Reducing vandalism of water and sanitation infrastructure: experience from Zambia鈥檚 Copperbelt
Approaches to vandalism reduction include more community sense of ownership and better law enforcement
Abstract
This Topic Brief highlights the relevance of vandalism as a key issue that impacts on the financial viability of water and sanitation utilities, and aims to provide practical insights on strategies for vandalism reduction. This is achieved through a case study documenting experience in the Copperbelt region of Zambia, where Nkana Water and Sewerage Company (NWSC) are implementing a three-pronged, integrated approach to vandalism reduction consisting of improving customer and utility relations, increasing the community鈥檚 sense of ownership, and strengthening law enforcement.
The Topic Brief emphasises the importance to utilities of identifying the motives behind local acts of vandalism, and of establishing a robust monitoring and reporting framework to capture incidents of vandalism and to inform the focus of planned and on-going interventions.
Citation
Peal, A. Reducing vandalism of water and sanitation infrastructure: experience from Zambia鈥檚 Copperbelt. Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) Topic Brief. WSUP, (2014) 11 pp.
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