EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The 2025 Malawi WASH Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Performance Report presents the contributions of Civil Society Organizations to the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector during the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. The report, coordinated by the Water and Environmental Sanitation Network (WESNET), captures the achievements, investments, innovations, challenges, and lessons from 25 reporting organizations operating across 27 of Malawi’s 28 districts, providing an important accountability mechanism and informing the national WASH Sector Performance Report.
During the reporting period, CSOs invested approximately MWK 40.4 billion in WASH programmes (excluding personal emoluments) and incurred total operational expenditures of MWK 142.4 billion. Looking ahead, reporting organizations have projected a combined WASH investment of MWK 44.5 billion for the 2025/26 financial year, reflecting continued commitment to improving WASH service delivery despite increasing financial pressures.
CSO interventions reached more than 4.5 million beneficiaries, including 3.66 million people with improved water access, 661,613 beneficiaries with improved sanitation, and 2.22 million people benefiting from hygiene interventions. Major achievements included construction and rehabilitation of water infrastructure, implementation of sustainable rural water supply models, promotion of sanitation and hygiene behaviour change, menstrual hygiene management, and generation of research to inform national policy and programming. Emergency WASH interventions also played a vital role in responding to cholera outbreaks and flood emergencies, with approximately MWK 2.8 billion invested in preparedness and response activities across affected districts.
The report highlights several innovative approaches that have demonstrated potential for national scale-up. These include Beyond Water Malawi’s Professionalized Repair and Maintenance (PRM) model, which achieved 99 percent borehole functionality, Water Mission’s use of Internet of Things (IoT) technology for remote monitoring of water systems, Water For People’s “Everyone Forever” district-wide sustainability model, BASEflow’s groundwater early warning system, and WASHTED’s research informing improvements in WASH services within health facilities. These initiatives demonstrate how innovation, technology and evidence-based programming can strengthen service sustainability and resilience.
Despite these achievements, the sector continues to face significant challenges. These include the low reporting rate among WASH CSOs, duplication of interventions, inadequate financing for local organizations, under-resourced district government structures, fragmented data management systems, climate-related threats to water infrastructure, and continued dependence on external donor financing. These challenges constrain service delivery and underscore the need for stronger coordination, improved data harmonization, enhanced domestic financing, and greater localization of resources.
The report recommends strengthening mandatory CSO reporting, scaling proven service delivery models such as the PRM approach, accelerating implementation of the Malawi Water and Sanitation Management Information System (MWAMIS), formalizing CSO participation in district planning and Joint Sector Reviews, increasing financing channelled through government systems, and strengthening collaboration among Government, development partners, research institutions, and Civil Society Organizations. Implementing these recommendations will improve sector coordination, enhance accountability, strengthen resilience to climate and public health shocks, and accelerate progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 and the aspirations of Malawi 2063.
