Water, sanitation and hygiene are fundamental to human development
The provision of clean water and basic sanitation underpins all areas of sustainable human development. They are essential necessities for life, and access to them is a basic human right. Their lack causes poverty and suffering.
Governments need to ensure that this right is realised by taking measures towards enabling the whole population to access clean water, sanitation and safe hygiene promotion. Governments will not be able to reduce poverty and make progress in other areas such as health, education, gender equity and economic growth unless WASH issues are addressed:
- Over half the hospital beds in developing countries are filled with people suffering from water-related diseases.
- Some 443 million school days are missed each year because of sickness from diarrhoeal diseases. It is estimated that half of the girls who stop attending primary school in Africa do so because of the lack of toilets.
- For every $1 spent on water and sanitation, $8 is gained in terms of saved time, increased productivity and reduced health costs.
- For millions of women, inadequate access to sanitation is a source of shame, physical discomfort and insecurity. Many women are only able to defecate at night, when they are vulnerable to physical assault.
‘One tenth of the global disease burden is preventable by achievable improvements in the way we manage water... Water-related improvements are crucial to meet the Millennium Development Goals, reduce child mortality, and improve health and nutritional status in a sustainable way.'
Dr Maria Neira, Director Of Public Health And Environment, World Health Organization
Governments are responsible
As noted in the previous section, it is the responsibility of governments to ensure that people have access to adequate WASH services. Governments (local and national) therefore need to be held to account for the global WASH problem. Poor governance is one of the main reasons why people lack access to water and sanitation. Poor governance is the term used to describe the situation when a government is not effective, open and transparent, or accountable to its citizens.
‘Government leadership in creating the conditions for progress in sanitation is vital … Communities or NGOs acting alone can create islands of success, sometimes on an impressive scale. But project-led advances cannot substitute for the financial, political and administrative resources that governments can bring to bear.'
United Nations Development Programme
Many governments do not recognise or understand how improvements in WASH underpin progress in other development areas. In their national poverty reduction plans, most governments are not prioritising WASH activities or allocating sufficient funding for key infrastructure, programmes and staff who can manage and regulate the sector. The failure by governments to meet the WASH needs of their population is resulting in an increased burden on poor people and communities.
A review of 12 poverty reduction strategy papers found that despite water and sanitation often being in the top three or four priorities in participatory poverty assessments, the sector did not receive as much attention as health and education. The study recognised the importance of developing effective advocacy tools to ‘build and sustain commitment to the sector within poverty reduction strategies' and the important role of civil society in this process. Water and Sanitation Programme (2003)
