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Article WATER MINISTERS: impacts of neglecting investment in sanitation and water under-estimated

The social, health and economic impacts of neglecting investment in sanitation and water have been under-estimated. Poor sanitation and water trigger a downward slide into poverty, where the sector economic impact is often found to be excess of 5% GDP. The economic benefits of achieving universal access to sanitation and drinking water are estimated at US$ 171 billion per year. Sanitation and water interventions deliver economic returns of at least five times on investment, with an annual rate of return of 20% or more.

This is part of the statement adopted by 18 African and Asian Water Ministers during the Ministerial dialogue on 22 April 2010 on the eve of the first Sanitation and Water for All High Level Meeting hosted by UNICEF in Washington, D.C. on 23 April 2010.

The ministers ask the donor community to increase the sanitation and water commitments targeted to low income countries from 42 percent of sector aid in 2008 to 50 percent in 2013. Increasing the percentage of sector aid allocated to basic services from 16 percent to 27 percent of the total sector aid by 2013, is another demand.

The ministers also call on the donor community to:

* Increase investment for meeting the water and sanitation MDG targets so that no credible national water and sanitation plan goes unimplemented due to a lack of funds.

* Provide catalytic funding for technical assistance to help us address our institutional capacity issues and develop our national plans, thereby enabling the poorest countries to effectively utilise the increased investment in the sector.

* Monitor and report on the implementation of the Paris Declaration Principles and Accra Agenda for Action towards improving aid effectiveness in the water and sanitation sector.

* Enter into partnerships or compacts with our governments based on mutual accountability of donors to our governments and our governments to our citizens.

Commit to provide the evidence of the benefits of investing in water and sanitation

The ministers commit to advocate and provide the evidence of the benefits of investing in water and sanitation so that this sector is prioritized in their national budgets. Their other commitments include:

* Developing credible National Plans, for meeting the water and sanitation MDG targets and ensuring sustainable service delivery.

* Providing strong sector leadership and ensuring coordination for implementing national plans.

* Identifying and addressing the institutional capacity gaps for implementing these plans.

* Undertaking Annual Monitoring and review of progress against our National Plans with the participation of all the key sector stakeholders.

Sixty Africans die every hour

During the High Level Meeting Hon. Buyelwa Patience Sonjica, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, South Africa and Chair of the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), noted that sixty Africans die every hour because of water-related diseases, and an estimated 672 million have no access to safe drinking-water. To address what she described as an untenable situation with staggering health, social, and economic impacts, participants needed to “stop talking and start acting. We have the capacity and commitment to turn this situation around. It is a matter of life and death.”

Unique event renews commitment to the poorest

The first High Level Meeting (HLM) was a unique event because it brought Ministers of Finance and sector leaders together to get a better mutual understanding on how investments in the sector contribute to social and economic development.

The Chair’s Summary of the HLM indicates how the new Sanitation and Water for All partnership can increase political prioritisation, resource mobilisation and aid effectiveness. There is a commitment to work together to better target resources on low-income countries and the poorest communities. The set-up of a new catalytic fund would help the poorest countries with the weakest capacities to develop national sector programmes.

Although there were few specific targets from donors to increase resources to the poorest countries, several developing countries made concrete commitments:

* Bangladesh will spend an extra US$ 200 million over 5 years from domestic resources to help close the US$ 600 million gap in their national plan

* Burkina Faso is launching a new sanitation and water campaign in May 2010

* Senegal will provide an extra US$ 24 million per year from domestic resources.

While all of this provides a good basis to work in a coordinated way, concrete actions still need to be implemented and monitored by the Sanitation and Water for All partnership.

WaterAid's Head of Policy, Henry Northover, said it was time to make access on sanitation and water a global priority: "The launch of the Sanitation and Water for All initiative is a chance to move away from worthy expressions of concern to action. We need to see this renewed commitment flow through to services for the poorest of the poor."

Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) is a global partnership between developing countries, donors, multi-lateral agencies, civil society and other development partners. The IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre is an institutional member of SWA and a member of its Interim Core Group (ICG).

Source: IRC


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