Water and Sanitation

Health consequences of the water and sanitation crisis in developing countries
Water & sanitation and the Millennium Development Goals
The European Development Policy in water & sanitation
An integrated framework to respond to the water & sanitation crisis

Health consequences of the water and sanitation crisis in developing countries

Today, the world is facing a water crisis that threatens lives, sustainable development and even peace and security in the world.

For some 1.1 billion people – nearly a fifth of the world's population – access to safe drinking water remains a distant dream. With no choice but to use water from dirty ponds or polluted rivers, they spend up to 6 hours a day carrying water instead of going to work or school and they suffer from diarrhoea, tuberculosis and cholera and other water-borne diseases.

Access to basic sanitation is as important as access to drinking water. But, some 2.6 billion people – nearly half of the world's population – do not have decent toilets. The consequences are disastrous: more than 4 500 children under the age of 5 years die each day from preventable diseases caused by pollution, dirty water and poor hygiene. The lack of clean water, hygiene and basic sanitation is a great human tragedy.

Other consequences:

crop failure in irrigated fields
cattle dying of thirst
small businesses paralysed by power cuts caused by limited hydro-power
precious aquatic ecosystems destroyed through over-extraction or pollution of water.

Aggravating factors

Climate change will affect the water cycle and make the crisis much worse.
Population growth and changing lifestyles, rapid urbanisation and economic development are dramatically increasing the demand for the limited water resources in developing countries.
In the last century, water use grew more than twice as fast as the population. As a result, floods, droughts and water shortages will become even more frequent in many developing countries where rainfall is already irregular and water resources scarce.

Developing countries need to invest in the sustainable management of their water resources – they need to share water from transboundary rivers and lakes and learn to adapt to changes in water availability. Water shortages threaten to aggravate political tensions and conflicts between countries linked by rivers and lakes.

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Water & sanitation and the Millennium Development Goals

In 2000, at the Millennium Summit of the United Nations, leaders from 189 countries agreed on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), setting targets for poverty reduction. Two targets relate specifically to water and sanitation:

the “water target” – to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015.
the “sanitation target”: – to halve the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015.

None of the targets can be achieved without significant progress on access to safe drinking water, basic sanitation, sustainable management and integrated development of water resources.

The UN has declared 2005-2015 the Water Decade and 2008 the International Year of Sanitation.

Water & Sanitation and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

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The European Development Policy in water & sanitation

Today, the EU provides close to €1.5bn each year for water and sanitation programmes in developing countries – making it the biggest contributor.

EU development policy promotes an integrated framework for water resources management, drawing on European experience with managing river basins and jointly managing transboundary rivers, and a whole range of European approaches to managing water and sanitation services. There are three priorities:

universal access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation to reduce poverty, improve public health and increase livelihood opportunities
establishing and strengthening organisations and infrastructure for the sustainable and equitable management of transboundary rivers, lakes and groundwater
coordinating fair, sustainable and appropriate distribution of water between different users

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An integrated framework to respond to the water & sanitation crisis

EU aid combines political and financial support to help developing countries respond to the water crisis, particularly in

Asia and Latin America
Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP countries).

The EU also works to improve prosperity, stability and security in its "neighbourhood countries" around the Mediterranean Sea and along the Eastern border of the EU .

National and regional support programmes

between 2000-07, the EU gave € 475 M to support government water and sanitation programmes in 16 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific
between 2008-10, the EU will give € 100 M each year to neighbouring states along its southern and eastern borders to support water and sanitation programmes
some € 440 M is being provided to 7 Mediterranean countries – for policy support and infrastructure development
some € 100 M goes to support policy and technical assistance in Latin America
water is the focus of the new EU environmental programme in central Asia– intendedto enhance regional stability through transboundary water cooperation.
other important water programmes have focused on water supply and sanitation in India and river basin management in China.

Some challenges cannot be met by national governments alone – for example the management and development of transboundary waters. The EU and many other donors support the 10 states around the Nile basin to encourage fair, peaceful and sustainable management of their shared water resources.

The EU provides nearly € 40 M to support regional water resource management and development in 7 transboundary river basins in Africa.

Political dialogue on policies and strategies for water and sanitation

The EU Water Initiative (EUWI) operates in four regions (Africa; Eastern Europe, Caucasus & Central Asia; the Mediterranean; Latin America) as a framework for

meeting water-related Millennium Development Goals
raising public and political awareness
promoting the development of national water and sanitation sector policies/ strategies
attracting new funds for water and sanitation in developing countries.

It brings together

the European Commission
EU countries
governments in partner countries
civil society groups
local governments and
water operators

For example, in Ethiopia, the initiative is helping to bring together government officials, civil society groups, private entrepreneurs and donors to develop water and sanitation strategies, including sector financing strategies, in an open and transparent national process.

In research, the Initiative coordinates EU actions and responds to the developing countries' research needs.

Financing schemes to catalyse action in water and sanitation

As a direct result of the EU Water Initiative, a € 500 M fund (the "Water Facility") was created to deliver and leverage investment in water and sanitation services in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. It has mobilised local governments, local water operators and civil society in the provision of services, and in contributing to better governance and management.

Between 2004 and 2007, 177 project proposals were selected for support, providing

better access to water for 20m people,
better access to sanitation for 9m people
education on health and hygiene for 7m people by 2010.

A fund (the "investment facility") was also established to finance water and sanitation projects in countries bordering the EU.

Political dialogue and financing for infrastructure investments

The EU-Africa Partnership on Infrastructure provides the framework for political dialogue on developing and financing hydraulic infrastructure and water institutions responsible for transboundary water management.

The partnership addresses:

transboundary basin management
flood preparedness programmes
knowledge and monitoring of water resources for better water management
sustainable regional water infrastructure.

The partnership responds directly to the need for regional integration and growth voiced by the African Union, and is supported by an infrastructure trust fund designed to leverage additional finance for infrastructure development by blending EU grants with loans from the European Investment Bank and other European and African development financing institutions.

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