Levels of development aid for water and sanitation down by 21% since 2012, new report finds
Aid commitments to water and sanitation have fallen despite the UN Sustainable Development Goals’ international target to reach everyone, everywhere with access to clean drinking water and toilets by 2030, a new global analysis of water and sanitation has today revealed.
- WHO/UN Water report finds global aid commitments for water and sanitation have fallen sharply since 2012, falling from US$ 10.4 billion to US$ 8.2 billion in 2015
- More than 80% of developing countries surveyed do not have enough money to meet their national targets on water and sanitation access
- WaterAid calls for an increase in the amount and effectiveness of development aid for water, sanitation and hygiene, reflecting its crucial importance to health, education and poverty eradication
Aid commitments to water and sanitation have fallen despite the UN Sustainable Development Goals’ international target to reach everyone, everywhere with access to clean drinking water and toilets by 2030, a new global analysis of water and sanitation has today revealed.
Without significant new levels of finance, this goal has little chance of being met in time.
The UN Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) report produced by the World Health Organisation has revealed a huge gap in financing – as much as £114 billion is required annually, around three times current levels – to meet the UN Global Goals’ ambitions to reach everyone, everywhere with safely managed water and sanitation.
Closing this financial gap will require increased levels of domestic finance for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), from both public and private sources. However, given the scale of the financial challenge, there remains a strong need for international aid.
While the actual use of aid money for WASH has increased, as developing countries spend existing aid commitments, new commitments from donors are falling. As a result, the most vulnerable populations are being left out.
Among the findings:
- Sub-Saharan Africa is home to half of the world’s people living without access to clean water, yet they received only US$1.7 billion, or 20% of all water and sanitation aid, in 2015. This is down from 38% in 2012.
- Some 85% of the global population without access to improved sanitation or drinking-water from an improved source live in three regions: Central and Southern Asia, East and South-eastern Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. However, aid commitments to these three regions were only 48% of global overseas development aid for water and sanitation in 2015.
- Non-governmental projects and funding are greater than government spending in many countries, demonstrating the critical need for continued international aid as well as efforts to create greater domestic revenues.
- Sanitation spending is still half that of spending on water, despite there being 2.4 billion people – or one in three of the world’s population - without access.
In response to the findings, WaterAid’s Senior Policy Analyst – Development Finance, John Garrett, said:
“Water, sanitation and hygiene programmes are critical for good health, education and improved livelihoods, providing an essential building block for the eradication of poverty. For every £1 invested, an estimated £4 is returned through improved health and productivity. Yet we see by the GLAAS report’s findings that aid commitments are actually falling, and that the majority of countries do not have enough money to achieve existing targets on water and sanitation access.
“We want to see the volume of development aid spent on water, sanitation and hygiene increased. But just as importantly, we want to see it spent well. An essential component of aid is ensuring countries have support to plan for water and sanitation services today and in the long-term, with appropriate financing, maintenance and staff training.”
WaterAid is calling for overseas development aid to water, sanitation and hygiene to at least double from current levels by 2020, with an emphasis on grant financing, and should be targeted to areas of greatest need.
The GLAAS report has been released ahead of the World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington D.C. On 19-20 April, as part of the Spring Meetings, the Sanitation and Water for All partnership will gather senior finance and water and sanitation ministers from around the world in a high-level meeting, to monitor progress on delivering water and sanitation to their people.
The SWA partnership holds members accountable to delivering on four ‘collaborative behaviours’ required to successfully reach even a country’s poorest with sustainable access to water and sanitation: building sustainable financing strategies, strengthening country systems, enhancing government leadership, and using a common information and mutual accountability platform.
As a founding member of the SWA partnership, WaterAid is calling on ministers from both developing and donor nations to join the high-level meeting and deliver on promises to reach everyone, everywhere with clean water and sanitation by 2030.
