Global Water and Sanitation Crisis
by How could tackling the water crisis in developing countries benefit the global economy?
It seems that Western governments cannot apply the same thinking to the economy of developing countries. They are directing money to issues such as eduction and health care, while reducing funding for water and sanitation. To add to the burden, it seems that more and more loans are being given for water projects, which immediately adds to the prospects of high water bills as governments and private companies have loan repayments as well as infrastructure costs to pay for.
If the water and sanitation problems were solved in these developing countries, then farming and industry would be much more productive. In agriculture, much of the work is still being done by the women. If the long hours they spend every day collecting water could be redirected to the land, then more food could be produced. If children were able to spend more time in school, free of water borne disease and with clean, private toilet facilities available, then the future of the nations would be much brighter.
How can these things be achieved? Lots of words have been written and spoken on this subject, but sadly not much has been done in practice.
A debate currently rages over the place of private water companies in developing countries. While these are very successful in the UK, there are major problems when similar schemes are attempted in less stable societies. A classic example of the potential for disaster is the “Water War” in Cochabamba, Bolivia in 1999. The Bolivian government awarded the concession for water and sanitation of the Cochabamba area to the only bidder, a consortium of companies from the US, Europe and Bolivia. Within weeks prices for water had risen by 200% and the locals began to demonstrate. The situation escalates to the point when, in April 2000, a 17 year-old boy was shot in the head by riot police. The water concession was revoked and control of water and sanitation returned to public ownership. The lessons learned? Private sector involvement is not the simple answer to water provision that it is often made out to be. The situation is just much more complicated.
Another, more recent, example of the complex nature of the issue comes from Nicaragua. Here, the expansion of the city of Managua. To meet the need for housing and provide employment for the many unemployed, construction companies are disregarding the supply of water and leaving many households without water for many hours every day. The authorities are caught between leaving large numbers of people in poverty or destroying their water supplies.
The provision of clean water and safe sanitation is such a basic one that it should have been solved years ago. Unfortunately the infrastructure it depends on needs a stable government and huge investment up-front, something which many, if not all, developing countries lack. The governments of the richer nations should begin to heed the sound advice coming from organisations such as WaterAid, UNICEF and Tearfund. These are big problems which demand big solutions on the international level.
References:
WaterAid Statistics: http://www.wateraid.org/international/what_we_do/statistics/default.asp
“Water is All” By E. Roper. WaterAid Oasis Magazine, Autumn-Winter 2006: http://www.wateraid.org/international/about_us/oasis/autumnwinter_06/4883.asp
“New Rules, New Roles: Does PSP Benefit the Poor?” Synthesis Report by E. Gutierrez, B. Calaguas, J. Green and V. Roaf of WaterAid and Tearfund. http://tilz.tearfund.org/webdocs/Website/Campaigning/Policy%20and%20research/newrulesnewroles.pdf
“Pipe Dreams: Why governments’ failure to tackle the global water crisis is threatening goals to halve poverty” Report by Tearfund: http://www.tearfund.org/webdocs/Website/Campaigning/Policy%20and%20research/pipe%20dreams.pdf
“Cochabamba – water war” by Emanuele Lobina, Public Services International Research Unit, Report Document available at: www.psiru.org
“Casas con agua o agua sin casas?” Inter Press Service, link: http://www.ipsnews.net/dominologin.asp?Db=ipsesp.nsf&wView=vwWebMainView&DocID=496ABC38EE354B62C125741D00203BC9
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