Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water, Sanitation Jan -Feb 2014 Vol.10 No1 | Page 29

Water Management

Africa Must Prioritize Water in its Development Agenda

Africa must now go beyond household water access indices to embrace water as a key development issue, say experts at the Jan. 15-17 U.N. International Water Conference
in Zaragoza. Credit: Miriam Gathigah/IPS

By Miriam Gathigah Edited by Phil Harris

A

lthough African countries have been lauded for
their efforts towards ensuring that people have
access to safe drinking water in keeping with Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), they have nonetheless
come under scrutiny for failure to prioritize water in their
development agendas.
Thomas Chiramba, Head of Freshwater Ecosystems Unit
at the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) in Kenya,
told IPS that in spite of progress on the third component
of MDG7 – halve the proportion of the population
without sustainable access to safe drinking water and
basic sanitation by 2015 – water scarcity still poses a
significant threat to sustainable development in Africa.
Attending the United Nations’ International Water
Conference being held in this Spanish city from Jan. 1517, he said that “there is too much focus on household
water access indices and not enough on linkages between
water and sustainable development.”
While there are now more people in Africa with
improved sources of water and sanitation, experts say
that this is not enough. The continent is still facing water
scarcity, with negative implications for growth and health.
While there are now more people in Africa with

improved sources of water and sanitation, experts say
that this is not enough. The continent is still facing water
scarcity, with negative implications for growth and health.
In view of the rapid and unpredictable changes in
environmental systems, Chiramba said that unless Africa
broadens its national and international water goals
the region will find it difficult to remain economically
resilient.
“Water is key to the agricultural and energy sectors,
both critical to accelerating growth and development in
Africa,” he added.
The theme of the Zaragoza conference is ‘Water and
Sustainable Development: From Vision to Action’ and
is at the heart of adaptation to climate, also serving as
a key link among climate systems, human society and
environment.
One of the main aims of the conference is to develop
implementing tools, with regard to financing, technology,
capacity development and governance frameworks, for
initiating the post-2015 agenda on water and sanitation.
More than 300 participants representing U.N. agencies
and programmes, experts, the business community, and
governmental and non-governmental organizations have
converged with the main aim of addressing water as a
sustainable development goal.
Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • January - February 2015

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