G8: progress on water and sanitation commitments assessed

An accountability report on development aid by G8 countries says thatprogress towards meeting the water and sanitation targets provides a mixedmessage. The report says the world is on track to meet the water goalglobally, but is dangerously behind in achieving the sanitation goal, withSub-Saharan Africa making the slowest progress. Support for sanitation andwater was not reaching the most affected countries with only 42 percent ofsector commitments over the past three years reaching the least developedor low-income countries. 

The report [1], which was prepared for the Muskoka 2010 G-8 Summit inCanada, concludes that the G8 countries have significantly increased aidlevels for water and sanitation. This is in line with the 2003 Evian G8Water Action Plan, In 2008, G8 Official development assistance (ODA) forthe water sector was US$ 3.7 billion [€ 2.9 billion], representing anincrease of over 200 percent since 2002.

In 2009, the G8 and African partners issued a Joint Statement at the La Aquila Summit to strengthen ongoing efforts on water and sanitationthrough a stronger G8-Africa partnership. The partnership “has increasedpolitical awareness and has helped to facilitate new work with Africanpartners”, the report says.

[1] Government of Canada (2010). Muskoka accountability report : assessingaction and results against development-related commitments. Download fullreport [http://www.irc.nl/url/37323]

Related news: Africa: G8 water and sanitation initiative lacks concreteact, Source Weekly [http://www.irc.nl/url/35281], 07 Aug 2010
Source: Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report[http://www.irc.nl/url/37324], 21 Jun 2010