EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report presents the performance of Malawi’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Sector during the 2025/26 Financial Year. It reviews progress across sector financing and staffing, water resources management, rural and urban water supply, sanitation and hygiene, and Civil Society Organization (CSO) contributions, while assessing implementation of Joint Sector Review (JSR) undertakings and identifying priorities for strengthening sector performance.
During the reporting period, the sector registered notable progress in expanding access to safe drinking water and implementing major infrastructure investments. National access to improved drinking water services increased to 88.5 percent, with urban access reaching 96.7 percent and rural access 87.0 percent. Drinking water quality compliance remained high at 87.7 percent, ambient water quality compliance improved to 92.6 percent, and the Department exceeded its annual borehole construction target by constructing 82 boreholes against a target of 70. Significant investments were also made through the National Water and Sanitation Project, Malawi Water and Sanitation Improvement Project, Malawi Resilience and Disaster Risk Management Project, and Water Board infrastructure programmes, contributing to improved service delivery and climate resilience.
Despite these achievements, the sector continued to face significant financing and institutional challenges. The WASH sector’s allocation declined from 3.35 percent of the national budget in 2024/25 to 1.97 percent in 2025/26, while district councils allocated only 1.5 percent of their budgets to WASH. Development financing remained highly dependent on external resources, with 80.7 percent of development expenditure financed by Development Partners. Human resource constraints also persisted, with vacancy levels under the Department of Water Development increasing to 36 percent, limiting planning, supervision, and service delivery capacity.
The sanitation and hygiene sub-sector remains an area of concern. According to the 2024 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey, access to at least basic sanitation declined to 40 percent, highlighting the need for accelerated investment in sanitation infrastructure, behaviour change, wastewater management, and hygiene promotion. Wastewater quality compliance also remained low at 44.7 percent, posing environmental and public health risks.
Civil Society Organizations continued to play a critical role in complementing Government efforts through investments in water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion, emergency WASH response, research, innovation, and capacity development. Their contributions strengthened community resilience, expanded access to WASH services, and supported evidence generation for sector planning and decision-making. Recent assessments also highlighted improvements in sector coordination while underscoring the need to strengthen monitoring systems, implementation tracking of JSR undertakings, financing accountability, and mutual accountability mechanisms.
Overall, the sector demonstrated moderate progress despite increasing financial, institutional, and climate-related pressures. While investments continue to improve access to water services, achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 and the aspirations of Malawi 2063 will require increased domestic financing, strengthened institutional capacity, accelerated sanitation improvements, improved wastewater management, enhanced monitoring and information systems, and stronger accountability for sector results. The 2026 Joint Sector Review therefore provides an important opportunity for Government, Development Partners, Water Boards, Local Authorities, Civil Society Organizations, and other stakeholders to agree on practical actions that will improve financing, strengthen service sustainability, build climate resilience, and accelerate universal access to safe and equitable WASH services in Malawi.
