Slum dwellers should be a priority for water and sanitation investment, WaterAid manifesto

Published on: 24/10/2011

Investment in water and sanitation in the rapidly urbanising cities of the developing world is key if we are to avoid uncontrollable poverty and ever worsening slums, says WaterAid in a manifesto released on 3 October 2011.

The manifesto's author Timeyin Uwejamomere of WaterAid said:

"Water and sanitation have proved time and time again to be a critical factor in health and economic development. We only need to look at the development of the 'Asian Tigers' to see that long-term, reliable funding into urban water and sanitation infrastructure has a powerful impact on economic productivity, as well as driving down poverty."

Cities in the developing world are expected to double in population size every 15 years, with the vast majority of residents ending up living in unplanned slums, with little or no access to fundamental services such as water, sanitation and electricity.

At present, the diarrhoeal diseases caused by a lack of safe water and sanitation are the biggest killers of children under 5 in Africa, and the second biggest killer in South Asia.

Current investment into water and sanitation in the slums is inadequate and is failing to reach the poorest and most vulnerable people. Only 6% of World Bank sanitation-related commitments from 2000-2005 went to slums, with the vast majority going to more established urban areas.

In the manifesto WaterAid has formulated three main objectives to refocus on urban WASH needs:

• Champion the cause of poor urban communities by developing city-wide plans for urban basic services and prioritising poor urban communities within urban WASH investments;
• Increase understanding and awareness of the needs of poor urban communities through improved data collection and targeted investments
• Commit to long-term action by providing a global strategic leadership for urban issues and agreeing an ambitious post-MDG target for improving the lives of urban slum-dwellers (see Former foreign minister of Sweden Jan Eliasson's blog post in the Huffington Post).

Download full report: Uwejamomere, T. (2001). Sanitation and water for poor urban communities : a manifesto.  London, UK, WaterAid. 14 p.

Source: WaterAid, 03 Oct 2011