US strategy addresses water issues in developing countries

Washington, June 3 (UNI) A report to the United States Congress has predicted increasing scarcity of water in the developing countries in the coming years and the US has outlined a strategy to address the issue.

The Water for the Poor Act of 2005 Report to Congress (The Water Safety Report, June 2006) details a strategy for providing affordable and equitable access to safe water and sanitation in developing countries.

The report is required by legislation that makes providing such access to water and sanitation in developing nations a specific policy objective of US foreign assistance programmes.

The law also requires the Secretary of State, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other government agencies to develop and implement a strategy to support this goal.

In pursuance to the legislation, the US has evolved a new strategy that it plans to implement in focal areas initially in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, the Nile Basin and the Okavango Basin, shared by Angola, Namibia and Botswana.

The report said that more than one billion people lack access to clean water sources and more than two billion lack access to acceptable sanitation. Even more people than this lack access to safe drinking water or use sanitation facilities that do not to protect public health adequately.

Each year, nearly two million people -- mainly children younger than five-years of age -- die from preventable, water related illnesses. Besides, world population growth in the next 15 years is expected to increase greatly the competition for water and for food produced by irrigation, according to the State Department Report released here yesterday.

According to the report total global water withdrawals (the annual quantity of water withdrawn for agriculture, industry and domestic use) are projected to be 22 percent greater by 2025 than 1995 withdrawals. Projected withdrawals in developing countries will increase 27 percent over that 30-year period and developed-country withdrawals will increase by 11 percent.

Depending on future population growth calculations made by the United Nations, between 2.6 billion and 3.1 billion people might be living in water-scarce or water-stressed conditions by 2025.

A report from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) predicts that water shortages will affect 2.3 billion people or 30 percent of the world population in 48 countries in 2025. Another one billion are expected to face water scarcity by 2025 due to increasing population, global climate change and other factors.

In fiscal years 2003-2005, the United States obligated more than 1.7 billion dollar in official development assistance for more than 100 water and related activities in developing countries around the world, according the Report.

As a result, more than 24 million people received improved access to safe drinking water and more than 26 million people received access to improved sanitation, it said.

The US has evolved a new water strategy, that will target key areas, including infrastructure investment -- in large and small scale infrastructure projects to increase access to basic services and improve water management; public health protection -- advance improved hygiene activities, including the most suitable disinfection method, safe water storage, hand washing and household sanitation; and science and technology cooperation -- advance knowledge in areas related to water management, including pollution prevention, satellite remote sensing, global information systems and modeling.

Other efforts will target increasing access for the poor, addressing urban issues and adapting to climate variability.

The State Department Report said over the next year the US State Department, working closely with USAID and other technical agencies, will begin to develop ways to measure progress, identify priority countries and develop timelines for projects and programmes.

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