The Ethiopian government has set itself an ambitious target of achieving 98.5% water coverage and 100 per cent sanitation coverage by 2015. But how realistic is this target?
Currently only 54% of Ethiopia’s 83 million people has access to an improved water source and 60 per cent to sanitation, while there is a big disparity between rural and urban coverage [1]. Some 14% of under-5 childhood deaths in 2010 was caused by diarrhoea [2].
Ethiopia estimates it will need US$ 3 billion to reach universal water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) coverage, of which US$ 1.5 billion has been pledged by the government and donors [3]. Recent commitments include a US$ 150 million World Bank loan for the Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Project (UWSSP) [4] and a US$ 100 Chinese loan for water supply in Addis Ababa, announced in November 2011 [5].
Actual access to safe water may be significantly lower than official figures. A 2005 survey showed that if you took WHO water quality standards into account, the estimated proportion of the Ethiopian population with access to safe drinking-water would fall by 11% [6]. Making matters worse, says UNICEF, is that “an overwhelming majority, nine households in every 10, does not treat their drinking water” [1]. According to a 2007 UNICEF survey, 35% of rural handpumps in Ethiopia were not functioning [7].
Related web site: IRC – Ethiopia country programme
[1] Ethiopia: safe water – a glass half full, IRIN, 27 Jun 2012
[2] White Johansson, E., 2012. Pneumonia and diarrhoea : tackling the deadliest diseases for the world’s poorest children. New York, NY, USA, UNICEF. Available at: <
http://washurl.net/c1o75d
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[3] Ethiopia Country Statement for Sanitation and Water for All High Level Meeting, 20 April 2012 Washington, DC. Available at: <
http://washurl.net/72fmso
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[4] World Bank Helps to Provide Improved Water and Sanitation Services to over 4 million Ethiopians, World Bank, 31 May 2012
[5] China to lend Ethiopia $100 mln –Xinhua, Reuters, 17 Nov 2011
[6] Bain, R.E.S. et al., 2012. Accounting for water quality in monitoring access to safe drinking-water as part of the Millennium Development Goals: lessons from five countries. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, vol. 90, no. 3. doi: 10.2471/BLT.11.094284
[7] Harvey, P., 2009. Handpump data : selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. St. Gallen, Switzerland, RWSN. Available at: <
http://washurl.net/59z22c
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Good question; “how realistic is this??”. In fact, putting the question indicates the answer. On the recent RWSN conference there was quite some info on projects in Ethiopia, optimistic, ambitious, and of course, a lot of funding floating around, the future was bright, etc.
I asked an older and very experienced international consultant who worked many years in Ethiopia what he thought about it. He looked at me and with a smile, which was clearly not a real smile, he said: “How shall i put it, you know as well as i know what goes on, but nobody really wants to know, so …” After a little moment he continued, “Let them try again, but not before all the funding has finished they will do the right thing”.
But sometimes miracles do happen, that is why it’s called “miracles”, sooner or later somebody maybe, also wants to have “fair”water in Ethiopia, who knows!
Fairwater.org
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