Understanding the WASH Response to COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented event in the present age that has raised questions about the national emergency WASH response in Africa. With the COVID-19 and WASH Response Study, the Water for Africa Through Leadership and Institutional Support (WALIS) activity sought to understand how coordination, finance, monitoring, and organizational capacity influenced the WASH response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study is meant to provide valuable information on the critical WASH responses that African country leaders have undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic up to July 2021; how those decisions were reached; the degree to which evidence informed those decisions – or not; and what lessons can be drawn to inform a better response to future crises and to build back better. This technical report is accompanied by three country case studies for Liberia, Madagascar, and Malawi.

This document is also available in the following languages:

• French