14th ITN Africa Conference
By RCN Ghana · 13 August 2007
The 14th conference of training network for water and waste management (ITN African) will take place Hotel Palm Beach, Ouagadougou, 19th- 22nd November, 2007. The theme for this year's conference: Achieving the WASH Millennium Development Goals in Africa through Decentralisation.
BACKGROUND
The WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) millennium goals were set up during the World Sustainable Development Summit in Johannesburg in 2002, as follows:
- To halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and hygienic sanitation;
- To significantly improve living conditions for 100 millions people living in slums.
These goals were set up against a background where in Africa, only 350 millions over 600 had access to clean water in 2000 whereas sanitation coverage rate was about 53%. In sub-Saharan Africa, the situation is more critical, only 34% of the populations had access to sanitation. The World Bank has estimated that the achievement of the MDGs will require heavy investments, an increase of about 70%.
According to the recent assessments, Sub-Saharan Africa is still lagging behind the rest of the world with respect to achieving the WASH Millennium Goals. Although impressive progress is recorded in some countries, the continent, as a whole, still requires more focused efforts (WSP 2006). Thus, on current trends Sub-Saharan Africa will reach the water target in 2040 and the sanitation target in 2076.
Many African countries have thus engaged in water reforms aimed at sustainable resources management and improving WASH services to the poor and the unserved. Some of the reforms have included decentralisation. Decentralization is perceived to bring better water governance, transparency, accountability and local ownership. To that extent, it is expected that local authorities should play major roles in the management of water and sanitation. This will include transfer of power, competencies, responsibilities and resources from the central g…
BACKGROUND
The WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) millennium goals were set up during the World Sustainable Development Summit in Johannesburg in 2002, as follows:
- To halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and hygienic sanitation;
- To significantly improve living conditions for 100 millions people living in slums.
These goals were set up against a background where in Africa, only 350 millions over 600 had access to clean water in 2000 whereas sanitation coverage rate was about 53%. In sub-Saharan Africa, the situation is more critical, only 34% of the populations had access to sanitation. The World Bank has estimated that the achievement of the MDGs will require heavy investments, an increase of about 70%.
According to the recent assessments, Sub-Saharan Africa is still lagging behind the rest of the world with respect to achieving the WASH Millennium Goals. Although impressive progress is recorded in some countries, the continent, as a whole, still requires more focused efforts (WSP 2006). Thus, on current trends Sub-Saharan Africa will reach the water target in 2040 and the sanitation target in 2076.
Many African countries have thus engaged in water reforms aimed at sustainable resources management and improving WASH services to the poor and the unserved. Some of the reforms have included decentralisation. Decentralization is perceived to bring better water governance, transparency, accountability and local ownership. To that extent, it is expected that local authorities should play major roles in the management of water and sanitation. This will include transfer of power, competencies, responsibilities and resources from the central g…
