2.7 m people need access to water – report

KIGALI - A report by the Joint Budget Support Review says that in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals on access to clean water, an additional 2.7 million people will need to be provided with this necessity. The report presented by the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with development partners, points out that three million people need access to hygienic sanitation. “To this end, more effective policies and a sound management of water supplies and sanitation are needed,” the document says. It says that 60 percent of a 490-kilometer water supply network has been completed but stresses that “appropriate sanitation technologies for rural areas at household level are yet to be identified.” On a positive note, the document notes that policy priorities for the next reporting period include the implementation of completed studies and quality control for rural water supply systems. In early June, a joint Ministry of Infrastructure -African Development Bank (AfDB) report indicated that water access and sanitation, in the country, improved in 2008. The MINIFRA-AfDB document noted that last year, over six million Rwandans - more than 73 percent of the population were estimated to have access to safe drinking water, compared to 71 percent in the previous year. It also pointed out that 4.3 million (45 percent) Rwandans have access to hygienic sanitation facilities. An estimated 884 million people do not have access to clean water, while 2.5 billion others do not have adequate sanitation, worldwide. Ends