WaterAid's plans in Madagascar: 2005-2010

Madagascar has signed up to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed by all world governments to halve the proportions of people without access to water and sanitation between 1990 and 2015. WaterAid intends to contribute to these efforts in its new strategy for Madagascar running from 2005 to 2010.

WaterAid's plans and activities to help achieve these targets include:

• To support partner organisations to help 19,000 people gain access to safe water and sanitation every year by 2010
• To support local partner organisations and strengthen their capacity to raise their own funds, to ensure a further 3800 people gain access to water and 4700 to sanitation every year by 2010

Rahaingolalao, from Antananarivo, Madagascar

Credit: WaterAid / Jeremy Horner

"Since having the latrine life has been much more comfortable. Before there was nowhere to go to the toilet so there was human excrement everywhere, especially during the floods. It was a source of great shame to us but since having the latrine we don't have this problem.

We had to transport sand, cement and water to the site and since its installation we keep the latrine and the area around it clean and hygienic. I don't mind doing this because I know it improves the health of our family. All around us there have been cases of cholera, but we haven't had any."

WaterAid will do this by increasing the numbers of partner organisations that it works with, developing its work in poor urban areas and also expanding work with local governments which have the responsibility for water and sanitation services in their area.

Together WaterAid and its partners will carry out initial surveys of the water points and sanitation facilities along with the levels of poverty in each focus area to ensure that any new work reaches those most in need. These projects will also look at the sustainability of water resources to ensure that projects are environmentally sustainable.

The decentralisation of responsibilities to local communes offers an opportunity for decisions to be made on the ground where they are needed. WaterAid aims to assist the communes in building capacity to enable them to better plan, coordinate and carry out their work in safe water, sanitation and hygiene. It will also work with them to lobby for the necessary financial resources where appropriate.

Additional resources are vital as WaterAid estimates that the $20 million currently spent annually on water and sanitation is $97 million short of the $117 million needed to meet the MDGs. This extra financing is crucial to build skills to implement appropriate and sustainable projects.

Sanitation is a key issue in the country. The impact of sanitation on the whole country was reported in a joint publication from the Government, NGOs and United Nations agencies called Sanitation - the challenge. The document noted that five million working days and 3.5 million school days were being lost every year due to ill health caused by bad sanitation. The value of these losses was estimated to be 300 times greater than the amount of public money actually being spent on sanitation.

The launch of WASH in Madagascar in 2000 assisted in bringing together the different actors interested in raising the importance of basic hygiene and sanitation and ensuring their integration with water projects.

Sanitation has now moved up the political agenda and the sanitation policy process, which WaterAid has assisted in, is now moving forward. However this policy still needs to be finalised, financed and implemented on the ground if the huge task of reaching the sanitation MDG is going to be achieved.