Cooperate to avert water and sanitation crisis

There is no debate about the importance of water and sanitation to the lives and health of East Africans given that the percentage of households without access to clean water currently averages 73 percent in the region, according to WaterAid East Africa.

The sector is also part of the Sustainable Development Goals targeted for 2030. African cities, including those in the EAC region, are undergoing rapid urban population growth mainly due to rural-urban migration and natural population growth. This population growth without improved infrastructure and services fosters the rise of informal settlements and slums deprived of basic adequate sanitation facilities. Within the EAC, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and very soon the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), poor sanitation and hygiene, as well as unequal access to safe drinking water, make millions of children and adults sick and also puts them at risk of death.

The global context to which the region is a key contributor is not encouraging either. Globally, billions of poor people are still facing the daily challenge of accessing safe water sources, spending countless hours queuing or trekking long distances, and coping with the health impacts of using contaminated water.

Others get sick or die every day because they are forced to go without these most basic services. Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people each year than all forms of violence, including war, making this one of the world’s most urgent health issues. More than 2.3 billion people still do not have access to basic sanitation facilities such as toilets or latrines. Of these, 892 million defecate in the open, i.e. in street gutters, behind bushes or into open bodies of water. At least 10 percent of the World’s population is thought to consume food irrigated by wastewater. Safe water, improved sanitation and hygiene could prevent the deaths of 361,000 children aged under 5 every year, according to Communications, Advocacy, Policy Opportunities and Outreach for Poop (CAPOOP).

Within the EAC, there is need for long-term regional and national planning to overcome the constraints of limited infrastructure and lack of space. Many people in the aforementioned countries, especially living in informal settlements, live in insanitary and overcrowded conditions without adequate access to sanitation.

National governments within the region are not prioritising the provision of sanitation, particularly to poor people despite international and regional commitments. Several factors are cited for the slow progress witnessed in the water and sanitation sector in the EAC region with financing a key issue.

As a must, EAC countries should adjust their financing to the sector to keep up with the spiraling demand and rapid urbanisation which is creating demand for water and sanitation infrastructure. It is projected that more than 73 million East Africans will be living in urban centres.  More droughts, which will imply people moving longer distances to access water and conflict due to competition for water sources are either happening already or are envisaged in the near future.  EAC must draw lessons from the 9th World Water Forum taking place in Dakar, Senegal from March 21 to 26 that aims to be a catalyst for action to accelerate universal access to water and sanitation. Improved water and sanitation systems are critical for a healthy EAC society and a stronger economy.

In Uganda, for example, government aims to have clean water and improved sanitation for everyone by 2030. This is only achievable through investing in quality water infrastructure, sanitation facilities and promoting hygiene.

Mr Stephen Kafeero is an engaged citizen