Water's worth

What do we want? "More and better finance." When do we want it? "Now!"

These are the main things that WaterAid will campaign for this year, writes David Redhouse. It comes from research exploring both the quantity and the quality of financing for water and sanitation in each of the countries where WaterAid works.

Using a method developed by WaterAid Nepal each country compared how much money was needed to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving the proportions of people without access to safe water and sanitation by 2015, with the funds that were actually available.

In looking at the quality of finance, many issues were explored, including the degree of coordination between governments and donors, the quality of data available for decision-making, whether new funds were targeted accurately at those without access to safe water and sanitation, and whether previous projects were sustainable or not.

Published information and the ability of local civil society to analyse this and so hold governments and donors to account were also assessed.

More finance

The results of calculations are shown in the graph opposite, comparing the amount that is currently spent on water and sanitation to the amount of money needed to reach the MDG targets.

Although at the time of writing some of the calculations are still being checked, the overall position is clear. There are broadly two groups of countries: those that need more money and those that appear to have enough to reach the MDGs.

Madagascar stands out in the first group. The huge amounts of extra money it needs reflect how water and sanitation coverage figures have been poorly assessed - sanitation has varied from 60% down to 1% of the population. It also reflects how water and sanitation have previously been ignored in policy decisions.

Overall the countries where WaterAid works appear to represent the global position. Since 2000 there has been broad agreement that the amount of money spent on water and sanitation needs to double if the MDGs are to be met.

In global terms this is an increase from $14 billion to $30 billion. The extra $16 billion is needed to reach the sanitation target - an amount equivalent to 15% of Europeans' annual alcohol bill or only 0.002% of the world's $1 trillion yearly military expenditures.

Better finance

The call for better finance relates to the second group of countries. These are spending enough money to reach the MDGs. However, as the money is not being spent in the right way, they are still off-track for reaching the targets. The term 'better finance' relates to many things. For example:

In Ethiopia there is a lack of staff. An extra 2100 are being trained but around 50% are expected to leave, in part because of low wages.

In Bangladesh and Tanzania the responsibility for water services is being decentralised to local governments but this has not been matched by the transferral of money. For example in Bangladesh Union Parishad administrations have been made responsible for the provision of water supplies, but they receive funding of just $0.65 per person per year.

In Tanzania local councils have similarly been asked to take on responsibilities for water services but despite a large increase in the water budget, local councils remain with less than 7% of the available money.

In Malawi, the resources aren't targeted to reach the people who are most in need. Instead those with access to water get more water points, while those without continue to collect water from unsafe sources.

In Zambia, donors aren't coordinated with each other or the national government. The German agency GTZ planned some water projects for 2005 only to find that UNICEF had already completed them.

At the same time the Zambian Government was only aware of what had happened with 10% of the national water budget because donors hadn't reported on the 90% which they were responsible for.

Working together

All of the findings from the countries where WaterAid works are captured in the call for "more and better finance". But beneath the headline each country has its own unique blend of particular issues.

Consequently we must avoid solutions being imposed from the outside. Instead decisions must be made in the country concerned and those who wish to help - aid donors and NGOs - should line up behind the resulting national plans to make an impact together.

David Redhouse is one of WaterAid's Policy Officers.