Gains in water and sanitation provision eroded

Zimbabwe is preparing to host a Southern African Development Community (SADC) Water Resources, Sanitation and Hygiene Fair (WARSH) in the midst of a water and sanitation crisis. The capital, Harare, has been experiencing ongoing disruptions to its water supply, while borehole use in rural areas has been reduced. The SADC fair, from 23 to 25 September, aims to promote cooperation between members in water and sanitation matters and assess progress made towards reaching the Millennium Development Goal (MGD) of halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015. According to an MDG Mid-Term Assessment for the period 1990 to 2002, released in August, Zimbabwe improved its water accessibility to 83 percent and its sanitation coverage to 57 percent during this time. However, a UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) report for 2003 noted that recent environmental disasters, such as cyclones and drought, coupled with internal migration caused by the country's fast-track land reform programme, had eroded progress made in the extension of these basic services. Thousands of people in rural areas were, consequently, without access to safe water and sanitation, leaving them open to epidemics of cholera and diarrhoea, as well as skin and eye infections. The situation has been worsened by the national economic downturn, which has eroded the capacity of communities to run and maintain their water supply systems to such an extent that an estimated 50 percent of systems are non-functional. According to the MDG assessment, water access in rural Zimbabwe in 2002 stood at 74 percent. However, in areas where over 300,000 families have been officially resettled as part of the land reform programme, access to safe water is estimated to be as low as 11 percent, and basic sanitation at below one percent. The rehabilitation of water supply and sanitation systems in these areas needs to be prioritised, UNICEF spokeswoman Shantha Bloemen told IRIN. Although the MDG assessment report put access to safe drinking water in Zimbabwe's towns and cities at 100 percent in 2002, urban areas were increasingly threatened by water shortages, largely because a lack of foreign currency has made it difficult to purchase water treatment chemicals, or replacement parts for ageing equipment. Many parts of Harare have had to endure water cuts for long periods, forcing residents to obtain water from unprotected sources. Although the government has taken over water management of the capital from the city council, according to official sources recapitalisation of Zim $49 billion (about US $8.7 million) would be required to rectify the situation. Analysts say it may be some time before any sense of normality is restored. Nowhere have the effects of the crisis been more keenly felt than in government schools, where water rationing, coupled with unaffordable water bills caused by the rising cost of water and leakages in obsolete equipment, has brought a number of schools to the brink of closure. Although schools may charge levies for operational costs, they are not mandatory and many parents either are unwilling or unable to pay them. As a more sustainable solution to the water problem in the 287 urban government schools, UNICEF has suggested the rehabilitation of old boreholes or drilling new ones, as well as training the school community in water conservation and management. "This would keep any costs down and release the schools from the burden of having to raise enough in school levies to meet the cost of water bills. Instead, these funds could be channelled into other urgently needed education materials, such as textbooks and stationery," Bloemen said.