ONE FOR ALL CASE STUDY: MALAWI

MAKING SMART USE OF FUNDING, THROUGH A CLIMATE-RESILIENT WASH FINANCING STRATEGY

Less than 3 percent of climate financing is spent on adapting systems and behaviors, and only a small fraction of that goes to water, sanitation and hygiene. This flow of money must change urgently to build people’s resilience to droughts, floods, landslides and water-borne diseases. In Malawi, this resilience can’t come soon enough.


In 2020, One For All identified finance as a significant barrier to a strong climate adaptation. So the alliance brought together representatives from Malawi’s Ministry of Water and Sanitation’s Planning Department and the Ministry of Finance to develop a Climate Resilient WASH Financing Strategy, funded by UNICEF.

“We could not have achieved so much alone,” says Kate Harawa, director of influence and scale at Water For People. “We united diverse voices and knowledge through a stakeholder consultation… and analyzed financial gaps and bottlenecks that were hindering progress. Together, we designed a strategy that gives practical ways to address them.”

But the team didn’t stop there. The government wanted the alliance to publicize the strategy to all Malawians — particularly the main players in health, climate change and social justice. So members of the alliance visited each ministry and discussed practical ways to implement the strategies locally. According to Kate, valuable projects are already emerging that focus on repairs to existing infrastructure.

“We can’t keep doing business as usual,” says Kate, “and we can always learn from each other.”
Kate Harawa with members of the Malawi government.
BECAUSE WE CAN GO FASTER AND FURTHER TOGETHER