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DEVELOPMENT
South Africa Beats Deadline on Water, Sanitation
By Thalif Deen
STOCKHOLM, Aug 20, 2008 (IPS) - South Africa and Madagascar, two African nations participating in the Stockholm International Water Conference currently underway in the Swedish capital, provide a contrasting picture of where they stand - or fall - in achieving the U.N.'s heavily-trumpeted Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
One of the goals is to reduce by 50 percent the number of people without access to clean drinking water (currently less than one billion worldwide) and without adequate sanitation (currently over 2.5 billion globally).
The deadline for achieving the MDGs, which also include halving the number of people living in extreme poverty and hunger, is 2015.
South Africa has already beaten the deadline on water and sanitation, but Madagascar is lagging far behind on two of the basic necessities of life.
Speaking with a degree of confidence, South Africa's Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Lindiwe Hendricks told reporters Wednesday her country has made "significant progress" in providing both water and sanitation to its 47.9 million people.
"We have already achieved the Millennium Development Goals for halving water and sanitation, and we are well ahead of our target to achieve universal access by 2014," she declared.
In contrast, the president of Madagascar, Marc Ravalomanana, presented a far less optimistic picture of the state of water and sanitation in his country.
He said that 12 million people out of a total population of 19 million still did not have access to safe drinking water, and 14 million did not have access to appropriate sanitation facilities.
"Madagascar is very far from Stockholm," Ravalomanana noted wryly.
"I know that you know about the beauty of our country and our biodiversity. But you also know that Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world," he told delegates at the conference, which runs through Friday and is being attended by more than 2,400 participants.
Hendricks said she was confident that South Africa would beat the 2015 MDG deadline, even though the United Nations believes that most developing nations, particularly in Africa, are faltering in their goals and would miss their deadlines.
To date, Hendricks said, more than 18 million people in South Africa have been provided with a basic water supply and about 11 million have basic sanitation services, "which equates to a total coverage of 88 percent and 74 percent of the population, respectively."
With its renewed confidence, South Africa, which successfully hosted the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and the 2003 World Conference on AIDS, is staking its claim to host a major international conference on water and sanitation: the Sixth World Water Forum.
"South Africa is extremely well placed to host the next event, after Turkey (in 2009), as this would bring the focus and all the activities of awareness to Africa, and in particular to the Southern Hemisphere," Hendricks said.
Asked whether her country was prepared to share its knowledge and technology with the rest of Africa, Hendricks told IPS that South Africa is already sharing its experience with its neighbours, who are members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The 14 SADC members range from Angola, Botswana and Democratic Republic of Congo to Madagascar, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The president of Madagascar said: "If you are to transform a nation, you must attend to some basic things first. And that is why water and sanitation are so important."
Ravalomanana said that one cannot develop one's country rapidly if so many of its people are suffering from water-related diseases.
"Madagascar is fully aware of how important water, sanitation and hygiene are to health, community development, and even to the economic development of the nation," he stressed.
Looking at the global picture, he said that 1.6 million children are dying each year because of water-related diseases - "more than the number dying from malaria, measles and AIDS combined."
"Do you think children in America or Sweden die because of diarrhoea or bad drinking water? No, it doesn't happen. In the 21st century, why should it happen in Africa?" he asked.
Addressing the 18th annual water conference, sponsored by the Stockholm International Water Institute, Ravalomanana said the world is not on track to meet the MDG sanitation target, as 2.5 billion people worldwide still lack access to improved sanitation.
"We are not talking about something as complex as building a rocket to take people to the moon. We are talking about teaching children to wash their hands with soap, to use proper sanitation techniques, and about improving access to clear water for villages."
"And we are not talking about designing the latest computer. We are talking about helping people to drill wells and use water pumps, and collect rainwater on their roofs."
This, he said, is not rocket science. "All it requires are common sense strategies, a little creativity, and the wisdom to use proven and effective strategies used in many countries around the world."
Clearly, he argued drinking water and sanitation have to receive greater attention.
Two weeks ago, Madagascar created a new ministry: the ministry for water and sanitation. Earlier, these duties were under the ministries of health and energy.
"But given the urgency of addressing these challenges, I concluded we needed a ministry dedicated exclusively to this mission," Ravalomanana explained.
(END)
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