Suggestions to Improve WASH Statistics in Mozambique’s Survey Data

Mozambique’s population is experiencing demographic transformations characterized by urban expansion and changes in the distribution of rural and urban populations. The poor are mainly concentrated in rural areas, in the provinces of Nampula and Zambezia, but rural areas have shown little progress in improved water supply coverage. Lack of access to WASH significantly contributes to maternal health risks, time-poverty, and undernutrition. Reducing distance to water supply and sanitation facilities and improving quality of services benefit the poor by lowering the likelihood of disease and by freeing up time for productive activities and education. Mozambique has not fully updated and properly enforced its standards and principles governing the quality and reliability of water supply and sanitation services, which pose additional challenges in achieving the SDGs for WASH. Ongoing governance reforms must focus on sectors’ performance to overcome service delivery inefficiencies and improve overall management of water supply and sanitation services. WASH subsectors need to be understood separately only in terms of their budgetary planning, allocations, and managing expenditures.