Refugees face big challenges in accessing clean water and sanitation

In 2013, Winston and Ena, an engaged couple, fled conflict in their homeland of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The duo made their way to Malawi. 

Most refugees transiting through Malawi head to the Dzaleka refugee camp, a defunct political prison situated around 50 km from the country’s capital, Lilongwe. Since 1994, Dzaleka has grown into the country’s largest refugee settlement. Malawi is party to the 1951 Geneva UN refugee convention, with reservations, and does not grant refugees freedom of movement. Consequently, refugees and asylum-seekers like Winston and Ena are confined within the camp’s borders. 

Without freedom of movement, refugees rely completely on the space and resources available within Dzaleka. So although the camp provides safety, its residents face challenges related to water and sanitation.

The lack of adequate sanitation and water faced by Dzaleka residents is an all too common challenge for millions of refugees around the world. Many settlements are not able to provide proper sanitation, a troubling situation for refugees who might remain displaced for decades—especially now, as COVID-19 makes inroads into Africa and other parts of the world lacking good sanitation infrastructure. At the end of 2018, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimated that as many as 15.9 million refugees—78 percent of all refugees—were living in protracted refugee situations, which highlights the need for long-term solutions to water and waste issues, above and beyond immediate aid.

In Dzaleka, the settlement’s only formal wastewater infrastructure currently services 6,000 people, but there are more than 41,000 refugees in the camp. As a result, residents such as Ena and Winston must rely on informal pit latrines and wastewater drains haphazardly placed in densely populated areas. 

Dzaleka benefits from the support of international aid organizations such as the World Food Programme, Plan International, the UNHCR, and others, which provide financial, technical, and logistical assistance. Local NGOs such as There Is Hope also play an important role. The organization provides vocational training to refugees in order to stimulate income-generating activities and help camp newcomers address their housing and sanitation needs. 

Winston completed a bricklaying course through There Is Hope, then constructed his own three-roomed mud and brick house in addition to building a similar dwelling for his mother and siblings who live in an adjoining neighborhood. 

“My first priority was to provide for my family,” says Winston. “Before building my own place earlier this year, I used to live with my mother, brothers, and sisters. So, once I completed the bricklaying training, I first built a toilet and washing area for my mother. Only afterwards did I begin planning a house for Ena and I,” he says.  

A short distance from Winston’s home are the camp’s 89 communal pit latrines, supplied by the UNHCR. In addition to these, 5,500 households in the camp have built informal pit latrines, which resemble rudimentary holes in the ground. On average in Dzaleka, around seven people share a latrine, better than the UNHCR’s post-emergency standard of 20 people per latrine.

But as there is little formal planning in the overcrowded camp, informal latrines are often attached to living areas of homes, which creates health risks. These latrines are not regularly maintained or connected to a sewage network. 

“We know that water is dirty,” says Ena. “But we are not sure how to deal with it … What can we do? The most important thing for us is to have a home and a private place to wash and use the toilet.”

Latrines are just one challenge in Dzaleka. Access to water is another. The UNHCR standards for post-emergency settlements recommend at least 20 liters of water per day for each refugee, but in Dzaleka residents get only about nine liters per day, supplied by 34 hand pumps and 15 water kiosks.