Concern over Uganda's lag in achieving SDG 6
A girl washes hands after visiting a toilet in Amudat District. Uganda is lagging in its bid to achieve the UN goal of global access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030. PHOTO/STEVEN ARIONG
What you need to know:
- Experts have urged the government to pose and reflect on SDGs in order to attain the 2030 agenda saying.
With only seven years left, Uganda is lagging behind other East African countries in terms of achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) six of ensuring universal access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030.
Considering the East African Community (EAC) bloc, Uganda’s performance is ranked lowest at 136 out of 163 countries- while Kenya is highest at 118th, Rwanda 124th and Tanzania 130th.
Speaking to the media ahead of 13th WASH annual Civil Society Organization forum, Uganda Water and Sanitation Network (UWASNET) Executive Director Yunia Musaazi said government has not invested heavily in the realization of SDG 6.
“In Uganda 15.7 million Ugandans lack access to safe water supply and only 16 million people are practicing handwashing,” Musaazi observed at the weekend event.
She added: “Over 10million people have no access to any form of sanitation hence practice open defecation.”
Some of the worst performing districts include Terego, Pakwach, Zombo, Dokolo, Bulisa, Koboko and Ntoroko.
Musaazi highlighted that over 1,640 health care facilities either have limited or no access to water within their premises.
It should be noted that in 2015, world leaders adopted the 17 sustainable development goals to be attained by 2030.
UWASNET notes that Uganda is only on track under SDG 12 and 13 and off track on rest.
Uganda has come up with a number of strategies which are 90 per cent aligned to SDGs, according to Musaazi.
But she has urged the government to pose and reflect on SDGs in order to attain the 2030 agenda saying.
Betty Mwsabe from Water for People reported that “safely managed sanitation in Uganda stands at 66 per cent which is alarming.”
‘This is because the other per centage of 34 left in the community is grappling,” she suggested.
Utility
Statistics from Unicef indicate that globally, 2.2 billion people do not have adequate access to safely managed drinking water, 400 million people practice open defecation, and this is even made worse by climate change, where almost 4,000 people die from diseases attributable to inadequate wash- and 1,000 of these deaths.
