Thematic Session 1: Recommendations of Sub-Session on Water for African Cities

Noting that more than a billion people in the world lack safe drinking water and that nearly three billion people live without access to adequate sanitation.

Recognising that the scarcity of water resources and pollution of water bodies have become more prominent than ever and that the urban water and sanitation crisis is now seriously threatening the living standards of the urban population, especially slum dwellers. Recalling the Millennium Summit, that formulated the goal of halving the number of people without access to water by 2015 and the World Summit for Sustainable Development, which incorporated the goal of halving the number of people without access to sanitation by 2020. Further recalling that the WSSD implementation plan target to prepare national Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Water Efficiency Plans by 2005

Taking note of the key problems and issues currently faced by the water and sanitation sector including:

• information gaps on urban service coverage, especially intra-urban differentials, as well as the quality of service provided;

• need for effective monitoring of MD and WSSD goals in urban areas

• water demand management, that is the efficient allocation of services, needs much greater attention when dealing with urban water issues;

• sanitation and hygiene promotion, a key to human dignity, need priority in their own right;

• pro-poor governance ensuring greater transparency and accountability, and addressing the social challenge of equitable resource allocation ;

• income generation for the urban poor linked to water and sanitation;

• the environmental challenge of protecting freshwater sources from growing volumes of urban wastes; and

• the challenge of mobilizing financial resources to meet the growing cost of water provision from ever distant and degraded sources and the provision of sanitation services.

The participants of sub-session 1 on Water and Sanitation for African Cities deliberated on the following thematic areas:

Pro-poor Water Governance and Follow-up Investment

Discussions focused on the need to institute pro-poor urban water governance in an integrated framework and to facilitate follow-up investment. This would support change in governance, so that the poor are given a voice in collective decision-making for improved access to quality water supply and basic sanitation. It was recommended that the approach should be:

• to directly effect policy, legal, regulatory, and institutional instruments, and

• to indirectly facilitate follow-up investment in water supply and basic sanitation to benefit those in the low income bracket without access to services

Urban Sanitation

The main issues identified include restraints for replication and scale up of good practices in urban drainage sector, linkage of water and sanitation governance measures to local authorities, the question of water-borne sanitation versus on-site sanitation approaches and sustainability of donor supported activities, consideration of physical planning, land tenure, solid waste management and drainage as key elements in the planning of urban sanitation. The following recommendations were made

• ensure equipping the poor with sanitation facilities while at the same time providing them with efficient support services by focusing special attention on active community involvement and ownership in the provision and management of services provided

• adopt partnership approaches and development of innovative financial mechanisms to mobilise local funds and facilitate the leveraging of funds available from other sources.

• promoting good practices by undertaking evaluation and giving approval for those practices which should be supported.

• pilot scale and demonstration interventions implemented with donor support must consider financial sustainability at the ouset

• water and sanitation for low income communities must give due attention to the wider issues of urban planning and may be used as an opportunity to enforce good planning practices

Urban Catchment Management

The challenge is the need to augment and strengthen the environmental/water source protection within the urban environment by incorporating water quality and quantity perspectives as well as socio-economic and ecological integrity aspects in an IWRM framework articulated at the local level through local catchment management plans. The objective should be to protect and secure water resources in urban catchments, and better co-ordinate water management with upstream/downstream users.

• the range and scope of urban catchment management activities should be significantly expanded and should be approached from a river basin perspective

• aim at developing and implementing strategies, including livelihood programs, which will directly improve the living conditions of the poor

Water Demand Management

WDM is perceived as a viable component of urban water management given the direct water savings realizable from its adoption. The challenge should be to scale-up and expand the concept, while maintaining the effectiveness of the interventions by putting in place mechanisms to facilitate leveraging further investment. It was recommended to:

• Mainstream WDM in water policies and planning processes and develop national WDM strategies

• Develop adequate regulatory framework to ensure water service providers are accountable for their performance

• Develop an adequate information systems that can provide key performance indicators for each city

• Initiate a national ongoing water awareness programme for consumers in all major cities

Water Education in Schools and Communities

The challenge is to create a new ethic among children and in the community-at-large, through value based water, sanitation and hygiene education by integrating into the school curricula and animating and involving communities. This should lead to change in perceptions of water and sanitation, and advocacy for the proper utilisation of water at home, at school, and work places. Potential constraints include difficulty in the process of incorporating in existing curricula, insufficient documentation. It was recommended to:

• Consolidate ongoing value-based water education (VBWE) activities and extend project outreach nationwide including private schools as well as to more communities in the informal sector through focussed group discussions and audio-visual means

• Introduce VBWE into teacher training colleges

• Develop and produce VBWE literature and teaching/learning materials

• Build Capacity for Education services staff to oversee implementation

• Provide water and sanitation facilities for schools