To improve collaboration on environmental compliance issues across the Agency, GH EnviroLinks is conducting a series of spotlights on various Missions and Regions in which the Bureau of Global Health (GH) implements its programs. These spotlights will focus on the environmental compliance challenges and successes encountered by these teams. This spring, GH EnviroLinks had the pleasure of chatting with Mwewa Katongo, who serves as both the Mission Environmental Officer (MEO) and Climate Integration Liaison (CIL) for USAID/Zambia.

GH EnviroLinks: Mwewa, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Could you please introduce yourself for our readers?

Mwewa Katongo: My name is Mwewa Katongo. I am the Project Design, Monitoring Specialist, MEO, and CIL for Zambia. My job responsibilities span across a range of duties due to the interconnectedness and importance of assuring compliance from activity design through to monitoring and evaluation. I have been working in this role since January 2014.

GH: Given your experience, what would you say was the biggest environmental compliance challenge you faced in Zambia last year?

MK: One of the biggest environmental compliance challenges we faced in Zambia last year was the appropriate management of healthcare waste (HCW).

GH: Do you think this challenge is unique to Zambia? Why or why not?

MK: No, it is not unique to Zambia. I know that other countries in sub-Saharan Africa and around the world share this problem. I saw this in 2019, when I attended the Africa Regional Advanced Workshop on Environmental Compliance and Environmentally Sound Design & Management in Uganda. As part of that workshop, the team visited several local healthcare facilities. The challenges experienced by the USAID/Uganda Implementing Partner (IP) and healthcare facilities staff resembled challenges in Zambia. The issues were so similar, and the facilities were so familiar that I had to constantly pause and remind myself that I was not in Zambia.

One of the common challenges I noted was a lack of waste disposal facilities, such as standard incinerators. Most of the clinics I visited use unlined open pits as the sole disposal method. This challenge was compounded by many of the clinics being in densely populated areas. It is common to find houses within 10-meters of a clinic. Because of that, residents complain of discomfort caused by breathing the toxic smoke and smells from burning HCW. During the rainy season, the open pits fill up and rainfall run-off overflows and collects around the houses. The stagnant contaminated water from these situations increase the community’s susceptibility to various diseases.

GH: Roughly what percentage of your portfolio is dedicated to health projects?

MK: At least 80 percent of USAID/Zambia’s portfolio is health related. The largest portion of our health portfolio is the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Additional health activities include health service delivery, maternal child health, medical supply chain (including electronic logistics information management), malaria, tuberculosis, and construction.

GH: Do you have any new initiatives or approaches that you’re taking or considering to improve the environmental soundness and sustainability of your projects?

MK: We are planning to provide training to the IP staff that deal directly with the implementation and monitoring of the Environmental Monitoring and Mitigation Plan (EMMP) and the Integrated Waste Management Plan (IWMP) immediately after an award is made. A recent site visit revealed issues in the transfer of information from key personnel who attend post-award conferences and USAID trainings, to those in the field who may be better placed to monitor and report on progress. Therefore, planning individualized training for IP staff should help us reiterate the importance of proper HCW management (HCWM) practices.

Additionally, USAID/Zambia is including more specific environmental compliance language in solicitations and awards, following invaluable recommendations received from the HCWM assessment we conducted in 2019. We have also reinforced the need to consider having a clear line item budget for HCWM specifically and environmental compliance in general. With a dedicated budget, we plan to work with IPs and facilities to ensure that our HCWM efforts go beyond waste collection, segregation, and labelling. The Mission plans to track HCWM improvements, and IPs are encouraged to include in their Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Plans relevant performance indicators that monitor the use of proper HCWM practices.

GH: What is one thing would you like GH to understand about implementing health projects in Zambia?

MK: Proper HCWM is difficult in locations where USAID/Zambia supports various health interventions. It is one of the most challenging environmental compliance issues that the Mission faces.

While USAID/Zambia is working to improve HCWM, there are problems faced by the Zambian healthcare system that are beyond our sphere of influence. Our HCW budget is limited even though we do hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of healthcare programming. Without proper attention to HCWM, we risk undermining the good that we do.

GH: Mwewa, thanks very much for your insights!

Subscribe to GH EnviroLinks to receive our quarterly newsletter, including future spotlights, direct to your inbox! To learn more about USAID’s environmental procedures, officers, and initiatives, visit the USAID Environmental Procedures Hub. If you have specific questions related to the GH environmental program please contact ghcompliancesupport@usaid.gov.