Flush out poverty

Don't let the targets go down the pan!

At the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, 2002, all governments committed to targets to halve the proportions of people without access to safe water and adequate sanitation by 2015.

Yet, a year on, the targets remain just words on paper.

WaterAid is now asking you to take action by sending a postcard, calling on the UK Government to increase the percentage of aid spent on water and sanitation.

Last September WaterAid was delighted that the world leaders had woken up to the importance of water and sanitation. We had demanded these targets through the Water Matters petition signed by over 100,000 people.

However, since then progress has stalled and if things continue at the present rate it would take Africa 100 years to achieve the water target and the sanitation target will never be met.

The UK Government took the lead in promoting water and sanitation at the World Summit. WaterAid worked closely with the then Secretary of State for International Development, Clare Short and her department to ensure sanitation in particular was recognised in development targets. However just one year on it is shocking to see that the UK Government's spending on water and sanitation for the poorest people has  been reduced to just 2% of the total aid budget.

The Government's response is to say that their priority is now to give grants, known as 'budget support,' directly to national governments and that some of this money will go on water and sanitation. But even the Department for International Development admits that they do not track how these funds are spent; and the National Audit Office estimates that 'a very small proportion' of its budget support funds are likely to have been spent on the water sector¹.

The UK Government needs to track how UK grants are allocated and also support national governments to prioritise water and sanitation in their own budgets to ensure sustainable improvements are made, which in turn will underpin the attainment of the education and health targets.

Access to water and sanitation are vital to reducing poverty in the developing world. Without these basic services valuable time is wasted collecting water - children miss out on education and women are unable to work.

In addition, sickness from easily preventable water and sanitation related diseases wastes both time and money as families are forced to spend their limited funds on treatment.

WaterAid is now calling for DFID to resume its leadership role and allocate 10% of the UK Government's aid to be spent on water and sanitation by 2005.

¹DFID: Maximising impact in the water sector, National Audit Office Report 2003.