Facing up to the global water crisis

Some poor, politically stable countries have made great strides in access to water supply and sanitation. Water experts meeting in Stockholm called for further improvements

Water is pumped from a borehole in rural Uganda. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

With rising population growth and changes in the earth's climate putting stress on the consumable 1% of the planet's water, the global water crisis risks becoming a source of cross-border conflict.

Sub-Saharan Africa is especially vulnerable given its dry climate, which is exacerbated by underdevelopment and mismanagement of water resources. In 2000, countries in Africa and in other regions set targets to halve by 2015 the number of people without access to these basic services. Some of them may meet these targets. In rural Rwanda, where nearly 4 million people gained access to improved sanitation between 1990 and 2008, household access to sanitation facilities has increased faster than in any other country in the region.

In fact, according to a report  by the World Bank's water and sanitation programme  (WSP) released on the occasion of Stockholm's annual World Water Week gathering of experts, sub-Saharan Africa has made significant progress. Across the 32 participating countries, coverage of improved water supply has risen by 13 percentage points between 1990 and 2008 to 58% of the total population. Improved sanitation coverage rose by 11 percentage points to 36%.

The progress made since 1990 points to a combination of political and economic factors. Low-income, but politically stable countries committed to sector reform have made greater increases in coverage in rural water supply and urban sanitation, reduced open defecation more markedly, and been more successful in keeping water supply coverage up with population growth in urban areas than either resource-rich countries, or their conflict-affected low-income peers.

Accelerating progress in providing sustainable, equitable access to water and sanitation requires two things. First, the mechanisms that convert funding into giving more people access to safer water and sanitation services need to be strengthened. Second, funding needs to be increased by at least $6bn a year to tackle a projected annual shortfall of capital investment.

According to the UN Environment Programmes's Green Economy Report , also released at Stockholm last week, an annual investment of $198bn, 0.16% of global GDP, by 2030 could reduce water scarcity and halve the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation in less than four years.

In fact, many households are already investing in basic sanitation improvements and reaping significant economic benefits. Unep's report cites WSP's Economics of Sanitation Initiative study, which found that Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam lose about $9bn a year, 2% of their combined GDP, due to problems caused by poor sanitation. According to the study's second phase , also released during Water Week, households in these countries see up to seven times their initial investment in basic sanitation improvements, such as building a pit latrine.

Water Week closed with a Stockholm statement  calling on governments participating at the Rio+20 summit in next June to commit to achieving "universal provisioning of safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and modern energy services by the year 2030" and to adopt intervening targets to increase efficiency in the management of water, energy and food.

Success will depend on the realisation of a common vision shared among governments, ministries, official and NGO development partners, and regional bodies. Development partners can respond to needs and reward efforts by tailoring technical assistance and aid to various stages of development.

Finance ministries can incrementally increase the water and sanitation budget share and collaborate with other ministries to link with core government systems like budget and expenditure management.

Finally, inter-governmental partnerships can pursue enhanced external support for water supply and sanitation, and foster regional learning among peers.

• Jae So is manager of the water and sanitation programme, a multi-donor partnership administered by the World Bank