CENTRAL AFRICAEAST AFRICASOUTHERN AFRICA

Water crisis in Africa, collective action needed

By Vuyolwethu Fundam Last updated Mar 25, 2021

About the 2.2 billion people live without access to safe water resources globally.

Peri-urban residents of Antananarivo in Madagascar collect water from one of the 400+ kiosks built as part of a WSUP-led programme to strengthen the capacity of service providers and improve access to WASH for low-income communities. Picture: Rapiera Tsilavo / GETF

CAPE TOWN, March 25 (ANA) – Water security is critical to building resilient communities and economic empowerment across Africa, says The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF).

TCCF’s flagship clean water programme in Africa, Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) is currently positively impacting six million lives through improved water access and sanitation across the continent.

“Working with our partners, RAIN’s transformative impact can be felt today in 4,000 African communities,” chairperson and president of TCCF, Bea Perez, announced the achievement on Thursday.

Perez said RAIN is a testament to the power of collective action.

Today’s achievement is the result of a collective effort from more than 300 international and local public, private and civil society partners, TCCF said in a statement.

RAIN was launched in 2009, to help countries across the continent achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals on clean water and sanitation (SDG 6) “universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all” by 2030.

For the past decade, RAIN has improved access to clean water for communities, schools, and clinics across 41 African countries, as well as enhanced access to hygiene and promoted better hygiene behaviours, according to the statement.

An aerial view of one of eight water points developed in the Kitui Village, as part of the Amref Health Africa project in Kenya to provide access to clean water for 12,500 people. Picture: Rooftop / GETF

The programme has also enabled the economic empowerment of people by creating opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship, and skills generation.

Additionally, RAIN has helped to protect critical watersheds, supported several African utilities in coping with the rapidly growing water demand in cities, and delivered essential hygiene items and personal protective equipment to help slow the spread of Covid-19.

Monday, March 22 was World Water Day, a day for raising awareness about the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water resources globally.

People in African countries have said their governments were doing a poor job of providing water and sanitation services, according to a new analysis by Afrobarometer, a pan-African research institution.

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The analysis found that while SDG6 targets call for “universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all” by 2030, only about 54 percent of Africans live in areas served by a piped-water system.

Only about 26 percent of Africans live in zones with sewage systems, a big challenge for achieving the SDG6 targets and ending open defecation, according to Afrobarometer.

“Africa is experiencing the highest rate of urban growth globally and is home to 21 of the world’s 30 fastest-growing cities,” said Bruno Pietracci, president for TCCF Africa operating unit.

Africa is also more vulnerable to climate change than any other region.

TCCF is committed to working with communities and governments to enhance climate change adaptation and help address the challenges that urbanisation creates for the delivery of clean water and sanitation throughout the continent, Pietracci said.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Naomi Mackay