International Water Supply and Sanitation Development: Goals and Challenges Eric S. Hersh CE397 October 11, 2005 (National Geographic, 2003)

the challenge  2000 world population: 6.1 billion Water Supply Sanitation without access, in billions (81%) (57%) (WHO, 2000)

UN Millennium Assembly September 2000, New York (B.Liu, Princeton, 2004)

Millennium Development Goals  1. poverty and hunger  2. primary education  3. gender equality  4. child mortality  5. maternal health  6. HIV/AIDS, malaria, diseases  7. environmental sustainability  8. development partnerships

Goal 7, Target 10  “Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water…” (UN MDGs) (UN MDGs)  “…and basic sanitation.” (WSSD, Johannesburg, 2002) (WSSD, Johannesburg, 2002)

WSS as a precondition  1. poverty and hunger  2. primary education  3. gender equality  4. child mortality  5. maternal health  6. HIV/AIDS, malaria, diseases  7. environmental sustainability  8. development partnerships

some definitions  “sustainable access to safe drinking water” lack of WQ data to define ‘safe’ lack of WQ data to define ‘safe’ indicator: reasonable access to an improved source indicator: reasonable access to an improved source  “sustainable access to improved sanitation”

some definitions  “sustainable access to safe drinking water” lack of WQ data to define ‘safe’ lack of WQ data to define ‘safe’ indicator: reasonable access to an improved source indicator: reasonable access to an improved source  “sustainable access to improved sanitation” (AusAID)

what does it take?  $ Official Development Assistance Official Development Assistance 0.7% GNP (magic number) 0.7% GNP (magic number) 1970 UN General Assembly, 2002 Monterrey, 2002 WSSD1970 UN General Assembly, 2002 Monterrey, 2002 WSSD  implementation education education pro-poor entities pro-poor entities

a thought experiment  extreme poverty: < $1/day  in 2001, 1.1 billion people  $113 per capita per year below: $124 billion  ~0.6% of GDP  World Bank revision: $25 billion  2001 aid: $46 billion by Jeffrey Sachs, PhD So, poverty gap is filled, right?

why not? If action were measured in words rather than dollars, then the problems of development finance would have been solved long ago. -UN University World Institute for Development Economics Research, 2005

0.16% 0.25% (OECD, 2005)

cost of MDGs 2006 $135 billion 0.44% 2015 $195 billion 0.54% 2004 $80 billion 0.25%  WSS: $100 billion for $6.7 billion per year $6.7 billion per year UN Millennium Project, 2005

MDG challenges  population growth  absorptive capacity of least developed countries  pro-poor entities  debt and disaster relief  “tied” aid  rural and urban slum populations

traditional water supply and sanitation challenges  high capital investment  long payback period  low rate of return  foreign exchange risk  non-transferable assets (CU Denver, 2000)  financial and technical capacity of responsible agency  regulatory and political uncertainty

new paradigm  capacity-building  community involvement and ownership  education  untied aid (Water for People, 2004) (Kenya Water for Health Organization, 2004)

MDG progress  water supply 1990 to 2002: 77% to 83% 1990 to 2002: 77% to 83% India, 1990 to 2002: 68% to 86% India, 1990 to 2002: 68% to 86%  sanitation 1990 to 2002: 55% to 58% 1990 to 2002: 55% to 58%  ODA 0.23% in 2002, 0.25% in % in 2002, 0.25% in countries pledged to meet 0.7% by countries pledged to meet 0.7% by % tied in 1990, 8% tied in % tied in 1990, 8% tied in 2003 (WHO/UNICEF, OECD, 2005)

MDG progress, 2005 (UN, September 2005)

MDG outlook With the exception of sub-Saharan Africa, the world is well on its way to meeting the drinking water target by 2015… …but progress in sanitation is stalled in many developing regions. -WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme on Water Supply and Sanitation, 2004

questions for discussion 1. Are the MDGs realistic and practical? Is an increase in Official Development Assistance to 0.7% simply the answer to meeting them? 2. For the current case of limited ODA, should water supply and sanitation be priorities? Does the return, as measured in improvements to the human condition, benefits to the receiving nation, or financial return to the donor(s) justify the expenditure? 3. Are you willing to pay 70 cents on every 100 dollars you earn per year to eradicate extreme poverty and improve the human condition worldwide?