Impact of global initiatives on drinking water access in Africa

Abstract

In a quest to achieve a sustainable supply of drinking water, most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have adopted water supply models designed to meet targets set by continually changing global water initiatives (GWI). Consequently, strategies to deliver these GWI concomitantly changed after dominating water policy implementation at a particular time. The review observes that these changes often overlooked contextual setting and undermined smooth continuity from one initiative to another. The poor link between initiatives, therefore, allowed the factors responsible for poor access to persist. To that end, the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade initiative (1981–1990) did not meet the target of ‘water for all’. Similarly, the International Water for Life Decade (2005–2015) failed to reduce by 50% the number of people without access as anticipated.

Keywords:

• African Water Vision
• global water initiatives
• Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
• water access
• water decade
• community water supply

Notes

1. Global Water Service targets often include both water and sanitation access, but this article will restrict itself to water access and only refer to sanitation for clarification or comparison purposes.

2. Figures in the table represent populations of countries, which reported their results to WHO. The number of reporting countries fluctuated from year to year. In Africa, for example, 24 countries reported in 1970, 19 in 1975, and 20 in 1980. The percentage of water coverage may have been significantly low if more or all countries reported.