4000 children die every day from diarrhoea caused by unclean water and poor sanitation.
Poorest countries miss out on life-saving aid
UN report shows only 42% of aid given to water and sanitation actually goes to the world’s poorest countries, where it is so desperately needed, with key opportunity to make change with first High-Level Meeting on Friday
21 April 2010
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The UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking Water (GLAAS), produced by the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, was released today just two days before Ministers gather in Washington DC at a historic meeting to tackle the water and sanitation crisis.
End Water Poverty is urging Ministers to take bold action at the first ever High Level Meeting on Water and Sanitation this Friday to put an end to this crisis which currently kills 4,000 children each day worldwide.
The GLAAS report shows that, despite diarrhea being the second biggest killer of children under five, funding for water and sanitation- which could prevent 88% of these deaths- has actually declined as a share of overall aid from 6.3% to 4.7%. Further to this, the report shows that only 42% of aid given to water and sanitation actually goes to the world’s poorest countries, where it is most needed. And only 16% of this aid goes to ‘basic services’-interventions serving the poorest people- down 11% from five years ago.
Shocking figures show that weak targeting of aid is leaving the poorest of the poor trapped in poverty:
- Over 2006-8 Jordan received an average of $500 in aid for every person without access to water, whilst Chad, which according to the United Nations' Human Development Index is the fifth poorest country in the world, received only $3.
- Over 2006-8, Georgia received an average of $250 in aid for every person without access to sanitation, whilst Nepal, where 73% of people do not have adequate sanitation facilities, only received $1.
This evidence provides the push to take the opportunity to do better in reaching those who need aid most, and the High-Level Meeting and Sanitation and Water for All initiative is an ideal place to start.
On Friday, ministers and policy makers from over 30 countries will meet in Washington DC to develop plans to reverse these trends and step up progress in this area. End Water Poverty is calling for countries to work towards providing at least 70% of aid for water and sanitation to low-income countries, with additional resources invested in the world’s poorest countries. Aid needs to be better targeted to reach those who need it most.
Read a full press release here (
PDF File 31KB) and for press queries and interviews contact Steve Cockburn on +44 (0)79200 80855 or Chloe Irvine on +44 (0)751 4941577.
Spokespeople from UK, USA, Kenya and Bangladesh available.