World Water Day: LED starts new project in Zambia with WATER FOR WATER
Synchronized with World Water Day on March 22, LED announces support for a new training project that aims to improve water supply in Zambia in the medium and long term. The project is being implemented in collaboration with the Swiss non-profit organization WATER FOR WATER (WfW) and various local partners, including commercial Zambian water suppliers.
Professional partners with complementary competencies
(Schaan, March 15, 2023) The LED and WfW are partnering up. The LED has been financing development cooperation projects as an official bilateral donor since 1965 and has been active in Zambia for almost a quarter of a century. The organization WfW was founded in Lucerne, Switzerland, about ten years ago and has since been committed to sustainable and fair management of water resources in Mozambique, Zambia and Switzerland, and specifically in Zambia to the development of professional drinking water systems and vocational training in the water sector. Together, LED and WfW aim to improve both water supply and sanitation for the Zambian population by training local professionals in the sanitation sector. The project sum of just under 640,000 Swiss francs awarded by the LED Foundation Board is spread over three years from 2023 to 2025. With this partnership, the LED is further expanding its project portfolio in cooperation with actors in vocational training in Zambia. The previous focus on the health sector is very well complemented by this vocational training project in the water sector.
Intact sanitation and good water supply thanks to competent sanitation professionals
In 2020, only about 65% of the Zambian population had access to a basic drinking water supply and only one-third to basic sanitation. One concern of the joint project is to improve this situation through additional and better trained professionals. It is also intended to further reduce the hurdles to career entry and employability of graduates. The project contributes to the reduction of high youth unemployment in Zambia and makes an important contribution to SDG 4 - Inclusive, Equitable and Quality Education and SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation.
Media contact: Alexandra Ospelt, Communications LED, +423 782 09 79
Photo by Tatjana Schnalzger (from left to right): Happy about the future cooperation in Zambia: LED CEO Andreas Sicks, WfW Project Manager Samuel Renggli, WfW Founder and WfW CEO Morris Etter and LED Project Manager Miriam Speh.
