Scaling-up of WASH in Schools program in Chembe District, Luapula Province SUMMARY 
According to the Chembe District Council report of 2016, the WASH situation in schools is far below the national standard. The project started October 2019 and Plan Zambia will improve access to and use of WASH facilities in 19 schools in Chembe district in Zambia to improve health and learner performance of school-aged children, especially girls.  By triggering 19 schools using School Led Total Sanitation (SLTS) and Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach, toilets at basic service level will be provided in schools and in communities at household level. Ablution blocks with handwashing and menstrual hygiene facilities will be installed for hygiene promotion. Girls and women will actively become involved in decision taking processes regarding design of gender friendly WASH facilities. In the district Chembe a high number of boreholes are not functional due to high iron content. In the absence of functional water facilities, communities resort to unsafe sources. It is therefore important that the provision of water facilities are accompanied by a robust O&M system to assure their functioning . Current levels of 108 users per latrine drop hole in the project area are twice the recommended ratio of 50:1. The common gender-related barriers are the discrimination and social norms concerning women’s and girls’ bodies, roles and responsibilities. Women and girls are responsible for household tasks and also for the collection of water. This gendered division of labour leaves little time for women and girls, particularly when water sources are not easily accessible. Inadequate WASH provision puts a greater burden on women and girls in their roles in care and unpaid domestic duties. Furthermore, norms of taboo and silence around menstrual hygiene, which frame menstruation and menstruating adolescent girls and women as contaminated or impure, have severe impacts. In the project area schools do not have menstrual hygiene facilities. They are also not aware of the free distribution of menstrual pads by government . Overall objective: 
Improved health and learning performance of school-aged children especially girls and their communities by reducing the incidence of water and sanitation-related diseases.  
Specific objectives are: 
•	Improved primary school attendance, health and cognitive development of a child through which WASH may affect early child development, primarily through inflammation, stunting, and anemia;
•	Greater girls’ participation in school;
•	Positive hygiene behaviours that may last for life which will helps children develop essential life skills that enable them to take greater responsibility of their own lives based on education that will essentially centre hygiene practices in children’s daily reality, while helping children acquire both knowledge of appropriate hygiene behaviours and the skills to use them;
•	Outreach to families and communities, through the participation of students in hygiene promotion
•	Greater equity in schools in the use and access of WASH facilities. The project is an extension of a project implemented from 2016-2019 in 9 schools in the Chembe district. A conclusion of the final evaluation was that the programme had relevant results and has improved WASH in schools. But the results were not sustainable yet and therefore the new project will further strengthening the 9 schools of the previous programme and also focus on 10 new schools. The roles and responsibilities of all actors will be defined contractually. The Ministry of General Education will continue ordering construction of  latrines with wash rooms in schools to improve the welfare and dignity of the adolescent girl children. Close supervision of the contractor is essential to ensure adherence to the designs otherwise the structures become compromised in standard and quality. Plan will play an active role during implementation and keep close contact with the local communities. The  project focuses on two primary groups: vulnerable and socially excluded children, and girls in particular. The project will be implemented in five (5) wards of the district and benefits a total of 4,716 boys and 4,159 girls of school going age and 7,437 girls and 4,958 boys out of school. Strategic objective 1: Improved WASH services through an effective management and functioning of WASH facilities, reduction in open defecation and improved hygiene in schools.
Activities:
1.Construction of small piped water supply schemes at schools 
2. Construction of boreholes equipped with hand pump
3. Water quality testing and monitoring
4. Triggering schools using SLTS and surrounding villages using CLTS to construct toilets to basic service level at school and household level
5. Construction of ablution blocks for girls and boys with running water at three (3) secondary schools
6. Construction VIPs  appropriate for girls and boys at seven (7) primary schools
7. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
8. Population is making progress towards the use of safely managed sanitation services
9. Conduct hygiene promotion sessions in handwashing with water and soap in nineteen (19) schools 
10. Population is making progress towards better hygiene practices
11. Post-triggering
12. Verification and certifying ODF status by CLTS national team
13. Facilitate joint partnership WASH annual work plans and budgets
14. Training of teachers and extension staff members in participatory sanitation and hygiene promotion using SLTS 
1.5.Training community champions, neighbourhood health committees in participatory sanitation and hygiene promotion using SLTS/CLTS
14.Training teachers, extension staff & community champions in data capturing by  desegregation and age cohort using DHIS2 and EIMS  
15. Women and girls are encouraged to participate in WASH management 
16. Socially excluded groups are  encouraged to participate in WASH management

Strategic objective 2: Increased participation and voice in decision-making and management by women and girls; and improved school attendance for girls 
Activities:
1.  Conduct gender analysis training for Plan International Zambia, teachers & others government staff using the Gender WASH Monitoring Tool (GWMT)
2.Conduct gender analysis among women/girls and men/boys, religious and traditional leaders in the schools and surrounding communities using integrated and appropriate tools (GWMT)
3. Support equality for women & girls in the decision-making process at a local level through school, Ward Gender subcommittees, by conducting sensitisation meetings & follow-ups with Village Gender Transformative Taskforces
4. Conduct education/sensitization of both the school population and surrounding communities in MHM 
5. Provide schools with knowledge about support to provision of MHM materials (locally made sanitary pads) for women/girl and men/boys in income generating methodology for economic empowerment 


Strategic objective 3: School children are promoters of sanitation and hygiene and are effective agents of change within their homes and the communities
Activities:
1. Use of SLTS (two models – school to community, community to schools) as a way to promote school leadership, extension of Open Defecation Free (ODF) programming to communities that form the ‘catchment’ of a school with each school conducting 9 outreach activities.
2. Education/sensitization of both the school population (girls, boys and teachers) and surrounding communities around the importance of MHM is done to remove the taboo tag attached to it so that information can get to all.
3. Child rights and gender training Financial and institutional sustainability: After handover of the facilities, the project will review the following regularly to assess contribution of the community to O&M according to the agreed national Sustainable Operation and Maintenance Approach (SOMAp). Plan contributed to  its development and works with elected Water Committee, Parent Teachers Association/Community and Local Authority/D-WASHE. By involving students, teachers, parents , communities and government the project is ankered locally. 
The environmental sustainability is taken care of by keeping he environment of the WASH services clean. Reduced Open Defecation will also contribute to a clean and healthier enviroment. 
Technical sustainaility is taken care off by using local technology and local technical staff that has the requested skills to install and maintain infrastructure. Spare parts are locally available.
The project focuses on increased participation and voice in decision-making and management by women and girls. By tackling  the underlying reasons behind gender inequality, women and girls will feel empowered, and social attitudes will have been changed in a positive way.