public sectors’ participation, existence of regional and international initiatives such as the Johannesburg Declaration of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) 2002 and SADC Protocol on Shared Watercourses.

The Government will ensure improved coverage of equitable access to safe and potable water through the provision of new water facilities, in a transparent and accountable manner. However, it is necessary to put in place mechanisms for conservation and management of water resources,
operations and maintenance of the facilities. Such mechanisms include the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Community Based Management (CBM). Government is also encouraging active participation of local service providers and operators into the Water and Sanitation
Sector. The Government, therefore, will ensure that the set standards and guidelines advocated by this policy are adhered to in the whole process of conservation, management, development, provision and utilization of water resources, and disposal of wastewater.

The Government further strongly recognizes the initiatives of the international and regional communities and will continue to cooperate with them in order to achieve the 2015 Millennium Development Goals. At national level, the central policy of Government continues to be that of poverty reduction and economic prosperity as addressed by Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (MPRSP) and Malawi Economic Growth Strategy (MEGS), which is derived from Vision 2020 and is refined in the National Strategy for Sustainable Development (NSSD).