DEVELOPMENT: Giving the Gift of Life to 100 Million Slum Dwellers

By Haider Rizvi Reprint | | Print |

Haider Rizvi

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 13 2005 (IPS) - Senior U.N. officials and civil society groups are urging the rich industrialised countries to increase funding for developing nations struggling to provide clean drinking water, sanitation and affordable hosing to millions of poor.

The call comes as more than 75 development and environment ministers from around the world gather here for a two-week meeting to decide what practical steps they can take to achieve the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to water, sanitation and human settlements.

"The additional money can have a significant impact," said Jose Antonio Ocampo, under-secretary-general of the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, who opened the 13th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development.

While some industrialised countries like Norway, Luxemburg, Denmark and Sweden continue to fulfill their pledge to spend 0.7 percent of gross national income on development assistance, many other wealthy nations, including the United States, are lagging far behind the target set by the U.N. in 1970.

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. spent just 0.15 percent of its gross national income on development assistance in 2003.

Providing clean drinking water to people across the world by 2015 does not require huge sums of money, Ocampo emphasised.

Noting that about one billion people have been given access to clean water and sanitation since 1990, U.N. officials say it will be a significant challenge for the international community to provide clean water to another billion in the next decade.

Water and sanitation are embedded in Goal Seven of the MDGs, which aims to "Ensure Environmental Sustainability." Targets under this goal include cutting in half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and hygienic sanitation, and achieving a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.

Advances in water supply and sanitation also contribute to the MDGs of reducing poverty and child mortality, and promoting gender equality and international partnerships, experts say.

According to WaterAid, a Britain-based non-profit, every year, over two million people die from diseases linked to dirty water, and another two million children die from diarrhea, which can be prevented by good sanitation.

The group says while national budgets will continue to be the single largest source of water sector financing, in least developed countries (LDCs), the need for continued official development assistance (ODA) remains crucial.

In countries like Zambia and Malawi, for example, ODA accounts for 80 percent of the spending on water and sanitation.

"Even though national income sources will need to rise in these countries, there needs also to be a significant increase in ODA," Stephen Turner of WaterAid told IPS. "We are calling for a doubling of finance from all sources, including ODA, but that ODA should be focused on LDCs."

Arguing that writing off the debt of the world&#39s poorest nations would enable them to focus on policies to achieve sustainable development, other civil society groups share Turner&#39s view.

"Only then (could) the national revenues be utilised fully to accelerate achievements of the MDGs," said Enrique Ortiz Flores, president of the Habitat International Coalition, in a recent letter to the Commission.

Both WaterAid and Habitat International say Western governments must take immediate steps towards debt relief for poorest nations, since interest payments continue to overwhelm governments&#39 abilities to fund social services.

WaterAid calculates that in Uganda, annual debt repayments are 155 million dollars, while needed investments in the water sector are 57 million dollars.

As agricultural and industrial pollution continue to degrade the quality of fresh water supplies everywhere, experts say the costs could double if governments fail to adopt effective policies in the next few years.

"This year&#39s CSD aims to turn political commitments into action," said Dr. John Ashe, chairman of the Commission. "The policy options that governments are expected to agree on will underpin our common endeavor in the coming years to meet the MDGs and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation targets and commitments on water, sanitation and settlement."

The Commission&#39s discussions are expected to include women&#39s role as agents of development and in influencing the hygiene and behaviour of young people, and how to process wastewater and reduce contamination.

Over the next week, delegates will also discuss how to make housing affordable for millions of slum-dwellers in low-income countries.

*Corrects dollar figures in paragraph 7.