Lusaka, Zambia, 18 March 2026: Across many health facilities, particularly in rural and off-grid areas, power disruptions continue to affect essential services, from laboratory diagnostics to maternal and emergency care. Zambia is taking a major step to address this challenge by working with partners to expand the solarisation of health facilities, ensuring more reliable and sustainable electricity for service delivery.

The Permanent Secretary for Donor Coordination, Ministry of Health Dr George Sinyangwe noted that “over the past several years, the Ministry of Health, working in partnership with cooperating partners such as UNDP, UNICEF, the World Bank, the Global Fund, and other development partners, has made significant progress in the solarisation of health facilities across the country.

These investments have improved the reliability of energy supply in many facilities and have ensured that essential services can continue even during grid interruptions.”

Yet, as investments in solarisation expand across Zambia, the absence of standardised guidance has led to variations in system quality and long-term maintenance – a looming threat to the sustainability of these critical interventions.

At a national validation workshop, the Ministry of Health, with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), convened partners in finalising harmonised guidelines for solar-powered health systems. These guidelines will ensure that as solarisation efforts scale, they are standardised to ensure quality and support long-term sustainability of solar investments in the health sector. This will ensure uninterrupted access to essential health services and safe storage of vaccines.

This marks a shift from fragmented projects to a coordinated national system for solar in health.

The workshop brought together technical experts from the United States Embassy, UNICEF, Yieldplay, the Ministry of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, the Rural Electrification Authority, and other key stakeholders, reflecting a coordinated, whole-of-system approach to addressing energy gaps in the health sector.

By aligning stakeholders under a common framework, Zambia is ensuring that renewable energy solutions translate into tangible improvements in healthcare service delivery.

“Initiatives such as these help ensure that partner investments contribute not only to immediate results, but also to stronger national capacity and more sustainable outcomes over the long term”, explained the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, Laurent Rudasingwa, in his opening statement delivered at the validation workshop.

This milestone represents an important step in ensuring that health facilities, particularly in underserved and remote communities, have access to reliable and sustainable energy, enabling uninterrupted delivery of essential health services. The guidelines were developed and validated through the Smart Health Systems project — led by the Ministry of Health, implemented by UNDP and supported by the Global Fund. The project commits to continuing to advance systems-level approaches to strengthening sustainable, quality service delivery.

For media inquiries and to learn more, please contact:

Mercy Khozi, mercy.khozi@undp.org, +260966750787 

Ranya Sherif, Ranya.sherif@undp.org, +260…