Delivering Safe Sanitation and Better Health in Mozambique

For the first time, Jordina has a safe, private toilet. Standing outside the small green structure in the Filipe Samuel Magaia neighborhood of Tete, her baby in her arms, she smiles with pride. Unlike the makeshift latrine her family once relied on, it does not flood during heavy rains or force them to leave home in search of safer alternatives. It may look simple but for Jordina it represents dignity, safety, and peace of mind. Jordina's story is becoming increasingly common. Across five of Mozambique's fastest-growing cities, Maputo, Beira, Nampula, Tete, and Quelimane, the Mozambique Urban Sanitation Project, financed by a grant from the International Development Association with support from the Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership, and implemented by the Government of Mozambique, is expanding access to improved sanitation and transforming living conditions for more than 265,000 people. A Crisis Long in the Making A decade ago, Mozambique's cities were struggling to keep pace with rapid growth. Urbanization, expanding informal settlements, recurring natural disasters, and years of underinvestment had pushed sanitation infrastructure to its limits. In most cities, fewer than 10 percent of residents were connected to sewerage networks, leaving the majority dependent on latrines and septic tanks. Untreated wastewater and fecal sludge often flowed into rivers and coastal waters. In cities such as Quelimane and Tete, more than one in five residents still practiced open defecation. Tete resident Jenifer Vontade says she had no choice but to relieve herself outdoors. “It often meant waiting until the area was safe to avoid snakes and other dangers.” Beyond the embarrassment, she adds, “the conditions left people constantly exposed to contamination and disease.” The health consequences were severe. According to Pedro Martinez, a neighborhood secretary in Tete, the city experienced cholera outbreaks almost every year because of inadequate sanitation. Poor sanitation was estimated to cost the economy $125 million each year - $75 million in urban areas and $50 million in rural areas. Government estimates placed the investment needed to achieve universal access to safely managed sanitation by 2030 at over $1 billion, far beyond what domestic resources alone could finance. A Different Kind of Solution The Mozambique Urban Sanitation Project was designed to do more than build infrastructure. It was the first in a series of investments supporting Mozambique's National Urban Water and Sanitation Strategy. Its approach was based on the principles of Citywide Inclusive Sanitation, recognizing that no single solution can meet the needs of an entire city. Instead, it combines sewerage networks with well-managed on-site sanitation and fecal sludge management, ensuring that services reach low-income communities as well as formally planned neighborhoods. Inclusion was built into the project from the outset, with a goal of ensuring that at least half of those benefiting are women and at least 40 percent come from the poorest households. From Household Toilets to Citywide Systems In Tete, the approach translated into 4,400 improved household toilets across eight low-income neighborhoods. The toilets were delivered through a sanitation marketing initiative known as Casa de Banho Verde ("Green Toilet"), which encouraged households to co-invest in their own toilets and take ownership of the solution. Maria Ernesto was one of them. She says that when she heard she could finally have a toilet of her own, "my heart beat faster." Her family contributed 2,000 meticais toward the construction cost, a symbolic amount, she says, compared to what they received. The response exceeded expectations. More than 11,500 households applied for a Green Toilet in Tete alone, far surpassing the 4,400 toilets that could be delivered.